New article types in Statistica Neerlandica
Ernst C. Wit · Statistica Neerlandica · 2023
In May 2023 a new editorial team, consisting of Edwin van den Heuvel, Veronica Vinciotti and myself, Ernst Wit, currently with the help of Casper Albers, have taken over from our predecessors, Nan van Geloven, Marijtje van Duijn, and Miroslav Ristic. We have immediately moved to a new format, of which we have informed you in the previous issue of Statistica Neerlandica, consisting of a fast-turnaround system with the aim of going from first submission to actual publication in two (!) months' time. Despite the efforts required on the part of the editors, associate editors and the publisher Wiley, the system seems to be working as intended. After the first half year, we are seeing the first fruits of this new approach. The first publications of the new regime are already available online, well within the 2-month target, and the number of quality submissions to Statistica Neerlandica is up. Clearly, we need to see how the system will develop in the future, but the first signs are encouraging. Besides the fast-turnaround system, we also want to diversify our offerings in the journal to better connect to the statistical society and the readers of Statistica Neerlandica. For eight decades we have only had the research paper, in which statistical researchers presented their research in a typical 20-page (or so) format. This trusted article type will obviously stay, as it a universal scientific currency with value for researchers and readers alike. From now on, however, we will also accept three new article types, in particular, Short Notes, Tutorials and State-of-the-Art reviews. Short Notes are short contributions that present a single, original, and significant discovery for rapid dissemination. They are aimed at informing colleagues about a finding, useful for the application, computation, methodology or theory of statistics. They should not be longer than 6–7 pages (2,500 words). These short notes can avoid long introductions or conclusions, and they do not need a lot of contextualization. They are little statistical gems, nice insights, useful mathematical tools that can aid the rest of the statistical community. Tutorials are aimed at introducing a general area of statistical theory, statistical methodology, statistical computing, statistical software, or an important application area of statistics. The tutorial should act as an introduction to those not already familiar with the area, and as a review to others. The mathematical level of each depends upon the topic. In all cases, however, the tutorial will strive for the broadest possible audience of researchers who comprise the readership of Statistica Neerlandica. Whereas tutorials are introductory, State-of-the-Art reviews focus on the latest developments. State-of-the-Art reviews aim at bringing an interested statistical audience up-to-date in an important and topical subject in the field of statistics with a focus on summarizing the latest advances. Although they present advanced material, they should be accessible to a dedicated and interested statistician, not just experts. They should serve as a way for interested researchers to get quickly up-to-date with the state-of-the-art in a certain topic of statistics. For this reason, State-of-the-Art Articles should be limited to approximately 12–13 pages (5,000 words). As we strive to make Statistica Neerlandica a Q1 journal again, we invite the community to reach out to us with suggestions, to give us feedback about how we are doing, and, obviously, to submit one's manuscripts to the journal, either as a research paper or as one of the three new formats: Short Note, Tutorial or State-of-the-Art review. We are looking forward to receiving many more quality submissions.