OR Insight will cease publication after this final issue. Why has this decision been taken and how did it come about?

OR Insight has been the practitioner-oriented journal of the Operational Research Society for many years. It was published in-house up to 2008, but since then it has been professionally produced with a blue A5 look that identified it as an academic peer-reviewed journal, one of six published by Palgrave Macmillan for the OR Society. OR Insight’s success continued after this change, leading to it being included in the Journal Ranking List produced by the Association of Business Schools and others.

The primary objective of OR Insight has been to publish articles that are readable, topical, relevant and of interest to managers, consultants and OR practitioners. It aimed to be an interesting and stimulating publication that would appeal not only to OR practitioners and consultants, but also to managers and others wishing to learn more about OR in practice. It sought to inform about not just the scope and potential of OR, but also developments in related areas.

However, recent debate and a strategic review have concluded that OR Insight’s identity within the OR Society’s family of academic journals is not the best way to achieve these aims. As a result, the OR Society and Palgrave Macmillan decided to cease publication of OR Insight with the completion of Volume 26 (the current volume).

A working group is now looking at achieving the aims of OR Insight through a practitioner-orientated magazine instead, to be available both in print and online, and supported by advertising and sponsorship. The articles will be short and highly visual. Watch the Society’s newsletter and Website for updates on this initiative.

We would like to thank the Associate Editors, our reviewers and our authors for their contributions to, and work in support of, OR Insight. We would also like to thank the staff at Palgrave Macmillan for the excellent support they have provided.