Journal of the Royal Statistical Society

The Journal of the Royal Statistical Society is a series of three peer-reviewed statistics journals published by Blackwell Publishing for the London-based Royal Statistical Society.

History
The Statistical Society of London was founded in 1834, but would not begin producing a journal for four years. From 1834–1837, members of the society would read the results of their studies to the other members, and some details were recorded in the proceedings. The first study reported to the society in 1834 was a simple survey of the occupations of people in Manchester, England. Conducted by going door-to-door and inquiring, the study revealed that the most common profession was mill-hands, followed closely by weavers.

When founded, the membership of the Statistical Society of London overlapped almost completely with the statistical section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1837 a volume of Transactions of the Statistical Society of London were written, and in May of 1838 the society began its journal. The first editor of the journal was Rawson W. Rawson. In the early days of the society and the journal, there was dispute over whether or not opinions should be expressed, or merely the numbers. The symbol of the society was a wheatsheaf, representing a bundle of facts, and the motto Aliis exterendum, Latin for "to be threshed out by others." Many early members chafed under this prohibition, and in 1857 the motto was dropped.

From 1838–1886, the journal was published as the Journal of the Statistical Society of London. In 1887 it was renamed the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society when the society was granted a Royal Charter.

For its centenary, the society published a Supplement to the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, which eventually became Series B (Statistical Methodology). In 1948, the flagship journal began publication as ''Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A (General)''. In 1988, the flagship changed its name to Series A (Statistics in Society).

In 1952, the society founded Applied Statistics of the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society which became Series C (Applied Statistics). After merging with the Institute of Statisticians in 1993, the society published Series D (The Statistician), but this journal was closed in 2003.

Current journals
As of 2007, three journals are published under this general title.

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A (Statistics in Society)
Statistics in Society is published quarterly. The Editors are A. Fielding (University of Birmingham, UK) and G. Verbeke (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium). Its 2006 impact factor is 1.547.

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series B (Statistical Methodology)
Statistical Methodology is published five times a year. The Editors are C. Robert (Université Paris Dauphine, France) and A.T.A. Wood (University of Nottingham, UK). Its 2006 impact factor is 2.315.

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series C (Applied Statistics)
Applied Statistics is published five times a year. The Editors are S.G. Gilmour (Queen Mary, University of London, UK) and C.J. Skinner (University of Southampton, UK). Its 2006 impact factor is 1.072.

External link

 * Royal Statistical Society: The Journal: Series A, B and C