RAIRO-Operations Research is an international journal devoted to high-level pure and applied research on all aspects of operations research. All papers published in RAIRO-Operations Research are critically refereed according to international standards. Any paper will either be accepted (possibly with minor revisions) either submitted to another evaluation (after a major revision) or rejected. Every effort will be made by the Editorial Board to ensure a first answer concerning a submitted paper within three months, and a final decision in a period of time not exceeding six months.