Submission Guidelines: Details

Authors should observe the following points in preparing manuscripts. Papers not conforming closely to these instructions may be returned to their authors for appropriate revisions or may be delayed in the review process.

1. Readability. The abstract and the introduction of every paper must be free of unnecessary jargon and clearly readable by any INFORMS member. These sections should be written in an expository style that will be comprehensible to readers who are not technical experts in the subject matter.

2. Title Page. Each paper should have a title page that contains the authors' names and addresses, the Subject Classifications and the Area of Review. See the sample title page: OR: Titlepage The usual acknowledgments should be placed in a separate section at the back of the manuscript.

3. Abstract. Preface each article with a self-contained, one paragraph abstract that summarizes the problem and the principal results and conclusions. It should not contain formulas, references, or abbreviations, nor exceed 200 words.
It is important that your abstract not contain mathematical notation that may be difficult to properly present in Web browsers. The abstract is not only a part of the full article (print and online) but, more importantly, serves as the only free-to-all record of your paper. It is reused and remapped by a variety of online portals and metadata databases, some of which are text only. Please provide a text-only abstract, or, if that is impossible, try to minimize the use of math symbols and avoid accented variables.

4. Introduction. The introduction must clearly state the problem, the results to be found in the paper, and their significance to the operations research community. It should not contain equations or mathematical notation. Section numbering and headings begin here.

5. Main Sections. The main sections of the paper must be readable, the level of the mathematics and/or the terminology appropriate to the topic, and the material logically presented.

6. Style. The message of the paper will be enhanced if it is presented in active, forceful, and concise prose. Good writing is a craft at least as difficult as doing operations research. While the Editor and staff will correct minor lapses from good style in the manuscript, they cannot undertake wholesale revisions of poorly written papers. There is no set limit to the number of pages for a paper; however, conciseness and clarity of presentation are important publication criteria.

7. Length. Please note that although there is no formal page limit, authors should strive to keep their papers to no longer than 32 pages. Area editors and associate editors will suggest edits to shorten papers. In addition, some proofs, lemmas, supporting tables, etc., may be included in an online companion to the published paper. The editors will rarely accept papers that are longer than 32 pages.

8. Spacing and Format. Manuscripts should be double-spaced with text in 11-point font and with one-inch margins on all four sides of the page, including the abstract, subsidiary matter (list of captions, for example), and references. In general, keep figures and tables to a minimum. Each page of the manuscript should be numbered. Indent the first line of each paragraph.

9. Footnotes. Operations Research does not use footnotes; incorporate subsidiary material that would otherwise appear in footnotes in the main text, possibly in parentheses or brackets, or place it in a Notes section at the end of the text, before the Acknowledgment and References. Designate notes by using superscript numerals placed in serial order throughout the text.

10. Acknowledgment. Place acknowledgments of presentation, support, and assistance in a final section that precedes the References, not on the title page.

11. References. List only those references that are cited in the text. References in the text should be cited by the author's surname and the year of publication, for example, Flood (1962). If the reference has two or three authors, cite all of the authors' surnames and the year of publication- Flood, Smith and Jones (1982). If the reference has more than three authors, cite the first author's surname followed by et al. and the year of publication -- Brown et al. (1985).

If there is more than one reference by the same author with the same year of publication, the first citation appearing in the text would read Flood (1962a), the second citation would read Flood (1962b), etc. Do not use parentheses or brackets for dates when the citation is already enclosed within parentheses.

At the end of the paper list references alphabetically by the last name of the first author. Do not number the reference list. Double-space this final section.
For journal references, give the author, year of publication, title, journal name, volume, and pages, for example:

Flood, M. M. 1962. New operations research potentials. Oper. Res. 10 423-436.

For book references, give the author, year of publication, title, publisher, city, state, and pages, for example:

Morse, P. M., G. E. Kimball. 1951. Methods of Operations Research. John Wiley, New York, 44-65.

For references to working papers or dissertations cite the author, title, type of document, department, university, and location, for example:

Rosenwein, M. 1986. Design and application of solution methodologies to optimize problems in transportation logistics. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Decision Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.

