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Journals (Peer-Reviewed Published/To Appear)

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*leading & corresponding author; ** in CS or Mathematics by ISI Essential Science Indicators (April 2012).
  1. R. Qu*, E.K. Burke, B. McCollum, L.T.G. Merlot, and S.Y. Lee
    "A Survey of Search Methodologies and Automated System Development for Examination Timetabling"
    Journal of Scheduling, 12(1): 55-89, 2009. doi: 10.1007/s10951-008-0077-5 .pdf XML BibTex
    Online bibliography on exam timetabling 1995-2009
    Top 1% cited **

  2. R. Qu* and E.K. Burke
    "Hybridisations within a Graph Based Hyper-heuristic Framework for University Timetabling Problems"
    Journal of Operational Research Society, 60: 1273-1285, 2009. doi: 10.1057/jors.2008.102 .pdf XML BibTex
    Top 10% cited **; Top 4 highly cited paper at JORS 2009/2010 (Dec 2011).

  3. R. Qu*, co-authors: E.K. Burke, B. McCollum, A. Meisels, S. Petrovic
    "A Graph-Based Hyper-Heuristic for Educational Timetabling Problems"
    European Journal of Operational Research, 176: 177-192, 2007. doi: 10.1016/j.ejor.2005.08.012, .pdf XML BibTex
    Top 0.1% cited ** in Mathematics; Top Cited Article EJOR 2007-2011, Award.

  4. R. Qu* E.K. Burke and B.McCollum
    "Adaptive Automated Construction of Hybrid Heuristics for Exam Timetabling and Graph Colouring Problems"
    European Journal of Operational Research, 198(2): 392-404, 2009 doi: 10.1016/j.ejor.2008.10.001 .pdf XML BibTex
    Top 10% cited **

  5. R. Qu*, co-authors: E.K. Burke, A. J. Eckersley, B. McCollum, S. Petrovic
    "Hybrid Variable Neighbourhood Approaches to University Exam Timetabling"
    European Journal of Operational Research, 206: 46-53, 2010. doi: 10.1016/j.ejor.2010.01.044 .pdf XML BibTex
    Top 10% cited **

  6. R. Qu*, co-authors: P. Brucker, E.K. Burke, T. Curtois and G. Vanden Berghe
    "A Shift Sequence Based Approach for Nurse Scheduling and a New Benchmark Dataset"
    Journal of Heuristics, 16(4): 559-573, 2010. doi: 10.1007/s10732-008-9099-6 .pdf XML BibTex
    Top 10% cited **

  7. B. McCollum, P. McMullan, B. Paechter, R. Lewis, A. Schaerf, L. Di Gaspero, A. J. Parkes, R. Qu, and E.K. Burke
    "Setting the Research Agenda in Automated Timetabling: The Second International Timetabling Competition"
    INFORMS Journal of Computing, 22(1): 120-130, 2010. doi: 10.1287/ijoc.1090.0320 .pdf XML BibTex
    Top 1% cited **

  8. E.K. Burke, J. Li and R. Qu
    "A Hybrid Model of Integer Programming and Variable Neighbourhood Search for Highly-Constrained Nurse Rostering Problems"
    European Journal of Operational Research, 203(2), 484-493, 2010. doi: 10.1016/j.ejor.2009.07.036, .pdf XML BibTex
    Top 10% cited **

  9. B. Ryan, R. Qu, A. Schock, T. Parry
    "Integrating human factors and operational research in a multidisciplinary investigation of road maintenance"
    Ergonomics, 54(5): 436-452, 2011. doi: 10.1080/00140139.2011.562983 .pdf XML BibTex
    2011 Best Journal Paper at Human Factors Research Group, University of Nottingham.

  10. E.K. Burke, T.E. Curtois, G. Post, R. Qu and B. Veltman
    "A Hybrid Heuristic Ordering and Variable Neighbourhood Search for the Nurse Rostering Problem"
    European Journal of Operational Research, 188(2), 330-341, 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.ejor.2007.04.030, .pdf XML BibTex
    Top 1% cited ** in Mathematics

  11. R. Qu*, co-authors: E.K. Burke, S. Petrovic
    "Case Based Heuristic Selection for Timetabling Problems"
    Journal of Scheduling, 9: 115-132, 2006. doi: 10.1007/s10951-006-6775-y, .pdf XML BibTex
    Top 1% cited **

  12. R. Qu*, co-authors: E.K. Burke, B. MacCarthy, S. Petrovic
    "Multiple-Retrieval Case-Based Reasoning for Course Timetabling Problems"
    Journal of Operations Research Society, 57(2): 148-162, 2006. doi: 10.1057/palgrave.jors.2601970 .pdf XML BibTex
    Top 10% cited **

