Biometrika
 | |
| Discipline | Statistics |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Edited by | A. C. Davison |
| Publication details | |
| History | 1901–present |
| Publisher | Biometrika Trust, Oxford University Press (United Kingdom) |
| 1.833 (2010) | |
| Standard abbreviations | |
| ISO 4 | Biometrika |
| Indexing | |
| CODEN | BIOKAX |
| ISSN | 0006-3444 (print) 1464-3510 (web) |
| LCCN | 25005151 |
| JSTOR | 00063444 |
| OCLC no. | 41669958 |
| Links | |
Biometrika is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Oxford Journals for the Biometrika Trust. It was established in October, 1901. The editor-in-chief is A. C. Davison. The principal focus of this journal is theoretical statistics.[1][2]
In 1901 Biometrika began as a quarterly journal and changed to three issues per year in 1977. However, in 1992 it became a quarterly publication once again. It is published in English, French, German, and Italian. [1]
History
Biometrika was established in 1901 by Francis Galton, Karl Pearson, and Walter Weldon to promote the study of biometrics, the statistical analysis of biological phenomena; the name was chosen by Pearson, although Edgeworth insisted that it be spelt with a "k" and not a "c". Since the 1930s, however, it has been a journal for statistical theory and methodology. Galton's role in the journal was essentially that of a patron and the journal was run by Pearson and Weldon and after Weldon's death in 1906 by Pearson alone until he died in 1936. In the early days, the American biologists Charles Davenport and Raymond Pearl were nominally involved but they dropped out. On Pearson's death his son Egon Pearson became editor and remained in this position until 1966. David Cox was editor for the next 25 years. So, in its first 65 years Biometrika had effectively a total of just three editors, and in its first 90 years only four.
In the very first issue, the editors presented a clear statement of purpose:
It is intended that Biometrika shall serve as a means not only of collecting or publishing under one title biological data of a kind not systematically collected or published elsewhere in any other periodical, but also of spreading a knowledge of such statistical theory as may be requisite for their scientific treatment.[3]
Its contents were to include:
- memoirs on variation, inheritance, and selection in animals and plants, based upon the examination of statistically large numbers of specimens
- those developments of statistical theory which are applicable to biological problems
- numerical tables and graphical solutions tending to reduce the labour of statistical arithmetic
- abstracts of memoirs, dealing with these subjects, which are published elsewhere
- notes on current biometric work and unsolved problems
Early volumes contained many memoirs on biological topics, but over the twentieth century Biometrika became a "journal of statistics in which emphasis is placed on papers containing original theoretical contributions of direct or potential value in applications." Thus, of the five types of contents envisaged by its founders, only the second and to a lesser extent the third remain, largely shorn of their biological roots. In his centenary tribute to Karl Pearson, J. B. S. Haldane likened him to Columbus who "set out for China, and discovered America."[4] The same might be said of Pearson's journal.
Historical reference
To mark the centenary of "one of the world's leading academic journals in statistical theory and methodology" a commemorative volume was produced,[5] containing articles that had appeared in a special issue of the journal and a selection of classic papers published in the journal in the years 1939-71.[6]
Abstracting and indexing
The journal is abstracted and indexed in:[2]
References
- ^ a b "Online catalog". Library of Congress. 1996. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
- ^ a b "About". Oxford Journals. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
- ^ 1901. Editors' introduction, Biometrika 1.
- ^ Haldane J.B.S. 1957. Karl Pearson 1857-1957. Biometrika, 44, p. 303.
- ^ Biometrika One Hundred Years, edited D.M. Titterington and Sir David Cox, Oxford University Press 2001. ISBN 0-19-850993-6.
- ^ David Cox, "Biometrika Centenary," Bernoulli News, Vol. 8, No. 1, May 2001.
External links
- Official website
- Biometrika (1901). The Internet Archive. 2011.
