The Annals of Applied Statistics is planning a special issue on Statistics and Artificial Intelligence. Editor-in-Chief Lexin Li [see his editorial reprint below] writes to invite your paper submission:
The Annals of Applied Statistics invites submissions for a special issue dedicated to the intersection of statistics and artificial intelligence (AI). This issue aims to deepen integration between the two fields, highlighting their complementary strengths and shared challenges across real-world applications. By bringing together innovative contributions, it seeks to advance methodological development, promote cross-disciplinary collaboration, and broaden the influence of statistical thinking in AI in all application areas.
Topics and Aspects
Papers should clearly identify a core problem motivated by significant real-world applications, where the integration of AI and statistical principles can produce novel and impactful solutions to applied sciences. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, modern AI-related study design, deep learning, reinforcement learning, representation learning, generative AI, large language models, and alignment, interpretation and uncertainty quantification of AI models. Applications may span the biological, medical, neural, environmental, physical, social, and political sciences, as well as the humanities, music, electronic health records, wearable technologies, and precision and smart health.
The following types of papers, as well as their combinations, will be considered.
- How statistics contributes to AI:
The focus should be on demonstrating how statistical principles and theories provide unique insights and enhanced solutions to the identified AI problems arising from various applications. Submissions should highlight how statistics can inspire and strengthen AI methods and tools to advance real-world scientific discovery. - How AI contributes to statistics:
The focus should be on illustrating how advances in AI provide new perspectives and tools that enrich statistical theories, methodologies, and applications. Submissions should demonstrate how AI techniques can enhance statistical estimation and inference, and broaden the scope and impact of statistical applications.
Submission Guidelines
Submission window: November 1–December 5, 2025.
Manuscripts must be original and not under review by other journals or conferences.
Submissions should follow the journal’s formatting and submission guidelines.
Authors should choose “Special Issue on Statistics and AI” in the type of manuscript category for submission.
Important Dates*
Submission window: November 1, 2025 – December 5, 2025.
Completion of first round of review by March 1, 2026
First revision due by June 1, 2026
Completion of second round of review by August 1, 2026
Second revision due by October 1, 2026
Final decision on paper acceptance by November 1, 2026
Publication of the special issue: December 2026, or March 2027
* All papers should be submitted within the specified submission window. The other listed dates represent “no later than” deadlines for revision submissions and reviews.
Special Issue Editors
Lexin Li, Editor-in-Chief
Michael R. Kosorok, Guest Editor
Annie Qu, Guest Editor
Catherine Calder, Area Editor for social, political, and environmental sciences
Edward Kennedy, Area Editor for causal inference, design, and policy
Jessica Li, Area Editor for computational biology, bioinformatics, genetics, and genomics
Po-Ling Loh, Area Editor for machine learning and artificial intelligence
Tapabrata Maiti, Area Editor for neuroscience, physical science, and engineering
Peter Song, Area Editor for medical science, electronic health records, and smart health.
Annals of Applied Statistics shaping the future: an editorial
Lexin Li took over from Ji Zhu as Editor-in-Chief of the Annals of Applied Statistics in January. He invites your paper submissions on the next page for a planned special issue on Statistics and AI. But first, we reprint his editorial from the March 2025 AOAS issue:
Shaping the Future:
A Vision for the Annals of Applied Statistics in a Transformative Era
Dear Readers, Authors, Referees, Associate Editors and Area Editors:
I am deeply honored and delighted to serve as the Editor-in-Chief for the Annals of Applied Statistics, starting January 1, 2025. As we enter this new phase of the journey, I would like to sincerely thank the current Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Ji Zhu, and also share my vision and a few thoughts for the journal.
Vision for a transformative era
We are now in a transformative era, with rapid advancements in technology and artificial intelligence (AI), and the emergence of unprecedented data modalities and volumes. It presents a unique and timely opportunity to foster stronger connections between statistics, AI, and real-world applications. Statistical principles and methodological innovation are critical to addressing the complexities of modern applications. Our journal will strive to serve as a bridge, and will promote collaborative research to better harness the power of data and address pressing challenges across science, technology, and society.
Introduction of new tracks
In addition to regular research papers, we are excited to introduce some new tracks to enhance the journal’s scope and impact:
• Prospective papers: These articles will provide an overview of a specific area or topic, identify open questions with significant potential impact, and offer resources to help researchers engage with the field more effectively.
• Data-centric papers: These articles will provide benchmark datasets, and focus on introducing new data types, data infrastructures, and data processing pipelines, to facilitate data accessibility and usability.
Emphasis on emerging topics
While we will remain committed to research in all aspects of applied statistics, such as computational biology, medicine, neuroscience, environmental, physical, social and political sciences, we are equally excited to emphasize and explore emerging research topics, including but not limited to:
• Large language models and generative AI;
• Deep learning and reinforcement learning;
• Electronic health records and personalized medicine;
• Wearable devices and smart health;
• Causal inference in complex biological, medical and social systems.
We also welcome your suggestions for additional cutting-edge topics that align with our mission.
Uniqueness of our journal
Our journal is distinguished by its strong emphasis on solving real-world problems through rigorous and novel statistical methodology. Papers published here should:
• Be driven by real-world applications: Research should address a real-world problem of practical significance, not just a theoretical exercise.
• Feature prominent use of real data: Data should play a central role, not merely serve as an illustrative example. We highly regard new and actionable insights derived from in-depth analysis of data that have direct impact on science.
• Innovate methodologically: While we encourage applications of existing methods, we particularly value the development of new methodologies that yield novel insights into practical problems.
Commitment to timely review and reproducible research
We understand the critical importance of timely publication in a fast-moving field, as well as the necessity of reproducible research.
• Streamline the review process: We will work diligently to maintain reasonable review timelines and expedite decisions whenever feasible. We will strive to provide high-quality and constructive reviews.
• Promote reproducible research: Authors are strongly encouraged to submit data sets, computer code and other supporting materials after the paper is accepted to facilitate reproducibility.
Authors are also encouraged to follow the predictability-computability-stability principle and documentation.
This is an exciting time to be part of the statistics and AI communities. I invite researchers, practitioners, and innovators to contribute their best work to our journal. Together, we can push the boundaries and shape the future of our discipline. Thank you for your continued support, and I look forward to collaborating with you all in the years to come.
Warm regards,
Lexin Li
Editor-in-Chief, The Annals of Applied Statistics