  13. R. Qu*, co-authors: E.K. Burke, B. MacCarthy, S. Petrovic
    "Structured Cases in Case-Based Reasoning - Re-using and Adapting Cases for Time-tabling Problems"
    Knowledge-Based Systems, 13(2-3): 159-165, 2000. doi: 10.1016/S0950-7051(00)00057-5. .pdf XML BibTex
    Top 10% cited ** (Oct 2010)

  14. Y. Xu and R. Qu
    "Solving Multi-objective Multicast Routing Problems by Evolutionary Multi-objective Simulated Annealing Algorithms with Variable Neighborhoods"
    Journal of Operational Research Society, 62: 313-325, 2010 doi: 10.1057/jors.2010.138 .pdf XML BibTex

  15. J. Li, E.K. Burke and R. Qu
    "Integrating Neural Networks and Logistic Regression to Underpin Hyper-heuristic Search"
    Knowledge-Based Systems, 24(2): 322-330, 2010. doi: 10.1016/j.knosys.2010.10.004 XML BibTex

  16. E.K. Burke, T. Curtois, R. Qu and G. Vanden Berghe
    "A Scatter Search for the Nurse Rostering Problem"
    Journal of Operational Research Society, 61: 1667-1679, 2010. doi: 10.1057/jors.2009.118 .pdf XML BibTex
    Top 10% cited ** (Oct 2010)

  17. P. Brucker, R. Qu*, E.K. Burke
    "Personnel Scheduling: Models and Complexity"
    European Journal of Operational Research, 210(3): 467-473, 2011. doi: 10.1016/j.ejor.2010.11.017 .pdf XML BibTex

  18. H. Xing and R. Qu
    "A Population Based Incremental Learning for Network Coding Resources Minimization"
    IEEE Communication Letters, 99: 1-3, 2011. doi: 10.1109/LCOMM.2011.051911.110274 .pdf XML BibTex

  19. F. He and R. Qu*
    "A Constraint Programming based Column Generation Approach to Nurse Rostering Problems"
    Computers & Operations Research, 39(12): 3331–3343, December 2012. doi: 10.1016/j.cor.2012.04.018 .pdf XML BibTex

  20. Y. Xu and R. Qu
    "An Iterative Local Search Approach based on Fitness Landscapes Analysis for the Delay-constrained Multicast Routing Problem"
    Computer Communications, 35: 352-365, 2012 doi: 10.1016/j.comcom.2011.10.011 .pdf XML BibTex

  21. Y. Xu and R. Qu
    "A Hybrid Scatter Search Meta-heuristic for Delay-constrained Multicast Routing Problems"
    Applied intelligence, 36(1): 229-241, 2012. doi: 10.1007/s10489-010-0256-x .pdf
    Top 1% cited ** XML BibTex

  22. J. Li, E.K. Burke, T. Curtois, S. Petrovic and R. Qu.
    "The Falling Tide Algorithm: a New Multi-objective Approach for Complex Workforce Scheduling".
    Omega – International Journal of Management Science, 40(3): 283-293 2012. doi: 10.1016/j.omega.2011.05.004 .pdf XML BibTex

  23. N.R. Sabar, M. Ayob, G. Kendall, R. Qu
    "A Honey-bee Mating Optimization Algorithm for Educational Timetabling Problems"
    European Journal of Operational Research, 216(3), 533-543, 2012. doi: 10.1016/j.ejor.2011.08.006 .pdf XML BibTex

  24. E.K. Burke, N. Pham, R. Qu, J. Yellen.
    "Linear Combinations of Heuristics for Examination Timetabling".
    Annals of OR, 194(1): 89-109, 2012. doi: 10.1007/s10479-011-0854-y, .pdf XML BibTex

  25. E.K. Burke, J. Li and R. Qu
    "A Pareto-Based Search Methodology for Multi-objective Nurse Scheduling"
    Annals of OR, 196(1): 91-109 2012. doi: 10.1007/s10479-009-0590-8 .pdf XML BibTex
    Top 1% cited **

  26. R. Bai, G. Kendall, R. Qu, J. Atkin.
    "Tabu assisted guided local search approaches for freight service network design."
    Information Sciences, 189: 266–281, 2012. doi: 10.1016/j.ins.2011.11.028, .pdf XML BibTex

  27. J. Li, E.K. Burke and R. Qu
    "A Pattern Recognition Based Intelligent Search Method: Two Case Studies on the Assignment Problem"
    Applied Intelligence, 36(2): 442-453, 2012. doi: 10.1007/s10489-010-0270-z XML BibTex
    Top 1% cited **

