With much genuine enthusiasm, I gladly assume the position of Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Applied Statistics (JAS). As a regular reader and contributor of JAS, I have witnessed the Journal's tremendous growth in recent years, in terms of a dramatically increased number of submissions, growth in the number of issues, a wider spectrum of statistical applications, and better impact and visibility in direct and implicit measures. We commend the former Editor, Professor Robert G. Aykroyd, for his significant contributions to JAS, and we are whole-heartedly thankful to him, the editorial advisory board members, and many colleagues from around the world for their invaluable professional service to the Journal and to our profession.
The Journal of Applied Statistics serves the statistical research community with inspiring applications of existing and newly developed statistical theories covering multiple disciplines. Since its launch in 1974, JAS has produced 270 issues with articles totaling more than 40,000 pages, and many articles have received good numbers of citations in the statistical literature. It is fair to say that JAS has a long history of cherishing excellence and creativity in applied statistics from academics and practitioners. As the new Editor-in-Chief of JAS, I take pride in inheriting the Journal's well-established past. I am grateful to the high profile colleagues who have joined the new editorial board recently, in addition to the current editorial advisory board members. I am eager to work with the editorial board and the broader statistical research community to build on the current strengths of the Journal, to move beyond its current stature, and to further improve the Journal's overall impact.
JAS has been a platform for communication of applied statistical techniques between statisticians and practitioners across a wide range of disciplines. The world has been rapidly changing while new technologies have been emerging at an unprecedentedly fast pace, and research in applied statistics has developed just as rapidly. One of the major reasons for the phenomenon is the onset of ‘big data’ generated by new technologies in almost every aspect of our society and all scientific disciplines, especially in biomedical sciences. A few years back, ‘data science’ was still an uncertain term, but it is now a reality with the explosion of ‘big data’. Statisticians are scientists working with data, big or small. In particular, in this ‘big data’ era, statisticians have plenty of data to work with and have more challenging tasks to tackle than ever before, whilst upholding proper application of statistical principles. Therefore, it is the perfect time to introduce and implement some changes that I believe will continue to build on the foundational strengths of JAS and further boost its reputation as a leading forum for quality scholarship in applied statistics.
First and foremost, JAS will undoubtedly continue to publish manuscripts that demonstrate lucid statistical protocols developed for analyzing data from various fields. Moreover in this new era, JAS will naturally embrace upcoming interdisciplinary research that involves proper statistical applications in various disciplines. As John Tukey once said, ‘the best thing about being a statistician is that you get to play in everyone else's backyard’. Statisticians, especially applied statisticians, must learn to know about the ‘backyard’ of others. In other words, they must have a deep understanding of the background from which the data are gathered in order to appropriately model and analyze the data. Needless to say, statistical science should bring more subject matter knowledge into its foundation, and applied statistics papers should have sound articulation of the interesting studies that have produced the data of this kind. Therefore, manuscripts that demonstrate creative application of statistical techniques based on a true challenge in the subject matter are strongly encouraged. Furthermore, the Journal welcomes papers that aim toward new methodological developments for solving data modeling problems encountered in modern biological and biomedical sciences, genetics, genomics, social media studies, and financial markets, etc.
It is my hope that these few changes will help facilitate more innovative use of applied statistical tools in this evolving era of data science. My vision is that JAS will become a global communication means among statisticians and practitioners for judicious applications and innovations of statistical principles in biological and biomedical sciences, business, computer science, ecology, economics, education, engineering, finances, genetics, management, medicine, operational research, as well as social sciences. I ask our colleagues across the globe for your strong support of JAS by continuing to contribute high quality manuscripts that illuminate your innovative work in applied statistics. A revised Aims and Scope of the Journal along the lines laid out above is forthcoming while I work with our new editorial advisory board to help shape our vision for the future of Journal of Applied Statistics.
On behalf of the full editorial board, I truly look forward to providing leadership and serving the Journal, our authors and readers, and the statistics profession in this fascinating new era of applied statistics.