Submission Guidelines

 

Mathematical, Statistical and Data Sciences (MSDS) welcomes original and high-quality contributions in mathematics, statistics, and data science, including theoretical research, methodological developments, mathematical and statistical modelling, numerical methods, and applications. Authors should ensure that their manuscripts are scientifically sound, clearly written, ethically prepared, and within the journal’s aims and scope.

All research articles, review articles, short communications, and methodological notes considered for publication undergo a single-blind peer-review process and are evaluated by at least two independent external expert reviewers. Authors are encouraged to consult the journal’s Peer Review Process and Publication Ethics policies before submission.

There are no fixed word limits. Manuscripts should provide sufficient theoretical, methodological, and computational detail to allow readers to understand and, where applicable, reproduce or independently verify the reported results.

Types of Publications

Research Article. Original research that makes a substantive contribution to mathematics, statistics, or data science. The contribution should be clearly demonstrated through appropriate proofs, theoretical results, numerical investigations, simulation studies, real-data applications, or other relevant evidence.

Review Article. A comprehensive and critical synthesis of the literature that evaluates the current state of knowledge, identifies important developments and research gaps, compares relevant theoretical or methodological approaches, and provides directions for future research.

Short Communication. A concise, self-contained paper presenting complete and significant theoretical, methodological, or applied results that warrant focused publication.

Methodological Note. A focused contribution introducing or substantially improving a technique, algorithm, numerical procedure, or analytical tool relevant to the journal’s scope.

1) Scope (for fit checks)

MSDS welcomes contributions across pure and applied mathematics; mathematical analysis; algebra; geometry and topology; number theory; discrete mathematics and graph theory; differential, integral, and functional equations; mathematical modelling; dynamical systems; numerical analysis; probability and stochastic processes; statistical modelling and inference; classical and Bayesian methods; statistical computing and simulation; reliability and survival analysis; optimisation and operations research; uncertainty quantification; data science; and statistical and machine learning.

Manuscripts should demonstrate a clear theoretical, methodological, numerical, computational, or applied contribution relevant to the journal’s scope. Contributions within an individual discipline are welcome; papers are not required to combine mathematics, statistics, and data science or include a real-data application.

2) Title, Abstract, and Keywords

  • Title: Concise, informative, and no more than 20 words.
  • Abstract: 150–250 words and self-contained. It should briefly state the purpose, methodology or theoretical approach, principal findings, and main conclusions of the study. Citations should not be included.
  • Keywords: Provide 4–8 relevant keywords or phrases. Avoid unnecessary repetition of words already appearing in the title.

3) Originality and Preprints

Manuscripts submitted to MSDS must represent original work and must not have been previously published or be simultaneously under consideration by another journal.

Posting a manuscript on a recognized preprint server, such as arXiv or OSF, does not constitute prior publication and is permitted. Authors should disclose the existence of any preprint at submission and provide the corresponding link or identifier where applicable.

Authors are responsible for appropriately citing and disclosing any closely related manuscripts, preprints, or publications that may overlap substantially with the submitted work.

4) Peer Review (Single-Blind)

All research articles, review articles, short communications, and methodological notes undergo single-blind peer review. Each manuscript proceeding to peer review is evaluated by at least two independent external expert reviewers with relevant subject expertise. Reviewers remain anonymous to the authors, while the identities of the authors are disclosed to the reviewers.

Reviewers are selected based on their academic qualifications, research expertise, and experience, with careful consideration given to avoiding conflicts of interest. Authors may suggest or identify reviewers they prefer not to review their manuscript; however, the editors retain full discretion over reviewer selection.

The assigned editor evaluates the reviewers’ reports and provides an editorial recommendation. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the final editorial decision. Further details are provided in the journal’s Peer Review Process.

5) What to Submit

  • For initial submission, authors should upload one complete PDF manuscript containing all figures and tables in their appropriate positions.
  • The manuscript should be clearly formatted and include page numbers.
  • All figures and tables should be numbered consecutively, appropriately captioned, and cited in the text.
  • The PDF file should not exceed 30 MB.
  • A cover letter should be uploaded separately.
  • Supplementary material may be uploaded when relevant.
  • The corresponding author should be clearly identified, and complete affiliations and contact information should be provided for all authors.
  • Authors are strongly encouraged to provide ORCID iDs where available.

6) Upon Acceptance

Following acceptance, authors will be required to provide the editable source files necessary for production:

  • LaTeX source files (preferred) or an editable Word file.
  • Bibliography/reference files where applicable.
  • Original high-quality figure files when requested.
  • Supplementary material where applicable.
  • Written permissions for any copyrighted third-party material included in the manuscript.

The accepted manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and author proofing before publication.

