Aim
The aim of the journal is to publish internationally-leading papers addressing topics in computational pure and applied mathematics, including papers at the interface of Mathematics and Computer Science.
General journal of record
The JCM is an electronic journal but, like the Proceedings, Journal and Bulletin of the LMS, it is a journal of permanent record for a broad swathe of mathematics. It aims to publish high-quality research or expository papers in all areas where mathematics and computation meet (see the Scope section below). Unlike many electronic journals, the JCM has not been set up in order to meet the needs of one particular research community; all papers should meet a standard of quality of exposition to a wide audience.
The JCM is published with an ISSN number, in yearly volumes with pages numbered consecutively through the year. Its editorial and refereeing standards are the same as those of the other LMS journals; all accepted papers are subjected to a full peer-review process. The main text of each paper is published as a PDF file with hypertext links within the paper, between the paper and its references, and to other sites on the internet. The electronic format allows the relaxation of strict page limits, particularly for "add-ons". Nevertheless, the editors expect authors to be concise; the length of each paper should be appropriate to its content.
Scope
In general terms the JCM welcomes papers concerned with one or more of the following:
- Mathematical aspects of Computer Science
- Topics at the interface between Mathematics and Computer Science
- Algorithms for solving mathematical problems
- Analysis of algorithms, including complexity
- Significant results in Mathematics or Computer Science proved with computational assistance
- Mathematics developed for specific applications involving computation
- Computational applications of established mathematical theories highlighting new aspects of the mathematics
- Innovative software systems with significant applications in Mathematics or Computer Science
In more detail, the general areas covered by the journal include the following:
- Commutative algebra, number theory, geometry, group theory, representation theory, geometric group theory, topology, probability theory, cryptology
- Numerical analysis, geometric integration, Lie group and symmetry methods, differential equations, initial-boundary value problems, asymptotics, approximation theory, optimization, variational methods, stochastic mathematics, neural nets and genetic algorithms, symbolic computation for polynomial and differential systems, random matrix theory, special functions, integrable systems and discrete integrable systems
- Models of computation, automata theory, formal languages, computational complexity, design and analysis of algorithms, semantics of programming languages, automated theorem proving, process algebra and concurrent systems, specification and verification, rewriting, symbolic and algebraic computation
Types of papers
In addition to normal research articles the journal also welcomes survey papers. Such an article should summarize the research in an area within the scope of the journal; the motivation for having such a survey should be clear and one would normally expect there to be a particular focus on recent work. The organization of the material should enhance the understanding of the subject and clarify potential directions for future research.
The journal will also publish special editions of papers presented at a conference. The conference has to be of a high quality and there has to be a rationale for why a special edition of papers will be of lasting interest. The Editors of the JCM will work together with the organizers of the conference with regards to refereeing the papers and deciding acceptance (whilst accepting that the main part of these decisions will rest with the conference organizers). The conference organizers will be special editors for the issue in question.
System descriptions are also considered for the journal. They are expected to provide a clear overview of the capabilities of a system that must itself be innovative or important, and may include descriptions of the algorithms and implementation methods used, if these are noteworthy.
Papers incorporating source code for programs, large amounts of data (including mathematical tables) or experimental results are welcome. Such material is often best included as an "add-on" (as opposed to being inserted in the main body of the paper) that can be downloaded separately in a convenient format. However, papers that merely document the routine use of existing software to generate large amounts of data will not be accepted.
Updating
The main text of each paper is guaranteed to remain unaltered. However, each paper may carry "add-ons" (which can be updated at a later time, with a note to record the updating), and these add-ons may include corrections or comments to the main paper, subject to the editors' approval.
Copyright
Unlike the other LMS journals, the LMS JCM does not claim copyright of papers that it publishes. Instead, it asks authors for a non-exclusive licence, which gives it sole right to control the distribution of the electronic file. Authors are free to republish a paper after it has been published by the LMS JCM, provided that they make due acknowledgement.
Submission
All submission is electronic, and so is the communication between authors and editors.
Papers are submitted for refereeing in PDF format, on the understanding that the authors of accepted papers are responsible for supplying the LaTeX source file(s) for production.
Authors are encouraged to use the LMS class file, which requires LaTeX2e.
("Add-ons" are published in whatever format is most appropriate: HTML, text,
etc.)
Before submitting, please read the Submission Guidelines.
More questions?
Please send any questions to the LMS Managing Editor, Dr Ola Törnkvist at jcm@lms.ac.uk.
Submitted by Ola Tornkvist on
