Submission Guidelines

Preparing Your Manuscript

General Submission Tips

Authors are encouraged to follow these general submission guidelines to improve their review experience.

Length

Initial submissions should not exceed 25 pages when formatted in the journal’s style (excluding references and appendices). Figures and tables should be inserted into the text as close to the first mention as possible (NOT appended to the end of the manuscript). All appendices included in a separate file and designated as an online supplement.

Online Supplements

Supplemental material (appendices, data, most proofs, voluminous tables/graphs, lengthy literature reviews, etc.) can be submitted with the paper itself. These online supplements should be submitted as separate files and designated as supplemental material.

Format and Style Template

Manuscripts should be submitted as PDF files generated using the IJDS LaTeX template. The PDF files should include all figures, tables, bibliography, and appendices. To assist reviewers, copies of relevant unpublished or inaccessible references may be uploaded as supplementary files.

The manuscript style is specified in the template file INFORMS-IJDS-Template.tex, which handles most stylistic issues. You can find the template and other necessary files here or on Overleaf.

Double Anonymous

For submissions on and after January 1, 2025, IJDS conducts double anonymous reviews. Authors need to submit the anonymized version of one’s manuscript, which does not contain any information identifying the authors. This includes removing the authors information on the first page of the manuscript file as well as the information that may be identifying in the Acknowledgment section. If one has a file as an Online Supplement, please make sure that there is no author identifying information in that file either. When citing authors’ own previous publication(s), please use a third person citation, like ‘Doe and Roe (1996) proposed the method …’ rather than saying ‘Our previous research (Doe and Roe, 1996) proposed the method …’

Reproducibility: Data & Code Disclosure

The primary objective of the policy is to ensure that IJDS papers are reproducible. Towards that objective, it is the expectation that the authors of every research paper accepted to IJDS release the code and share the datasets that were used in the paper for generating the research results. Review papers or perspective papers which do not use datasets nor run computational algorithms can be exempted from such requirement at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief. Exceptions will also be made when there is a legal requirement preventing such release; for example, a legally binding nondisclosure agreement (NDA) is in force.

Upon submission of a paper to IJDS, the author(s) must complete the Data & Code Disclosure form and acknowledge one's awareness of the reproducibility requirement and the obligation to share data/code upon the paper's acceptance. Upon the acceptance of a paper to IJDS, the authors are required to upload the data and code used in the paper to be archived on a Supplemental Page on the IJDS publication website and complete the reproducibility workflow on that Supplemental Page. Failing to fulfill the data/code sharing obligation could cause delay in publication or even lead to retraction of the acceptance decision to the paper.

Keywords

Authors are required to provide 1-10 keywords.

Abstract

Provide an abstract of not more than 300 words. The purpose of the abstract is to provide a concise, highly readable overview of the manuscript's objectives, methods, and the nature and significance of the contribution.

The authors are strongly encouraged to address the following three questions in their abstract, preferably following the order shown:

1. Research problem statement: What is the research problem to be addressed and what is the data science relevance?
2. Methods and results: How do the authors address the research problem and what are the main results?
3. Insights and implications: What have the authors learned from conducting this research, as opposed to what authors did, which is already covered in point 2? What is the knowledge gained and why does it matter? Please make sure to highlight the data science implication.

The abstract should be written in a single paragraph.

Tables and Figures

Tables and figures can remain in the source files. They should be placed near their citations for easy reference (not at the back of the manuscript).

References

The bibliography style is the same as amsplain.bst. Authors are advised to use BibTeX with that style to create the bibliography.

Submitting Your Manuscript

Manuscripts should be submitted online at the ScholarOne Manuscripts site for IJDS.

IMPORTANT NOTE: By submitting a manuscript to or reviewing for this publication, your name, email address, and affiliation, and other contact details the publication might require, will be used for the regular operations of the publication, including, when necessary, sharing with the publisher (INFORMS) and partners for production and publication. The publication and the publisher recognize the importance of protecting the personal information collected from users in the operation of these services, and have practices in place to ensure that steps are taken to maintain the security, integrity, and privacy of the personal data collected and processed. You can learn more here.

The ScholarOne Submission Process

There are seven steps for uploading a manuscript in the ScholarOne system:

Step 1: Type, Title, & Abstract: Select your manuscript type (Research Article, Frontiers Article, Perspective Article, Review Article, etc.). Provide the manuscript title (up to 25 words) and abstract (up to 300 words). Authors have the option to directly upload their manuscript PDF file at this stage, which will allow ScholarOne to populate the majority of the fields in later steps of the submission process.

