Aims and scope

The Annals of Operations Research publishes peer-reviewed original articles dealing with some aspects of operations research, including theory, practice, and computation. Submissions may include full-length research articles, short notes, expositions and surveys, reports on computational studies, and case studies of new or innovative practical applications.

The Annals of Operations Research also publishes special volumes focusing on well-defined fields of operations research, ranging from the highly theoretical to the algorithmic and the very applied. Such volumes have one or more Guest Editors who are personally responsible for collecting the papers to appear in the volume, for overseeing the refereeing process, and for keeping the volume on schedule. Potential Guest Editors of new refereed volumes (proceedings of conferences, monographs, or focused collections of papers) in major OR areas are cordially invited to put forward their suggestions to the Editor-in-Chief.

New submissions should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief, and manuscripts should be prepared following the "Instructions for Authors" on the journal’s homepage: www.springer.com/journal/10479. Manuscripts submitted for the Annals of Operations Research should report on original research, and should not have been previously published, or submitted for publication to any other journal.

Officially cited as: Ann Oper Res 

Special Issue on Advancing Operational Research with Artificial Intelligence: New Frontiers in Modelling and Simulation with Data driven Learning
Submission Date: 2025-03-10

Annals of Operations Research invites submissions for the special issue on Advancing Operational Research with Artificial Intelligence: New Frontiers in Modelling and Simulation with Data driven Learning. The issue aims to showcase the methodological advancements in combining Modelling and Simulation (M&S) techniques, such as discrete event and agent based simulation, with data driven approaches from Machine Learning (ML), Data Science (DS), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and related fields of study. Conceptual and case study papers are also welcome. Papers for the special issue must demonstrate the added value of combining approaches.

Operations Research (OR) has long been at the forefront of decision making. With the advent of data driven techniques, there are unprecedented opportunities to enrich classical OR approaches through mixing methods. The integrated approach holds the promise of offering new perspectives for understanding complex systems' phenomena, enhancing model accuracy, optimising processes, and reducing computational costs whilst improving decision support capabilities. The OR approach that we focus on is modelling and computer simulation.

We seek high quality contributions that explore the synergies between M&S and AI/ML/DS, particularly the application of AI and ML in enhancing modelling accuracy and efficiency and informing decision making in manufacturing and service sectors. We encourage contributions demonstrating the potential of combining M&S ML/AI/DS in solving complex problems. We welcome submissions that review the literature to identify the current state of the art and the opportunities for future research in this rapidly evolving field. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

- Reviews and meta analyses that map the current landscape and future directions of combining M&S with ML/AI/DS
- Theoretical advancements
- Conceptual modelling approaches, for example, using Soft Operations Research techniques such as problem structuring, SSM, and QSD for the development of hybrid AI/ML/DS M&S models
- Contributions related to framework development, for example, studies that aim to combine AI/ML/DS into existing OR and M&S frameworks
- Methodological innovations in integrating AI/ML/DS with traditional M&S techniques, such as discrete event simulation, agent based modelling, system dynamics, and hybrid simulation
- Industry case studies using primary data
- Optimisation and risk analysis using the hybrid M&S AI/ML/DS approaches
- Novel approaches in M&S that leverage AI/ML/DS for enhanced accuracy and efficiency of operations
- Case studies demonstrating the successful application of AI/ML/DS enhanced OR solutions in logistics, healthcare, finance, manufacturing, supply chain management, and other domains

Instructions for authors can be found at:

https://link.springer.com/journal/10479/submission-guidelines

Authors should submit a cover letter and a manuscript by March 31, 2025, via the Journal's online submission site. Please see the Author Instructions on the website if you have not yet submitted a paper through Springer's web based system, Editorial Manager (EM). When prompted for the article type, please select Original Research. On the Additional Information screen, you will then be asked if the manuscript belongs to a special issue, please select the special issue's title, Advancing Operational Research with Artificial Intelligence: New Frontiers in Modelling and Simulation with Data driven Learning, to ensure that it will be reviewed for this special issue. Manuscripts submitted after the deadline may not be considered for the special issue and may be transferred, if accepted, to a regular issue.

Papers will be subject to a strict review process under the supervision of the Guest Editors, and accepted papers will be published online individually, before print publication.

In case of any questions, please contact by email one of the Guest Editors

Special Issue on Operations Research Trends: CLAIO 2024
Submission Date: 2025-04-01

Annals of Operations Research seeks submissions for a special issue on Operations Research Trends: CLAIO 2024. We invite all participants of CLAIO 2024 to submit the extended full version of their presented contributions to this special issue. Papers not presented at the conference are welcome, thus this is open to the OR community worldwide.

