Applied Research Advances (ARA) is an international journal that publishes high-quality scientific original research and review papers. The scope of the ARA journal covers the following areas of interest:

• Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) research advances with application topics related to decision-making, automation, predictive analytics, natural language processing, autonomous systems, robotics, predictive maintenance, fault detection, digital twins, additive manufacturing,
• Industrial engineering research advances with application topics related to smart manufacturing, analytics in operations, big data, human factors engineering, workforce 5.0, sustainable lean manufacturing, supply chain engineering, data-driven six sigma methodologies, closed-loop models, smart factories, eco-design, performance assessment, materials flow analysis, service systems, etc.
• Environmental engineering research advances with application topics related to recycling, waste management, environmental monitoring, climate change mitigation, wastewater treatment, air pollution monitoring, etc.
• Automation research advances with application topics related to human-robot interactions, smart manufacturing, industrial automation, healthcare automation, collaborative systems, swarm robotics, Multi-agent systems, robotic process automation, etc.
• Information and communication technology (ICT) research advances with application topics related to edge computing, cloud computing, cybersecurity, Blockchain, Internet of Things, smart infrastructure, quantum computing & communication, decentralized technologies, etc.
• Health and biomedical research advances with application topics related to biomaterials, drug delivery systems, healthcare, imaging technologies, health informatics, telemedicine, etc.
• Manufacturing research advances with application topics related to additive manufacturing, nanotechnology, manufacturing process optimization, smart materials, production systems, Industry 4.0/5.0, industrial Internet of Things, green manufacturing, machining, etc.
• Process engineering research advances with application topics related to sustainable processes, process safety, multi-objective optimization, process control, process modeling, separation technologies, risk management, sustainable processes, renewable energy processes, data-driven process engineering, food process engineering, exergy analysis, etc.
• Smart cities research advances with application topics related to intelligent transportation systems, urban mobility, energy management, smart grids, sensor-based infrastructure monitoring, Energy storage, connected vehicles, Mobility-as-a-Service platforms, Traffic flow optimization, net-zero buildings, etc.
• Agricultural research advances with application topics related to sustainable farming, smart agriculture, food safety, genetic engineering, precision agriculture, digital agriculture, disease management, climate-smart agriculture, soil conservation, and other critical agricultural problems.
• Education research advances with application topics related to accessibility, adaptive learning systems, digital learning environments, inclusive education, education leadership, virtual/augmented reality, interactive technologies, online & hybrid learning models, personalized learning, social learning, digital inclusion, education policy, etc.

General Journal guidelines for authors

Applied Research Advances publishes research articles, reviews, short communications, and case studies. Research articles must include: motivation for the work, an adequate overview of the representative work in the field including up-to-date references, a clear statement of the novelty in the presented research, suitable theoretical background, one or more examples to demonstrate and discuss the presented ideas and, finally, conclusions. Short communications are usually 4-7 pages long, research articles and case studies 8-14 pages, while reviews can be longer. Page number limits are not strict and, with appropriate reasoning, the submitted articles can also be longer or shorter. Authors are requested to follow the ARA guidelines and strictly format their manuscripts as per the article template that is available here.

If extensions of previously published conference papers are submitted, Editors will check if sufficient new material has been added to fulfill the journal standards and qualify the submission for the review process. The added material must not have been previously published. New results are desired but not necessarily required; however, the submission should contain expansions of key ideas, examples, elaborations, etc., of the conference submission.

ARA’s acceptance rate is 23%. In 2025, the median time from submission to acceptance for all articles was 64 days, and 9 days from acceptance to online publication in the ONLINE FIRST section. The ONLINE FIRST section of ARA lists the papers accepted for publication and copy-edited but not yet assigned to an issue.

Aims and Scope: The principal aim of the journal is to bring together the latest research and development in various fields of decision science. We would like to highlight that papers should refer to Aims and scope, but they are not limited to.

Publication Frequency: One issue per year is published online, but processed and accepted papers, with full bibliographic data, are added to the issue continuously over the whole year.

Open Access: This is an open-access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.

Publication fee: There is no submission charge or publication fee. Publication in ARA is free of charge for the authors.

The Applied Research Advances is annually classified by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia.