OR/MS Today - October 2000 - Anniversary Issues

October 2000

JORS Turns 50

The Journal of the Operational Research Society reaches milestone

By John Ranyard

The Journal of the Operational Research Society, popularly known as JORS, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year; it is the first OR journal in the world to do so. (Operations Research was founded in 1952 and Management Science in 1954.) The very first issue of JORS, consisting of 15 pages of size A5, was published in March 1950 as the OR Quarterly and contained just one paper, by Patrick (later Lord) Blackett, who is widely accepted as the father of OR in the United Kingdom. This paper, "Operational Research," was a wide-ranging review of the still emerging field and perhaps surprisingly contains much of contemporary relevance. In introducing the new publication, the joint editors, Roger Eddison and Max Davies, wrote, "To justify burdening the scientific world with yet another journal, two conditions must be rigorously fulfilled: undoubted utility and the utmost brevity." How true these thoughts are even today!

Early issues contained few original papers but concentrated on providing abstracts of OR and OR-like papers published elsewhere. Most originated from the U.K., but several were from the United States and one was from Germany. Examples include: Charles Kittel, Bell Telephone Labs, on "The Nature and Development of OR" (published in Science in 1947); William Orvath, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, on "OR — A Scientific Basis for Executive Decisions" (published in The American Statistician in October 1948); and "(UK) OR in the Research Associations" (published in Nature in April 1948). Early issues also included "News and Notes" — nowadays included in the ORS Newsletter (as with OR/MS Today) — but gradually original papers became the staple diet. In 1958, a "proper" cover was designed, which contained a measurement scale, no doubt intending to illustrate a major aspect of OR. Later that year Pergamon Press, headed by Robert Maxwell, was contracted to publish the Quarterly — an arrangement that lasted 30 years and which provided valuable income to the Society.

The original joint editors continued throughout the 1950s, with an editorial committee taking over in the early 1960s. Since 1964 a single editor has been in charge. (The author is just the seventh in the line.) All issues from 1964 contained the following definition of OR: "OR is the application of the methods of science to complex problems arising in the direction and management of large systems of men, machines, materials and money in industry, business, government and defence. The distinctive approach is to develop a scientific model of the system, incorporating measurement of factors such as chance and risk, with which to predict and compare the outcomes of alternative decisions, strategies or controls. The purpose is to help management to determine its policy and actions scientifically." This definition held until 1984, by which time it was felt to be too constraining an influence on OR.

As OR spread around the world and as the academic community expanded, the number of papers submitted to JORS increased dramatically, despite the emergence of competing publications. In 1970 a new cover was introduced, colour-coded according to the year. The first one was a rather dramatic red — very different from its black and grey predecessor and perhaps a sign of confidence in the future. (The old cover had also been criticised because the measurement scale seemed to represent no known units of length!) Issues grew in size and conference issues were added. Then, a second series was established, with one set of four issues devoted to mainly practical papers and the other to mainly theoretical ones, mimicking the Royal Statistical Society's publication policy.

Thus, for a time the Quarterly published eight and even nine issues per year! However, by 1978 it was clear that monthly publication was sustainable and the now familiar Journal of the Operational Research Society - JORS - came into being, with another new cover. In 1989, the publishing contract was transferred to MacMillan Press, where it remains today, albeit in the name of an associated company, Palgrave. Naturally enough, a new cover advertised the changeover, followed by further major revisions in 1996 (the shortest lived) and 1999.

Over the last 50 years the journal has published many influential papers from all over the world. For this anniversary, previous editors have selected key papers from their period in charge. One of these papers is being reprinted and inserted into each issue of 2000, together with a contemporary commentary. Naturally enough, the January issue contained the Blackett paper from the first issue; subsequent issues have included "Supranational OR" by Alec Lee (1970), then president of IFORS; "The solution of massive set partitioning problems for aircrew rostering" by New Zealand-based David Ryan (1992); and Russ Ackoff's influential pair of papers originally delivered at the ORS conference in 1978, "The future of OR is past" and "Resurrecting the future of OR." Ackoff's papers did much to stimulate, in the U.K. in particular, the development of "Soft OR" and problem structuring approaches such as Peter Checkland's Soft Systems Methodology. These approaches have extended the range of problems suited to OR; papers describing them have found a ready home in JORS.

When the journal first started there were few, if any, OR academics in the U.K., so early papers were almost exclusively authored by practitioners and described successful applications. Successive editors have always given priority to case-oriented papers whilst accepting the importance of new theoretical developments. Indeed, these developments have dramatically extended the range and scope of OR application. But the pressures to publish by the expanding academic OR community — and lack of incentive for practitioners — have led to a preponderance of theoretical submissions. In fact, in many countries OR has become synonymous with applied mathematics and the original thrust of helping managers to solve complex, real-world problems has diminished. Recently, JORS renewed its commitment to publishing accounts of "real OR." We now insist that papers be accompanied by a statement of the paper's contribution to the theory and practice of OR. However, we have yet to find a suitable means of stimulating papers from practitioners!

So what are the differences in JORS today, compared to 50 years ago? The first volume (four issues) contained 72 pages and five original — but rather general — papers, all from the U.K. Two part-time editors and a contract printer produced it. Today, I am chief editor, supported by a full-time editorial administrator, two associate editors (who manage about 20 percent of papers), two topic advisors (for papers on scheduling and inventory control), a book reviews editor and a 23-strong international advisory board, as well as hundreds of volunteer referees who are essential for maintaining the quality of published papers. Finally, there is the essential contribution from our publishers and their typesetters and printers.

In 1999, we published 1,300 pages and 130 papers (plus book reviews, viewpoints, citations, etc.) The papers originated from all over the world: 36 percent from the U.K., 22 percent from North America, 21 percent from the Pacific Rim/Australasia, 15 percent from Europe, 2 percent from Asia and 2 percent from the other parts of the world. Twenty-nine papers were "case-oriented." Halfway through 2000, we had already published 775 pages and 81 papers.

JORS enters its 51st year in good shape, with a steady supply of quality papers and efficient editorial and production processes. But the environment of scientific publishing is extremely uncertain due to the growing impact of Internet publishing. Like most journals, JORS is also published electronically and has online search facilities, although the editorial process is not yet all-electronic. Whilst it is likely that electronic publishing will become dominant, I personally doubt that it will become universal and believe the printed page will be with us for many years to come. However, wherever these trends lead, the criteria for successful publishing will remain unchanged: quality, reliability, relevance, timeliness — and perhaps brevity too! JORS is well placed to continue to influence and reflect on the key developments in our subject.

John Ranyard is the editor of JORS, a position he has held since 1997. A Senior Research Fellow, Lancaster University, Management Science Department, Ranyard served as president of the Operational Research Society from 1988-89. Over the past decade, he has attended several INFORMS and Roundtable meetings.

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