Associate Editors

The Associate Editor has a very important role in the editorial review process for Operations Research. By lending your reputation and efforts, you play a major role in maintaining Operations Research as the premiere journal of our profession.

What follows is an overview of the editorial board structure and the procedures for processing papers. Please review these policies and procedures. Feel free to address any questions or concerns either to the Area Editor who recommended your appointment, or the Managing Editor.

Editorial Board Structure

The Editorial Board of Operations Research is composed of an Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor, Area Editors, and Associate Editors. It is understood that the final decision concerning publication rests with the Editor-in-Chief.

Processing Procedures

Authors submit their manuscripts either to the Editor-in-Chief or to an Area Editor through the online submission resources of Manuscript Central. If a manuscript is submitted to the Editor-in-Chief, he will forward it to the appropriate Area Editor for further action. If an author sends a submission directly to an Associate Editor, the Associate Editor should ask the author to resubmit through Manuscript Central to either the appropriate Area Editor or to the Editor-in-Chief.

The Area Editor determines the appropriateness of the submission for the Journal. If the submission warrants review, the Area Editor then assigns the paper to an Associate Editor.

If you cannot complete the first round of review in the requested time frame, please notify the Area Editor immediately. The paper will be assigned to another Associate Editor. Be certain to familiarize yourself with the Review Process that was implemented to help expedite the review process.

You will receive work primarily from one Area Editor. However, any Area Editor may send you a manuscript if they feel that it matches your area of expertise. The only exception to this is for Associate Editors designated to review papers in the OR Practice area. If you feel that you have been asked to supervise too many papers, please let the Area Editor or Editor-in-Chief know immediately.

You should quickly evaluate each paper before sending it out for review. If you determine that it has little chance of being published, return it to the Area Editor with a report.

There are a variety of reasons for rejecting the paper so early in the review process. These include: inappropriateness of the topic for Operations Research, clearly incorrect assumptions or analyses, no acknowledgment of the relevant literature, and/or such poor grammar and expression that the paper is unreadable.

Always ask yourself the following question: “If this paper were technically correct, would I recommend acceptance?” If the answer to this question is “no,” reject the paper immediately. In doing so, you will not waste valuable referee time and you will give the author the quick feedback that is deserved.

If you feel the paper merits review, determine appropriate referees to review the paper. Two referees should review each paper that is under consideration. Please be certain to select referees who can respond within six weeks. Area Editors may supply guidance as to appropriate referees.

Although these guidelines are generally designed for new submissions, you should follow these steps for revised manuscripts. In applying these steps to revised manuscripts, however, you should note that the review time is shortened by at least two weeks.

Steps to Follow:

- Quickly review the paper. If you feel the paper should be rejected, return it to the Area Editor with a report.

- If the submission merits review, assign referees using the online system.

Request that reviews be returned to you within 6 weeks. Ask the referee to notify you immediately if they are unable to review the manuscript in the time period that you request. If referees have the papers longer than 6 weeks, e-mail or telephone them to remind them of the due date.

- Upon receiving the referee reports, you should:

- Make sure that the referee reports are clear, concise, and courteous;

- Compile the reports in a format that the Area Editor can send directly to the author;

- Be certain there is no indication of your name or the reviewers’ names on any material that will be sent to the authors;

- Include your own report in a form that can be sent directly to the author. Your report need not be elaborate, but should state your position concerning the paper.

You should emphasize the points raised by the referees that you feel merit a response, and delineate any other changes that you feel are required to put the paper into publishable form.