Aims and Scope

ACM Journal of Experimental Algorithmics (JEA) is devoted to the study of discrete algorithms and data structures from an empirical perspective. The journal welcomes original submissions that focus on design, implementation, and performance evaluation through a combination of experimentation and classical techniques.

In addition, JEA aims to become a forum to distribute programs and testbeds throughout the research community and to provide a repository of useful programs and packages to both researchers and practitioners.

JEA welcomes research on algorithms and data structures for all sorts of practical computation models, including deterministic, randomized, approximate, online, parallel, distributed, streaming, and external-memory. The following are some typical, but by no means exclusive, application areas:

    combinatorial optimization
    computational biology
    computational geometry
    graph manipulation
    integer arithmetic and cryptography
    machine learning and AI
    management of massive datasets
    routing and scheduling
    searching and sorting
    string processing
    VLSI design
    web search and information retrieval

The ACM JEA was established to address the following issues:

    The empirical study of combinatorial algorithms is a rapidly growing research area, with no proper outlet for publication.
    Communication among researchers in this area must include more than a summary of results or a discussion of methods; the actual programs and data used are of critical importance.
    Many published algorithms and data structures have never been implemented by anyone and are at risk of remaining theoretical "curiosities.'' To bring such algorithms and data structures into the practical realm often requires considerable sophistication; researchers need to be encouraged to turn their talents in that direction.
    Most researchers find that they must program their own version of this or that well-known algorithm or data structure, because repositories for these are not available.
    The two preceding reasons also explain why practitioners only rarely use state-of-the-art algorithms and data structures; a repository of routines, most with well documented behavior on realistic test cases, will encourage practitioners to use more recent results.

Therefore, the ACM JEA has two principal aims:

    To stimulate research in algorithms based upon implementation and experimentation; in particular, to encourage testing, evaluation and reuse of complex theoretical algorithms and data structures.
    To distribute programs and testbeds throughout the research community and to provide a repository of useful programs and packages to both researchers and practitioners.

For more information about submitting to the ACM JEA, read the instructions for authors at the journal website. Inquiries may be sent to any member of the editorial board, or to the Editor in Chief, Gonzalo Navarro, at gnavarro@dcc.uchile.cl.