Editorial Statement

Editor-in-Chief Statement

The Operations Research (OPRE) journal is a flagship journal for the INFORMS community, and has been so since its inception in the 1950s. Operations Research is committed to publishing papers that advance the state-of-the-art knowledge in the field of Operations Research; that is, in how to use analytical methods to improve decision-making. Operations Research's mission is to be the leading platform for innovative and impactful research in the field of Operations Research.

My priorities as EiC are:

1. To preserve and enhance the standing of the Operations Research journal as the leading platform for innovative and impactful research in the field of Operations Research;
2. To ensure a timely and quality review process;
3. To identify growing areas of interest to the INFORMS community, and make certain that the journal has expertise in those areas.

The Operations Research journal has traditionally been a more modeling and theoretical journal, and is known for its methodological rigor. Simultaneously, the field of Operations Research has traditionally been influenced by practice. To this end, the journal recognizes that innovative and impactful research in the field of Operations Research can mean methodological excellence, or can refer to the use of methodology to generate practical impact.

Demonstrating research is innovative and impactful generally relies on mathematical proofs, but also may rely on data, software, and computation. The Operations Research journal expects mathematical rigor and empirical rigor.

Area Structure

The Operations Research journal encompasses many areas, some that are more representative of methodologies (Decision Analysis, Optimization, Simulation, Stochastic Modeling), some that are more representative of domains of application (Energy and Environment, Financial Engineering, Operations and Supply Chains, Security and Defense, Societal Impact, Transportation), two that are more of a blend (Machine Learning and Data Science, and Markets, Platforms, and Revenue Management), one that is mainly focused on application (Real World OR Innovations), and one that is focused on ensuring empirical rigor across the journal (Data, Software, and Computation). Please read the Area Editors’ statements to decide where your work best fits.

Read the Area Editors' Statements