OR Practice

Operations research, the field, must keep one foot on real problems as a matter of relevance. Thus, it is important for the journal to carry high-quality articles with applied focus. In that respect, we wish to attract papers that emphasize the complexity and sophistication of applications.

The OR Practice area publishes papers that report on outstanding applications of OR to real problems. The intent of the area is to attract and highlight innovative examples of applied OR that are of interest to the readership of the journal.

OR Practice is also interested in publishing papers that report, based on experience on best OR Practices, surveys of applications in a given area or novel insights into OR applications.

The criteria for publication include the following:

• Novelty of the operations research: Is there an innovation in terms of the OR models or OR methods that are used in the application? Is this a creative use of existing methods or models?
• Novelty of the application: Is this a new problem domain for an application of OR?
• Impact: Are there quantifiable benefits from the application? What is the impact of the OR on decision-making or on policy? Is there convincing evidence of the improvements from the application of the OR?
• Rigor: Is the work rigorous in terms of literature review, formulation, methodology, discussion and impact? Papers should also include information regarding the resources/time involved. An account of the situation prior and following the application and its impact is highly encouraged.
• Lessons: Are there any general lessons from the application that would be of value to the readership of the journal? Does the application provide new insights for the practice of OR in a specific context? Does the application demonstrate in some way the value or importance of prior research? Does the application provide a validation for an OR model or framework?
• Clarity: Is the paper clearly written? Would the readership of the journal be able to understand and appreciate the contributions from the paper? Can the paper be used as an example of OR with a broader audience, such as students or managers?
• Verification: Is the use of the application and resulting benefits verifiable? A verification letter from the relevant organization will normally be included.

Important note. Papers that present developments that do not show a real impact in practice, as for example a prototype case, cannot be considered for OR Practice.

Authors with questions about the appropriateness of their work, even if the paper is not yet written, should contact the Area Editor to discuss the suitability of sending a paper to this area.

Associate Editors: Peter Bell, John Birge, Jeremy Gallien, Randy Robinson, and Mikael Ronnqvist