EJMS

What kind of papers are appropriate for AOAS?

We hope to publish papers that have substantive applied origins and involve relevant datasets, while also being of interest beyond the specific application. Papers that include innovative methodology brought to bear on scientific/policy questions and relevant data are especially welcome. Typically, a paper will be framed around one or more unresolved applied problems, where data are introduced to help address them. Data analyses should go well beyond numerical illustrations of calculations of proposed new methodology, with particular emphasis put on comparative analyses and substantive findings. Submissions without methodological innovation will be considered if the topic is of exceptionally broad interest, the application is groundbreaking, and the statistical methods used are state of the art.

How should papers be written?

AOAS is intended to be read by all professional statisticians, as well as by other scientists who are interested in particular areas of statistical application. It is important for the abstract and introduction to say What scientific/policy question(s) the paper addresses, Why the topic is of interest, and How the data analyses will address these questions, in as non-technical a manner as possible. Click on “Guidelines for Referees” for more on the kind of papers published in AOAS.

Style

There are a few stylistic differences between AOAS and other IMS journals:

• References should be in the name/year format.
  The initial reference in each section should be full, e.g.,

  Smith, Jones, and Roberts (1992),

  using “et al.” for more than three authors; subsequent references can be abbreviated, e.g.,

  Smith et al. (1992).

• We encourage use of the IMS LaTex template when preparing your manuscript. The default setting is for numbered citations and references. To get the name-year format, change the line
  

  \RequirePackage[numbers]{natbib}

  to

  \RequirePackage{natbib}

  i.e., delete [numbers].

• Footnotes are allowed, but should not be overused.

Authors may use British or American spelling, as they prefer.

How long should papers be?

Most published papers will not exceed 20 pages (about 500 words per page, with figures typically taking 1/3 page and displayed equations 30 words each), anything longer requiring unusually compelling subject matter.

What materials can be submitted along with the paper?

We strongly encourage submission of data sets, computer algorithms and supporting material (see instructions below.) This can help the editors and referees in the review process. We will archive supporting material along with the electronic versions of accepted papers.

How are papers submitted?

Papers must be submitted electronically. Access the Electronic Journal Management System (EJMS) at https://www.e-publications.org/ims/submission/. If you are a first time user complete the registration (you are only required to register once.) After registration you can submit your manuscript. Manuscripts must be submitted in pdf form.

Attached documents are allowed and strongly encouraged for data sets, algorithms etc. Programs should be self-contained and run on standard platforms.

Manuscripts must be written in LaTeX using AOAS’s template. Template will set proper margins and font, sample.pdf and sample.tex files will assist in the preparation of a camera-ready paper in LaTeX. These documents contain useful information regarding the structure of your document, proper tagging style, layout features, etc. Please do not use any packages or commands that affect the layout or formatting of your document.

Please see the LaTeX support page for IMS publications to use the IMS recommended template.

How are papers handled?

Your paper will be screened by the Editor-In-Chief and and if appropriate it will be assigned to an Area Editor with relevant substantive and methodological expertise (you get to suggest an area on the submission form, but we may change the assignment). The Area Editor has full control of your paper after that, including final decisions concerning publication. All further correspondence concerning the paper will be with the Area Editor.

Archive for supplementary material

Because applied statistics is focused on substantive problems revolving around real data, most of the papers in AOAS will deal with the analysis of one or more datasets. In keeping with the principle that scientific results need to be replicable, AOAS strongly encourages authors to make the data used in papers published in AOAS available for others to analyze. The editors recognize that this is easier to do in some situations than in others. Some data sets may already be available electronically and only a pointer (URL) is required. For data gathered on individuals and organizations, the preservation of confidentiality may prevent complete public access, but “privacy-protected” extracts without identifiers may be sharable, or individuals can request access to confidential files through special licensing or other agreements.

For material that is important to the paper but that may be extensive or secondary to the primary arguments, authors are encouraged to utilize web-based supplementary files. These may include data sets, software, or extensive mathematical derivations, in addition to algorithms or code for carrying out the analyses presented in a paper. Such supplements will be included in the review process and sent along with the files when an article is accepted for publication.  These supplement files will be permanently posted with the electronically accessible version of the journal at Project Euclid.

Follow the instructions here if your paper/supplement has been accepted for publication.