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Editorial Policies
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Focus and Scope Peer Review Process Publication Frequency Open Access Policy Archiving |
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| Focus and Scope | |
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Statistics Surveys publishes survey articles in theoretical, computational, and applied statistics. The style of articles may range from reviews of recent research to graduate textbook exposition. Articles may be broad or narrow in scope. The essential requirements are a well specified topic and target audience, together with clear exposition. |
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| Peer Review Process | |
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In order to maintain the highest possible research standards, papers will be refereed in the usual way, and no attempt will be made to speed up the refereeing process at the cost of quality. |
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| Publication Frequency | |
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The articles are published shortly after being accepted, usually within a week. |
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| Open Access Policy | |
 This journal provides open access to all of it content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Such access is associated with increased readership and increased citation of an author's work. For more information on this approach, see the Public Knowledge Project, which has designed this system to improve the scholarly and public quality of research, and which freely distributes the journal system as well as other software to support the open access publishing of scholarly resources. |
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| Archiving | |
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This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More... |
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| Submission Process and Editorial Procedure | |
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The submission process is the currently emerging standard process; i.e., LaTeX papers in a simple template are uploaded by the author to the journal site. Authors are encouraged to specify a particular Associate Editor; otherwise the Coordinating Editor will assign an Associate Editor. Associate Editors will choose reviewers, as in any peer-reviewed journal. The reviews for Statistics Surveys will emphasize criteria such as whether the topic deserves a survey, and whether the paper does a reasonably thorough job of surveying its chosen topic. See Guidelines for Referees. Here is a high-level description of the events once a paper is successfully submitted to Statistics Surveys. See About this Publishing System for more information on the review and publishing process. A. NOTIFICATION OF SUBMISSION: The Executive Editors (EEs) and the Coordinating Editor (CE) receive notification via email that a paper has been submitted. B. AE ASSIGNMENT: i) If the author suggests an AE, then the EEs and CE will make every effort to assign the paper to that AE. ii) If an AE is not suggested, then the EEs and the CE will work together to assign the paper to an AE in a timely manner. C. REVIEW PROCESS: The AE will obtain reviewers and will handle the communication process with the author. The paper will be handled by the AE until a decision to accept or reject the paper is made. D. DECISION: In most cases, the AE will make the decision to accept or reject the paper and will communicate this decision to all EEs and the CE. The EE and/or CE will make the final decision in borderline cases. The CE will notify the author of the decision. See the Statistics Surveys Constitution for more information on the editorial structure and editor's responsibilities. |
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| Other editorial policy matters | |
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Time to publication: The goal is to have reviews back to authors in a timely manner. Initial reviews can be expected within 1 to 2 months from the date of submission. Page length: Because this is not a print journal, the number of pages in an article is not usually of great concern. However, due to the time involved in reviewing a long article, articles greater than 50 pages are discouraged. Student-advisor papers: Ph.D. students often learn a lot of background information on the state-of-the-art in a particular topic in the course of their research. Subsequently writing a survey (jointly with advisor, perhaps) provides exposure for the new researcher as well as a service to the profession; Statistics Surveys encourages such submissions. Summer school lectures: Short lecture courses at research-level summer schools often make ideal survey papers. An imaginative instructor in a Research Experience for Undergraduates program might be able to coordinate a group write-up in survey paper form. Co-publication: Statistics Surveys may co-publish articles which are simultaneously published in some non open-access format, or solicit updated versions of previously published surveys. |
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| Guidelines for referees | |
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Thank you for agreeing to help edit Statistic Surveys. We seek high quality papers covering theory, computation, methodology, or applications. When refereeing for SS, please keep the following in mind. (1) Positive Refereeing. Please resist having a "reject if possible" attitude. We do want to keep the quality high, but don't reject papers for subjective, vague reasons. Whenever possible, try to give concrete suggestions for improving the paper. (2) Clarity. Because SS covers a wide range of topics, we don't expect that every statistician can read every paper. Still, we expect authors to write as clearly as possible. The abstract and introduction should be accessible to a wide audience. (3) Correctness. Mathematical and algorithmic validity are the authors' professional responsibility. Referees can spot implausible claims and broad errors of statistical or mathematical reasoning, but are not expected to perform a line-by-line check of technical results, unless the referee feels that careful checking is crucial to the paper. (4) Novelty and content. Papers should survey or review a well-defined area of significant interest. Novelty or new material is not an essential requirement. (5) Unusual ideas are welcome. Fresh and unusual points of view are particularly welcome in SS, even if they may be controversial. (6) The big picture. Your opinion about the paper's basic qualities rather than an extended technical review is most important to us. (7) Timing. Please submit your report in 3 weeks if at all possible. If you need more time, let the Associate Editor know. Thank you again for your help. Good refereeing is the key ingredient of a successful journal. |
Statistics Surveys. ISSN: 1935-7516