Call for Papers on Emerging Topics in Health Decision Analysis
Decision analysis is well suited to dealing with emerging topics in health care, which are often characterized by the need to make decisions in the face of uncertainty, conflicting objectives, limited evidence, and complex trade-offs. The INFORMS journal Decision Analysis is therefore seeking papers on emerging topics in health decision analysis.
A wide range of topics will be considered for the special issue. With regard to infectious disease epidemics and emerging threats, such as the recent worldwide coronavirus epidemic, topics may include but are not limited to:
- Prospective or retrospective analysis of decisions relating to isolation, quarantine, or travel restrictions;
- Bayesian or other statistical methods for estimating transmission and mortality rates, especially in the presence of incomplete, rapidly changing, and potentially inaccurate data;
- Analysis of potential supply-chain disruptions and response strategies;
- Guidance for risk communication based on behavioral decision theory;
- Use of social media for risk estimation and/or risk communication;
- Design of incentives for stakeholders (policymakers, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare providers, and patients);
- Prioritization of diseases and/or selection of counter-measures for risk mitigation; and
- Lessons learned from decision analyses of past disease outbreaks.
Other health-related topics of interest may include:
- The role of artificial intelligence and big data in healthcare and medical decision making;
- Dealing with the competing challenges of opiate addiction and pain management;
- Strategies for preventing, detecting, and/or responding to biological terrorism;
- Decision making in the context of personalized medicine;
- Impacts of climate change on human health;
- The role of decision analysis in supporting global health policy-making and global health security; and
- Assessing alternative approaches to providing healthcare coverage.
Papers submitted to Decision Analysis will go through the regular refereeing process, and must meet standards for archival publications. Papers must also fit the scope of the journal; see https://pubsonline.informs.org/page/deca/editorial-statement. Thus, for example, a paper that provided only a mathematical model of disease spread, without a connection to decision making, might be appropriate for another journal, but not for Decision Analysis.
The journal commits to rapid turnaround of papers for this special issue, with the following expected timeline:
- Letter of intent with extended (one-page) abstract: April 15, 2020
- Initial submission deadline: December 15, 2020
- First round of reviews: ≤ 6 weeks after submission
- Publication: Fall 2021
Submission before December 15 is strongly encouraged; accepted papers will be published online within one month after submission of final accepted version, before the special issue is complete. Prospective authors should email a letter of intent and abstract to one of the guest editors:
Prof. Elisa Long, UCLA,
elisa.long@anderson.ucla.edu;
Prof. Gilberto Montibeller, Loughborough University,
G.Montibeller@lboro.ac.uk; or
Prof. Jun Zhuang, University at Buffalo,
jzhuang@buffalo.edu------------------------------
Vicki Bier
Professor
University of Wisconsin
Madison WI
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