Mathematics and Mechanics of Complex Systems

MEMOCS is a young, high-level interdisciplinary journal founded in 2012 as a diamond open-access journal, to serve the international scientific community. It is sponsored by the International Research Center for Mathematics & Mechanics of Complex Systems (M&MoCS) at the University of L’Aquila in Italy.

MEMOCS publishes articles from diverse scientific fields with a specific emphasis on mechanics. Articles must rely on the application or development of rigorous mathematical methods. The journal intends to foster a multidisciplinary approach to knowledge firmly based on mathematical foundations. It serves as a forum where scientists from different disciplines meet to share a common, rational vision of science and technology. It supports and divulges research whose primary goal is to develop mathematical methods and tools for the study of complexity.

The journal also fosters and publishes original research in related areas of mathematics of proven applicability, such as variational methods, numerical methods, and optimization techniques. Besides their intrinsic interest, such treatments can become heuristic and epistemological tools for further investigations, and provide methods for deriving predictions from postulated theories. Papers focusing on and clarifying aspects of the history of mathematics and science are also welcome. All methodologies and points of view, if rigorously applied, will be considered.

Changes Are Coming to MEMOCS

To allow essential growth, starting in 2021 MEMOCS will be a subscription journal with select diamond open-access articles:

A number of new articles will be freely available to all readers, subsidized by the M&MOCS Centre.
The rest of the new content will be available only to subscribers.
Everything will be free to read five years after publication.

Why the Change?

Until now, the MEMOCS journal has been free to read and free to publish, supported financially by the M&MOCS Centre. The growth of MEMOCS has been limited by two factors: first, by the amount of available funding; and second, by the chicken-and-egg problem that organizations such as Clarivate want to see volume before indexing a publication, yet at the same time many good authors are reluctant to publish in an unindexed publication. Therefore, the sponsoring M&MOCS Centre and MSP have jointly agreed to change the journal’s business model. As with all MSP journals:

there will be no author-side charges,
the subscription price will be the minimum needed to make the journal financially stable,
all articles will become free to access five years after publication, and
the journal will remain highly selective, bearing as it does the MSP stamp of quality.

We hope you will join us in this new period of growth and excellence by becoming a MEMOCS subscriber!

Scientific Aim

Nissuna umana investigazione si può dimandare vera scienzia, s’essa non passa per le matematiche dimostrazioni.
Leonardo da Vinci, 1478

[Kepler] is only one of the many examples of the falsity of the idea that success in scientific research demands an exclusive absorption in one narrow line of study. Novel ideas are more apt to spring from an unusual assortment of knowledge — not necessarily from vast knowledge, but from a thorough conception of the methods and ideas of distinct lines of thought.
A. N. Whitehead, An Introduction to Mathematics, 1911

MEMOCS is a publication of the International Research Center for the Mathematics and Mechanics of Complex Systems. It publishes articles from diverse scientific fields with a specific emphasis on mechanics. Articles must rely on the application or development of rigorous mathematical methods.

The journal intends to foster a multidisciplinary approach to knowledge firmly based on mathematical foundations. It will serve as a forum where scientists from different disciplines meet to share a common, rational vision of science and technology. It intends to support and divulge research whose primary goal is to develop mathematical methods and tools for the study of complexity.

The journal will also foster and publish original research in related areas of mathematics of proven applicability, such as variational methods, numerical methods, and optimization techniques. Besides their intrinsic interest, such treatments can become heuristic and epistemological tools for further investigations, and provide methods for deriving predictions from postulated theories. Papers focusing on and clarifying aspects of the history of mathematics and science are also welcome. All methodologies and points of view, if rigorously applied, will be considered.

The following types of articles are welcomed:

Original articles with a length of (typically) up to 20 printed pages.
Review articles that broaden existing knowledge and strive to reach beyond a restricted circle of specialists. Such articles should keep technicalities to a minimum and emphasize multidisciplinary ideas.
Perspective articles (invited by the editorial board) in which leading scientists expound research directions in their fields or collaborate with experts in different fields to forge a specific multidisciplinary outlook.
Editorials, where published articles in the preceding issues are commented on or where potential authors are invited to focus on particular research topics.

Setting and Maintaining Standards

The governance structure of MEMOCS and its acceptance procedures are transparent and designed to ensure the highest quality of published material. The Editorial Board makes the final decision on a submitted manuscript after the manuscript has been proposed for publication by an Editor (member of the Editorial Board) or Advisor (member of the Advisory Board). The proposing Editor or Advisor must explicitly endorse the paper's scientific content. The information-gathering process is open to the whole Editorial Board throughout. Specifically:

Upon submission, an author chooses a member of either the Editorial Board or the Advisory Board to be the article's handling editor. Members of both boards are listed on the submission webpage together with their areas of interest.
The handling editor enlists the cooperation of two experts to act as reviewers. If and when the handling editor decides for the publication of the manuscript, he or she sends the Editorial Board a proposal to that effect, together with the reviews and other information in support of the proposal.
When the handling editor chosen by the author is unable or unwilling to handle the paper, or when a conflict of interest might be present, another handling editor will take on the task.
The handling editor will make a reasonable effort to have the paper evaluated fairly. Failure to find willing reviewers after several attempts is sufficient grounds for rejection.
Within 30 days after the proposal, members of the Editorial Board express their opinion about the paper. If at least two members of the Editorial Board (apart from the proponent) second the publication proposal and no member opposes it, the article is accepted at the end of 30 days. If there are unfavorable votes at the end of the 30 days, the paper needs the support of two-thirds of the Editorial Board to be accepted.

The handling editor vouches for the scientific quality of the article in his or her proposal. Every published version of the article will include the words “Communicated by …” in a prominent location.

Governance of the Journal

The initial composition of both Boards is listed here. Any modification in the composition of either board is decided by the Editorial Board with the approval of two-thirds of its members. Upon reaching the age of 75, members of the Editorial Board become part of an Honorary Board.

The Editorial Board has two co-chairs and a treasurer, who together make up the Executive Bureau. Three members of the Advisory Board are designated Managing Editors and supervise the editorial process.

The Editorial Board is the owner of the name of the journal, and chooses a publishing house to handle the production of the journal.

Publisher

MEMOCS is published by MSP (Mathematical Sciences Publishers), alongside other top journals. MSP is a nonprofit who strives to offer the highest quality at the lowest sustainable prices. MSP also developed EditFlow, the popular peer-review web application.

Impartiality Statement

The purpose of MEMOCS is the advancement of science. Editors evaluate submitted papers strictly on the basis of scientific merit with the help of peer review reports, without regard to authors’ nationality, country of residence, institutional affiliation, gender, ethnic origin, religion, or political views.

Peer Review

This journal operates a single-anonymized review process (the names of the reviewers are hidden from the author). All contributions will be initially assessed by an editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of one independent expert reviewer to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The editors are responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The editors’ decisions are final. Editors are not involved in decisions about papers which they have written themselves.

Indexing

MEMOCS is indexed in

MathSciNet (American Mathematical Society).
zbMATH Open (FIZ Karlsruhe).
Scopus (Elsevier) and Scimago Journal Rank.

Metadata

Mathematics and Mechanics of Complex Systems
https://msp.org/memocs
First published: 2013.
Size/periodicity: 4 issues per year.
ISSN (print): 2326-7186.
ISSN (electronic): 2325-3444.
Dimensions: 7×10in (17.8×25.4cm).

a peer-reviewed subscription journalwith select diamond open-access articles