Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to announce a special issue of *International Transactions
in Operational Research (ITOR)* on *“Agentic Operations Research: The 2026
Edition”.*
Recent advances in AI systems, particularly large language models, are
increasingly enabling new approaches to Operations Research. These systems
can formulate optimization models, design and improve solution methods,
interact with optimization solvers, and orchestrate multi-step Operations
Research workflows.
Given the rapid pace of development in this area, there is a need for
systematic and rigorous evaluation of what current systems can and cannot
achieve. This special issue aims to provide a snapshot of the state of *Agentic
Operations Research in 2026*, with the intention of contributing to a
longer-term record of progress in the field.
We welcome submissions addressing Operations Research tasks involving
mathematical programming, constraint programming, metaheuristics, hybrid
approaches, and related methods. The central focus should remain on
the *construction,
solution, or operation of decision models*, with solution quality and
decision value serving as key measures of performance. Contributions should
make a substantive contribution to Operations Research, rather than
focusing solely on AI capabilities.
The special issue will consider work whose experimental claims rely on
models made publicly available in *2026*. The submission deadline is:
*January 15, 2027*
*Call for Papers: *
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/pb-assets/assets/14753995/cfp/itor70251_Rev2_EV-1787342580440.pdf
We would greatly appreciate it if you could share this call with colleagues
and research groups working at the intersection of AI and Operations
Research.
We look forward to receiving your contributions and to continuing the
discussion on the role of agentic systems in Operations Research.
Best regards,
Daniel Aloise
Louis-Martin Rousseau
Polytechnique Montréal, Canada