The deadline for submission is April 1, 2025.

The main topics of interest are (but not restricted to):

● OR modeling, theory, and algorithms
● OR integration with AI and ML
● OR applications in health care, energy, agriculture, finance, etc.
● Supply chain management
● Transportation and logistics
● Stochastic and robust optimization
● Combinatorial optimization
● Constraint programming
● Multicriteria optimization
● Multicriteria decision-making and evaluation
● Sustainable development goals in OR
● Simulation

Instructions for authors can be found at:

http://www.springer.com/business/operations+research/journal/10479

Special Issue on Operations Research for Sustainable Development
Submission Date: 2025-04-04

The topic of sustainable development has become more important than ever in the academic and policy agendas. In its broader definition sustainability requires to ensure an appropriate balance of economic, health, and environmental needs. The complexity of the current socio-economic system characterized by uncertainty, irreversibility, and tipping points makes such a search of a proper balance particularly difficult.

This special issue will collect a series of works that contribute to the understanding of the challenges associated with the process of sustainable development by exploring the dynamic links among economic activities, health conditions, and environmental outcomes. Specifically, the main goal of this special issue is to develop innovative operations research methods to better support policymakers in their efforts to promote sustainability in a broader sense. It aims to address a number of issues in the context of sustainable development placing particular emphasis on the development and application of novel operations research techniques.

The main topics of interest are:

We welcome contributions addressing several aspects of the dynamic relation among economy, health, and the environment. Papers may rely on a wide range of economic, mathematical, and complexity approaches, making a novel contribution in OR theory and methodology. Topics of special interest are related to the following areas:

• Deterministic and stochastic optimization
• Complexity and network theory
• Dynamic and evolutionary games
• Mean field and stochastic games
• Spatial diffusion and spatial agglomeration
• Multicriteria methods and multi-objective optimization
• Agent-based and computable general equilibrium models
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning

This call for papers is related to the HEDGE (Health, Environment, Development, and Growth Economics) conference which will take place in Pisa on 2-4 September 2024, but it is open to everyone. Both conference participants and non-participants are encouraged to submit high-quality papers dealing with topics related to operations research for sustainable development.

Instructions for authors can be found at: http://www.springer.com/business/operations+research/journal/10479

Authors should submit a cover letter and a manuscript by April 30, 2025, via the Journal’s online submission site. Please see the Author Instructions on the web site if you have not yet submitted a paper through Springer's web-based system, Editorial Manager. When prompted for the article type, please select Original Research. On the Additional Information screen, you will be asked if the manuscript belongs to a special issue, please choose yes and the special issue’s title, Operations Research for Sustainable Development, to ensure that it will be reviewed for this special issue. Manuscripts submitted after the deadline may not be considered for the special issue and may be transferred, if accepted, to a regular issue.

Papers will be subject to a strict review process under the supervision of the Guest Editors, and accepted papers will be published online individually, before print publication.

Special Issue on Multiple Objective Programming and Goal Programming: Sustainability and Beyond
Submission Date: 2025-05-15

This special issue aims to publish selected papers presented during the 15th International Conference on Multiple Objective Programming and Goal Programming (MOPGP'23: http://mopgp.org/) that will be held on 02–04 October 2023, in İzmir, Türkiye. Contributions arising from papers presented at the conference should be substantially extended and cite the conference paper where appropriate. The special issue will also consider papers not presented during the conference.

The topics include all areas of Multiple Objective Programming and Goal Programming (MOPGP) applied to sustainability and its economic, ecological, and social dimensions. Inherited to multi-criteria nature of the sustainability problems, the contribution of MOPGP studies is vital. MOPGP literature naturally embraces sustainability since they have already considered value/impact maximization, cost/risk minimization, increasing efficiency and effectiveness. To this extent, this special issue will cover theories and application of MOPGP focusing on, but not limited to United Nations sustainability goals:

• GOAL 1: No Poverty
• GOAL 2: Zero Hunger
• GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being
• GOAL 4: Quality Education
• GOAL 5: Gender Equality
• GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
• GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
• GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
• GOAL 10: Reduced Inequality
• GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
• GOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
• GOAL 13: Climate Action
• GOAL 14: Life Below Water
• GOAL 15: Life on Land
• GOAL 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
• GOAL 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal