This is the traditional triennial note used by the Editors to give the readers of 4OR information on the state of the journal and its future. In the three years that have passed since the last editorial note (Liberti et al. in 4OR 10(1):1–13, 2012), three volumes (each containing four issues) of the journal have been published: vol. 10 (2012), vol. 11 (2013) and vol. 12 (2014). 1 What has happened since 2011?