LaTeX Template: Download

7) Manuscript Preparation and Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Manuscripts should be written in clear academic English and use consistent terminology and notation throughout. A typical research manuscript may include:

  • Title and running title
  • Authors, affiliations, and ORCID iDs
  • Abstract and keywords
  • Introduction
  • Methodology/Theoretical Development
  • Simulation or Numerical Study, where applicable
  • Data/Application, where applicable
  • Results and Discussion
  • Conclusions
  • Acknowledgments
  • Author Contributions
  • Funding
  • Data Availability Statement
  • Conflict of Interest Statement
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Declaration
  • References

The exact organization may vary according to the nature of the study. Theoretical manuscripts may organize their main contributions into definitions, assumptions, lemmas, theorems, proofs, and examples, as appropriate.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automated Tools. Authors must disclose the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) or other automated content-generation tools when such tools have been used in the preparation of the manuscript beyond routine language correction, spelling, grammar, editing, or formatting.

Any substantive use of AI-assisted tools should be transparently disclosed in the manuscript, including the name of the tool and the purpose for which it was used. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and appropriate attribution of all content in their manuscript, including AI-assisted content. AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because they cannot take responsibility for the submitted work or meet recognized authorship criteria.

8) Data Availability, Ethics, and Research Integrity

  • Authors are responsible for ensuring that their submissions comply with recognized standards of research and publication ethics.
  • A Data Availability Statement should be included in all manuscripts. Where no new data were generated or analyzed, this should be stated.
  • Author contributions should be described using the CRediT taxonomy, where applicable.
  • All sources of funding and financial support must be disclosed.
  • Authors must declare any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest. If none exist, this should be stated.
  • Research involving human participants, human data, or animals must include appropriate ethical approval and informed-consent information, where applicable.
  • All submissions may undergo similarity screening. Similarity reports are evaluated by the editorial team, and a numerical similarity score alone does not determine an editorial decision.
  • Authors must comply with the journal’s policies concerning authorship, originality, research misconduct, and publication ethics. Further information is available in the journal’s Publication Ethics policy.

9) Citations and References

MSDS uses a numeric citation system, with references numbered consecutively according to their first appearance in the manuscript. Authors are encouraged to use narrative citations when appropriate by including the author’s name followed by the corresponding reference number in square brackets.

In-text Citations

  • Single author: Smith [1] established sufficient conditions for convergence.
  • Two authors: Smith and Brown [2] developed a new approach to statistical inference.
  • Three or more authors: Smith et al. [3] investigated methods for high-dimensional data analysis.

Non-narrative Citations

  • The proposed method has been widely studied [4].
  • Several approaches have been introduced [5, 6].
  • Related studies can be found in [7–9].

Citation Rules

  • References must be numbered according to their first appearance in the manuscript.
  • The same reference number must be used for subsequent citations of the same source.
  • Author–date citations (e.g., Smith, 2020) should not be used.
  • Citation formatting should be consistent throughout the manuscript.

Reference List. Each reference should follow APA formatting guidelines for bibliographic details, including author names, year of publication, title, source, and publication information. DOIs should be provided whenever available.

10) Open Access, Copyright, and Fees

All articles published in MSDS are made immediately and permanently available on an open-access basis under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Authors retain copyright in their published work and grant the journal the right of first publication.

MSDS currently charges no submission fees, article processing charges (APCs), page charges, or color charges. The existence or absence of publication charges has no influence on editorial evaluation or decision-making. Further details are available in the journal’s Open Access Policy and Publication Fees pages.

11) Editorial Decisions and Appeals

Following peer review, manuscripts may receive one of the following decisions: Accept, Minor Revision, Major Revision, Reject.

Authors receiving a revision decision should submit a revised manuscript together with a point-by-point response explaining how each reviewer and editor comment has been addressed.

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe that a significant scientific or procedural error has occurred. Appeals should provide a clear and evidence-based justification. One appeal per manuscript is permitted. Further information is provided in Section 13: Complaints and Appeals of the journal’s Publication Ethics policy.

12) How to Submit

Manuscripts must be submitted through the journal’s online submission system. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that:

  • All listed authors have approved the submitted manuscript.
  • All authors have agreed to its submission to MSDS.
  • Author names, affiliations, and contact information are accurate.
  • All required declarations and supporting files have been provided.

All submission-related correspondence and editorial communication are handled through the journal’s online editorial system.

Quick Author Checklist

  • Title is ≤20 words; abstract is 150–250 words; 4–8 keywords are provided.
  • The manuscript is within the scope of MSDS and represents original work.
  • A complete PDF (≤30 MB) containing all figures and tables has been prepared.
  • A separate cover letter has been uploaded.
  • All authors and affiliations are correctly identified; ORCID iDs are included where available.
  • Figures and tables are numbered, captioned, and cited in the text.
  • References follow the journal’s numeric citation style and include DOIs where available.
  • A Data Availability Statement is included.
  • Author Contributions, Funding, and Conflict of Interest statements are included.
  • Relevant ethics approval and informed-consent information is provided where applicable.
  • Any preprint or closely related work has been disclosed.
  • Any substantive use of generative AI or automated content-generation tools has been appropriately disclosed.
  • The manuscript has been carefully checked for language, mathematical notation, references, and completeness.