12. Mathematical Expressions. ithin the text, use the solidus whenever possible in preference to built-up fractions, e.g., a/(1 - b) exponentials in the form exp( ); avoid subscripts or superscripts on subscripts or superscripts; and, in general, minimize unusual typographical requirements. For displayed equations, use built-up fractions. Avoid lengthy equations that will take several lines to typeset (possibly by defining terms of the equations in separate displays).

Make subscripts and superscripts large and clear, and shown in a clearly inferior or superior position. The letter l and the numeral 1 and the letter O and the numeral 0, which are identical on most keyboards, should be identified. Symbols and Greek letters should be identified clearly. On their first occurrence, label unusual or ambiguous symbols by marginal notes. The difference between upper and lower case letters should be clear.

Display only those mathematical expressions that must be numbered for later reference or that need to be emphasized. Number displayed equations consecutively throughout the paper; do not number equations by section numbers. Appendix equations can be labeled A1, A2, etc. The numbers should be placed in parentheses to the right of the equation.

13. Tables. Tables should be numbered with Arabic numerals, have a title, and be referred to sequentially in the text. Column headings should be brief and not use abbreviations. Do not use vertical rules. The use of footnotes is encouraged; designate these by lower case letters. The submission of original tables suitable for reproduction is not necessary; all tables will be typeset for consistency. Each table should be on a separate sheet and not interleaved in the text.

14. Figures. Authors are responsible for the quality of the final form of figures in their papers. Authors should submit source files for the complete manuscript (text, figures, and tables), along with a .pdf file with embedded fonts for each figure. They should check all details of the figures carefully because corrections on page proofs are costly.

To avoid an undesirable moire effect, figures should be shaded in various solid grays. Different shadings of gray are preferred over patterns because they will produce a clearer result. Line weights should be uniform and at least 0.5 points after reduction. Lettering in the body of the figure should be printed in proportion to the graphic. Most figures will be reduced to approximately 3 1/4 inches in width. For optimal quality, submitted figures should be close to that size. Bitmap files of maps, photos, Web pages, etc., must be at least 300 dpi. Do not clutter the figure with information that makes it difficult to read.

Each figure must be cited and will be placed in numerical order, generally following its citation in the text. Each figure must have a caption and a number (Arabic). Do not differentiate between illustrations and figures.

Generally all figures will be printed in black and white, including those submitted in color. The option for color printing is available, provided that the editor in chief approves it and the authors agree to pay the additional expenses associated with color publication.

15. Subject Classification Scheme for the OR/MS Index. OR: Subject Classification Keywords Determine the appropriate subject classifications (up to 3) and accompanying descriptive phrases for all work submitted. Choose from one to three subject categories for each manuscript. For every category chosen, write a short phrase that puts the paper in context. (The phrase can be a concise rendering of the title, or it may specify some aspect of the paper that is important but not apparent in the title.) The length of each phrase, including spaces and punctuation, should not exceed 60 characters. This information will be printed on the title page of every article, technical note, and letter that is published.
Subject categories and phrases must appear on the title page of the manuscript: OR: Titlepage

16. Reprints. Authors may order reprints prior to publication. INFORMS will e-mail the order form to the author along with page proofs and the scanned and copyedited manuscript for proofreading. In addition, INFORMS will provide authors with a complimentary pdf file of their papers after publication. The pdf reflects the paper as it was published by INFORMS.

Document on demand is now available in pdf format via e-mail from INFORMS, which can provide any article from any of its journals. The price is US $10 for INFORMS members and $15 for nonmembers.

For security purposes, mail or fax your request to the attention of:

Randy S. Kiefer
Directory of Information Technology
INFORMS
7240 Parkway Drive, Suite 310
Hanover, MD 21076
phone: 443-757-3540
fax: 443-757-3515
e-mail: randy.kiefer@informs.org

E-mail requests are acceptable and help with the proper e-mail addressing for delivery, but credit card information should be sent via fax or mail for security. Please include the following information:

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