Step 2: File Upload:  Upload an anonymized version of the manuscript, a title page, Data and Code Disclosure Form, cover letter (optional), and supplementary files (optional). The anonymized version of the manuscript is free of author-identifying information and will be used in the peer review process, whereas the title page is a single page including the paper’s title and the authors’ information and will not be shared with peer reviewers. For revisions, authors should include only the latest set of files and upload a “response to reviewers” document. Please ensure that the “response to reviewers” document does not have any author-identifying information, either.

For the review process, authors are encouraged to submit their documents as PDF files. If this paper is accepted, authors will provide source files at the time of final submission.

Step 3: Attributes: Please provide 1-10 keywords. If you uploaded your file in Step 1, keywords will be extracted automatically.

Step 4: Authors & Institutions: All authors and their institutions must be identified. Please note that the submitting author is required to provide their ORCID iD (more information about ORCID iDs can be found here).

Step 5: Editors: Select up to two Associate Editors that you recommend to handle your manuscript during peer review. You may also recommend 2-3 reviewers with no conflict of interest.

Step 6: Details and Comments (Funding and Ethics Statements): Enter funding info, whether the manuscript was previously submitted to the IJDS, and confirm adherence to guidelines for ethical behavior in publishing, copyright and plagiarism.

Step 7: Review & Submit: As the final step, authors will review the previous six steps for completeness and view the PDF proof generated by the ScholarOne system (this is required). Be sure to select “Submit” when done.

Ethical Statements Authors Will Certify

As part of Step 6 (above), authors will certify the following ethical statements within the ScholarOne system:

Prior Submission

Has this manuscript been submitted previously? If yes, what is the manuscript ID of the previous submission?

Ethical Guidelines

Confirm that all the research meets the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements of the study country.

I acknowledge that I am aware of INFORMS Journal on Data Science guidelines for ethical behavior in publishing (http://pubsonline.informs.org/page/ijds/submission-guidelines) and all INFORMS policies referred to therein and that this submission conforms to those policies. I have disclosed (in my cover letter and in any related submission questions) any possible perceived conflicts of interest and noted all of my work that has substantial overlap to prior publications, conference proceedings, book chapters, and papers submitted to this journal or any other journals. I also certify that the copyright for all portions of this paper can and will be transferred to INFORMS upon acceptance.

Plagiarism & Copyright

Confirm that any previous work that is significantly related to this work, by the authors or others, in English or in any other language (to the best of the authors' knowledge) has been properly cited. This includes conference proceedings.

I acknowledge that in submitting this paper I am aware of INFORMS policy on plagiarism and copyright (http://pubsonline.informs.org/authorportal/copyright-plagiarism. Further I acknowledge that I will report to the editor(s) of the journal all of my manuscripts (e.g., prior publications, conference proceedings, book chapters, papers submitted to other journals) that have substantial overlap with the submitted paper. I also certify that the copyright for all portions of this paper can and will be transferred to INFORMS upon acceptance.

Conflicts of Interest

Do you have any conflict of interest?

Troubleshooting

For additional training and support for using the ScholarOne Manuscripts submission system, please visit ScholarOne’s Author Resources page.

Contact Your Managing Editor

Jeff Elmore
INFORMS
5521 Research Park Drive
Suite 200
Catonsville, Maryland 21228
[email protected]

The Review Process

This section summarizes the review process and details the expected cycle times. The review process for revisions is nearly identical to the review process for new submissions: The only difference between the processes is in the supplemental materials the authors provide. With a revision, authors are required to include a response to the reviewers. The target cycle times are the same for new submissions and major revisions

Summary of the Review Process

The manuscript is checked to ensure that it conforms with the formatting requirements and all supporting documents have been included.

The Editor-in-Chief quickly reviews the manuscript for overall fit with the editorial policy of the IJDS, and if so, selects a Senior Editor (SE) to handle the paper. Otherwise, the EIC returns the manuscript to the authors with an explanation for this decision.

The Senior Editor reviews the manuscript for fit and potential contribution, and either assigns the paper to an Associate Editor (AE), or else the SE returns the manuscript to the authors with a short report explaining this decision.

The AE reviews the manuscript for potential contribution and quality (according to the AE Review Guidelines). The AE then decides either to invite two to three reviewers or else to reject the paper. In case of rejection, the AE writes a report for the authors detailing the reasoning behind the decision.

The reviewers return reports containing their assessment (following the Review Guidelines), suggestions and recommendations to the Associate Editor within two months, on average.

The AE waits to receive the referee reports. The AE summarizes the reports, and then recommends one of the following actions (based on the Review Guidelines):

• Reject: The paper is not publishable as is and not likely to be publishable even with a revision.
• Major revision required: The paper may or may not be publishable; a major revision is needed before a final decision can be made.
• Minor revision required: The paper is probably publishable, but needs some minor revisions before a final decision can be made.
• Accept: The paper is publishable as is.

The AE’s report provides a synthesis of the referees’ evaluations, the AE’s own assessment of the paper, and the AE’s recommendation. When the recommendation is reject, the report should provide an explanation and justification for this decision; to the extent it is possible, the report should also provide constructive feedback on what might make this into a publishable paper. When the recommendation is for a revision, the report should attempt to provide for the authors a clear set of actions to guide the revision, as well as some explanation as to why these actions will result in a better paper; this is particularly important when the reviewers make contradictory recommendations.

The Senior Editor reviews the AE report and reviews and makes a final decision (Accept, Minor revision, Major revision, Reject). If the Senior Editor's recommendation differs from the AE's, then the Senior Editor writes a detailed report explaining the decision. If the Senior Editor's recommendation is to resubmit, the Senior Editor provides guidance to the authors on how to proceed.

INFORMS Journal on Data Science Appeals Policy

Appeals are only considered where the author(s) believe that one or more significant technical errors or critical misunderstandings have been made by the reviewers/editors that affected the final decision. Appeals are not for cases where the author(s) believe that the reviewers/editors did not sufficiently appreciate the paper.

In such cases, the author(s) may appeal by email to the Editor-in-Chief. This should be done at least one week after but not more than eight weeks after the final decision was transmitted to the author(s).

The EIC will consider the merits of the alleged error/misunderstanding and choose a path of action which is generally among the following: (1) Uphold the decision made; (2) Secure one or more additional reviews of the paper for further consideration, (3) Obtain an assessment by another Senior Editor.

After Acceptance

We respectfully request that authors upload their final files to the submission site within 14 days from receipt of the acceptance decision letter. The decision of accept is not considered binding until the Final Files have been approved by the EIC and Managing Editor.

As a condition of final acceptance of a paper for publication in an INFORMS journal, the author must indicate if the paper is posted on a website other than the author’s personal website. The author is responsible for ensuring that, if any part of the paper has been copyrighted for prepublication, for example, as a working paper, the copyright can and will be transferred to INFORMS when the paper has been accepted. This includes both print and electronic forms of the paper. Authors may post their papers on websites after acceptance and prior to publication, as long as the sites are not copyrighted and/or do not serve as formal repositories. Authors may not post their page proofs on websites prior to publication. Contact [email protected] for further information.

Final Files

A decision of accept will cause the manuscript to appear in the “Manuscripts Accepted for First Look” section of the submitting author’s Author Center, where the author will submit the following files:

1. LaTeX source file of the manuscript, with a cover page that includes full author contact information and keywords;
2. A PDF file of the main paper;
3. A PDF file of online appendixes, id applicable ('e-companions'; these are not edited, so source files are not needed);
4. A .zip file containing organized code and datasets, accompanied by a completed reproducibility report. The data/code zip file and the content of the reproducibility report will be made publicly accessible on the paper’s Online Supplemental Page.
5. A signed copyright transfer form if you do not wish to purchase an Open Access license; complete the Publication License form if you do wish to purchase an Open Access License.

Figures

Color figures will publish online in color but be converted to black and white for the print journal unless the authors agree to pay the additional expense associated with printing color.

Open Access

The INFORMS Open Option (IOO) provides an Open Access alternative for articles accepted in any INFORMS journals that would have otherwise been available only through subscriptions or pay per view. Please be advised there is a $3,000 (US) fee to make an article Open Access that will be assessed during the production process. Authors who would like to make their article Open Access do not need to complete the regular copyright transfer form. Additional details for IOO as well as other types of Open Access can be found here.

Publication Forms

• Copyright transfer agreement
• Media Promotion Form
• IOO Publication License (if you would like to make your paper Open Access)
• Data and Code Disclosure Form
• IJDS Reproducibility Report Template
• Editorial Checklist

Contact Your Production Editor

After receipt of final files from authors, manuscripts are sent to production for copy editing and layout. Questions about the publication status of an accepted manuscript should be directed to [email protected].