The International Statistical Review (ISR) is the flagship journal of the International Statistical Institute and of its constituent sections (the Bernoulli Society for Mathematical Statistics and Probability, the International Association for Official Statistics, the International Association for Statistical Computing, the International Association for Statistical Education, the International Association of Survey Statisticians, the International Society for Business and Industrial Statistics and the International Environmetrics Society). The International Statistical Review is widely circulated and subscribed to by individuals and institutions in all parts of the world.
The main aim of the International Statistical Review is to publish papers of an expository, review, or tutorial nature that will be of wide interest to readers. Such papers may or may not contain strictly original material. All papers are refereed.
The International Statistical Review has two Editors, in order to demonstrate its commitment to the whole field of statistics, widely interpreted. Eugene Seneta of the University of Sydney, Australia, is primarily responsible for papers in the broad area of mathematical and theoretical statistics and probability, as well as computational statistics, statistics as applied in the physical, biological, medical and environmental sciences, industry and commerce, history of statistics and the teaching of statistics. Kees Zeelenberg of Statistics Netherlands, Voorburg, is primarily responsible for the areas of official and government statistics and public policy, demography and population studies, banking and finance, the social sciences, survey statistics, as well as for papers of broad public interest.
Review papers are the main raison d'être of the International Statistical Review, but the kind of review that the Editors would wish to encourage is not purely bibliographic. Readers of the International Statistical Review will find 'critical reviews' far more useful and these are very strongly encouraged. A critical review is one that provides an introduction to a field, pointers to key original references, and clear and interesting insights and comments both about past work and about future directions for research and applications. A good critical review will be accessible to non-specialists while being stimulating and interesting to experts. It will of necessity be something of a 'personal view' of a subject while of course retaining scientific integrity and giving full credit to original sources of cited work. There is no need for a critical review to attempt exhaustive coverage of the field (provided it does not claim to do so!) and careful direction towards key references is more important than any attempt at an exhaustive bibliography.
Broadly based papers of wide interest that contain original material are very much welcomed. However the Editors do not wish to publish (even really excellent) technically original papers that are accessible or interesting only to a small group of specialists.
Papers on the history of statistics and probability are welcomed provided they are of wide interest and preferably if they convey insights of current relevance.
