INFORMS Open Forum

  • 1.  Interfaces name

    Posted 12-14-2018 10:06
    As most or all of you are aware due to a recent email, and other sources - Interfaces name is changing to the INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics (IJAA).  The full email is reproduced below.

    To read more about this and other IJAA happenings, please read my official Editor's Statement here.

    I have received a great number of supportive emails - thanks to all!

    I have already begun to receive inquiries from potential authors about the possibility of publishing in IJAA, so am encouraged already by the potential increase in outreach and readership.

    Thanks to all for your patience, passion and support of Interfaces (rather, INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics) throughout this transition!

    Michael F. Gorman
    University of Dayton
    Editor-in-Chief, INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics
    ___________________

    I wanted to send a quick note to personally welcome you to the INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics, formerly Interfaces.

    I am pleased to announce that, after an extensive survey of the INFORMS membership, the INFORMS board approved the name change. The name change came about for many reasons, including the following rationales: 

    1. Outreach. Interfaces is an outreach journal-outreach to educators, students, and practitioners who are and who are not INFORMS members. Many of those possible downloaders, subscribers, or INFORMS members think Interfaces is about coaxial cables and USB ports. The journal is less able to achieve this important component of its mission with such an indistinct name.

    2. Branding. The name change is consistent with INFORMS strategy. The list of analytics-related successes is long and includes the Analytics Society, the Analytics Conference, and the Certified Analytics Professional Examination. Recently, the Edelman Award has adopted a new name along these lines as well: the Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Advanced Analytics, Operations Research, and Management Science.

    3. Growth. With the more precise name, INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics, the content published within the journal's pages is more likely to reach students, instructors, practitioners, and researchers in related disciplines and introduce them to the benefits of OR/MS and analytics in practice. This outreach role is critical to Interfaces' value proposition. I anticipate a growth in the rate of search hits, downloads, subscriptions, and paper submissions as a result of reaching a wider audience.

    INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics makes sense for Interfaces. Think about how the name communicates its mission.

    • INFORMS. This brands our organization. When a professional googles "analytics," INFORMS shows up as part of the search hits. As with so many of the broader INFORMS initiatives, this helps place OR/MS in the center of analytics.

    • Journal. This conveys academic rigor. The IJAA is not a magazine or a glamor, fluff, or marketing publication. We will continue to maintain an academically rigorous review process. Our editorial mission will not change.

    • Applied. This word is meant to communicate to academics that this is not a theoretical journal. We want to let potential authors know that their work must be applied. Impact is measured in dollars, lives, or quality more than in citations. Further, it communicates to practitioners that the content of the journal is practical, useful, and applicable, not theoretical.

    • Analytics. The word analytics here is both obvious and a primary driver of our name change. We want to reach a wider audience, particularly the professionals who identify with, are enthusiastic about, and will turn to a journal whose title includes such a word.

    Finally, this naming format mirrors other INFORMS journals (Computing, Transactions on Education, and Optimization); therefore, it is consistent with INFORMS naming conventions.

    It is my belief that the name IJAA will increase the ability of the journal to meet both of its objectives of rigorous academic research and outreach for our discipline.

    To read more about this and other IJAA happenings, please read my official Editor's Statement here.

    I appreciate the high level of interest and passion that surrounds the IJAA. Thank you all for your support. 

     

    Michael F. Gorman

    Editor-in-Chief

    INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics



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    Michael Gorman
    Professor
    University of Dayton
    Dayton OH
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