Journal

Access to and publication in Optimal Data Analysis (ODA) is free.

Mission

ODA is a multidisciplinary journal specializing in maximum-accuracy methods. All quantitative areas of inquiry are eligible for publication in ODA, and are welcomed. Infusion of new hypothesis and data configurations are often the source of new discoveries.

ODA is intended to focus the world’s theoretical and applied research involving optimal statistical methods in one location, to provide both nursery and proving-ground for cutting-edge science, for all to learn and collaborate and prosper intellectually. ODA has, and seeks additional international academic ambassadors who cross-transliterate articles published in ODA, and in collaborating journals publishing in languages other than English, in order to facilitate a world-wide academic community.

ODA is designed to provide real-time publishing, to provide the most current progress to the world audience with minimal delay.

ODA is designed to be free for all, to put all scientists at the cusp of the leading-edge ideas, findings, experiments, and reviews. Any scientist with access to the internet has access to ODA without charge. Any scientist who writes a world-class article concerning maximum-accuracy methods may publish in ODA without charge.

ODA is pleased to provide rapid, constructive reviews from world-class technical and applied experts. As manuscripts representing new areas of inquiry are submitted, additional substantive experts will be added to the Board of Editors. In addition, authors of all manuscripts submitted to ODA are required to provide a roster of qualified (and disqualified) reviewers for their work.

ODA is designed to be flexible, capable of growing in real-time to meet the needs of the scientific community. As new areas of inquiry are discovered they will be presented as a subsection of the Table of Contents. In the future, if a sufficient number of submissions within a given substantive discipline (e.g., psychology, education, finance, medicine, biology, space science) or subspecialty (e.g., clinical psychology, emergency medicine, molecular biology) begins to occur reliably, ODA will be expanded to include additional series.

ODA is working to provide a forum to allow real-time, world-wide discussion regarding all topics of relevance to the journal, and to provide international networking among scientists who speak a common language — maximum-accuracy methodology.

Author Instructions

ODA caters to the widest possible audience—students and scientists in all quantitative areas of inquiry.  Accordingly, manuscripts are sought representing all academic societies, many of which have their own formatting styles and manuscript preparation instructions. A particularly thorough author and article preparation set is offered by the Journal of the American Medical Society (http://jama.ama-assn.org/misc/ifora.dtl), and is recommended reading for all students and scientists.

Authors who wish to publish a manuscript in ODA should write keeping in mind the breadth of the audience’s background.  Articles should “blend” with others published in ODA in style and appearance, to the extent possible (copy editors may offer suggestions in this area).  Examine ODA articles similar in structure to the article you are preparing, and adopt a similar format.

Criteria for publication are standard: all authors on the paper must have contributed (the project described would not have been possible without each author’s contribution), all of the major contributors must be authors, and the manuscript must pass editorial review.  Prospective authors are encouraged to recommend any specific reviewer(s) with substantive expertise in the area of the submitted paper.

With respect to reference citations in the body of the manuscript, use numbers (see ODA for examples). With respect to reference citations at the end of the manuscript, adopt the style of the academic society of which you are a member (or in whose journals you publish), or the style of any other academic society of your choice. Hybrids are acceptable: essential information includes authors (list the first five authors, then use “et al.”), article, journal, year, volume, and pages. For books, list authors, title, year of publication, and publisher. Refer to articles in ODA for examples of reference citations.

Manuscripts MUST be submitted in Windows Word^® 93 or later.  Format submitted manuscripts to appear as an article in ODA.  If authors are unable to produce such a manuscript, consulting word processing technicians are available at ODA at an hourly rate.  Permission to publish from all named authors is required for all accepted manuscripts prior to release.

Conflict of Interest

Financial relationships (such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony) are the most easily identifiable conflicts of interest and the most likely to undermine the credibility of the journal, the authors, and of science itself. However, conflicts can occur for other reasons, such as personal relationships, academic competition, and intellectual passion. All potential (co)authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest, and only articles having (co)authors without any potential conflicts of interest will be published in Optimal Data Analysis.

Informed Consent

Patients have a right to privacy that should not be infringed without informed consent. Identifying information, including patients’ names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that a patient who is identifiable be shown the manuscript to be published. Authors should identify Individuals who provide writing assistance and disclose the funding source for this assistance.

Identifying details should be omitted if they are not essential. Complete anonymity is difficult to achieve, however, and informed consent should be obtained if there is any doubt. For example, masking the eye region in photographs of patients is inadequate protection of anonymity. If identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic pedigrees, authors should provide assurance that alterations do not distort scientific meaning and editors should so note. Only those articles for which these criteria have been satisfied will be published in Optimal Data Analysis.

Human and Animal Rights

When reporting experiments on human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (5). If doubt exists whether the research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, the authors must explain the rationale for their approach, and demonstrate that the institutional review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study. When reporting experiments on animals, authors should be asked to indicate whether the institutional and national guide for the care and use of laboratory animals was followed. Only those articles for which these criteria have been satisfied will be published in Optimal Data Analysis.