  28. B. McCollum, P. McMullan, A.J. Parkes, E.K. Burke, R. Qu
    "A New Model for Automated Examination Timetabling"
    Annals of Operations Research, 194(1): 291-315, 2012. doi: 10.1007/s10479-011-0997-x. .pdf XML BibTex

  29. H. Xing and R. Qu
    "A Compact Genetic Algorithm for the Network Coding Based Resource Minimization Problem"
    Applied Intelligence, 36(4):, 809-823, 2012. doi: 10.1007/s10489-011-0298-8 .pdf XML BibTex
    Top 10% cited **;

  30. N.R. Sabar, M. Ayob, G. Kendall, R. Qu
    "A Graph Coloring Constructive Hyper-Heuristic for Examination Timetabling Problems"
    Applied Intelligence, 37(1): 1-11, 2012. doi: 10.1007/s10489-011-0309-9 .pdf XML BibTex
    Top 10% cited **

  31. H. Xing, R. Qu
    "A Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm for Bi-objective Network Coding Based Multicast Routing Problems".
    Information Sciences. doi: 10.1016/j.ins.2013.01.014 233: 36–53, 2013. .pdf

  32. R. Qu*, Y. Xu, J. Castro, D. Landa-Silva.
    "Particle Swarm Optimization for the Steiner Tree in Graph and Delay-Constrained Multicast Routing Problems."
    Journal of Heuristics, 19(2): 317-342, 2013. doi: 10.1007/s10732-012-9198-2. .pdf

  33. M.Hadwan, M. Ayob, N.R. Sabar, R. Qu
    "A Harmony Search Algorithm for Nurse Rostering Problems".
    Information Sciences, 233: 126–140, 2013. doi: 10.1016/j.ins.2012.12.025 .pdf

  34. K. Lwin, R. Qu
    "Hybrid Algorithm for Constrained Portfolio Selection Problem".
    Applied Intelligence, 2013. doi: 10.1007/s10489-012-0411-7 .pdf

  35. S.K.N. Abdul Rahim, A. Bargiela, R. Qu
    "Domain Transformation Approach to Deterministic Optimization of Examination Timetables".
    Artificial Intelligence Research, 2(1), 2013. .pdf

  36. P. Brucker and R. Qu*
    "Network Flow Models for Intraday Personnel Scheduling Problems"
    Annals of OR, 2013. doi: 10.1007/s10479-012-1234-y .pdf.

  37. E.K. Burke, R. Qu and A. Soghier
    "Adaptive Selection of Heuristics for Improving Exam Timetables"
    Annals of OR, 2013. doi: 10.1007/s10479-012-1140-3 .pdf XML BibTex

  38. E.K. Burke, T. Curtois, R. Qu and G. Vanden Berghe.
    "A Time Predefined Variable Depth Search for Nurse Rostering".
    INFORMS Journal on Computing, 2013. doi: 10.1287/ijoc.1120.0510 .pdf XML BibTex

  39. Y. Xu, R. Qu, R. Li.
    A Simulated Annealing based Genetic Local Search Algorithm for Multi-objective Multicast Routing Problems
    Annals of Operations Research, 2013, doi: 10.1007/s10479-013-1322-7 .pdf

  40. E. K. Burke, M. Gendreau, M. Hyde, G. Kendall, G. Ochoa, E. Φzcan, R. Qu
    "Hyper-heuristics: A Survey of the State of the Art"
    accepted with minor modifications at Journal of the Operational Research Society, 2013.

  41. N. R. Sabar, M. Ayob, G. Kendall, and R. Qu
    "Grammatical Evolution Hyper-heuristic for Combinatorial Optimization problems"
    accepted on minor corrections at IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation, 2013. .pdf

Journals (Under Review/Preparation)

  • E.K. Burke, N. Pham, R. Qu. A Univariate Marginal Distribution based Hyper-heuristic for Three-Dimensional Strip Packing Problems, 2009

  • R. Qu, B. Berry, Capital Budgeting Problems, the Model and Meta-heuristic Algorithms, 2010

Book Chapters/Edited Books/Journal Editorial:

  1. R. Qu (ed.)
    "Proceedings of the 25th Workshop of the UK PLANNING AND SCHEDULING Special Interest Group",
    December, 2006, Nottingham, UK. ISSN 1368-5708. online proceedings available here

  2. R. Qu, M. Fox and D. Long (Guest editors)
    "Special Issue of Artificial Intelligence Planning and Scheduling"
    Journal of Scheduling, 12(3), June, 2009. editorial

  3. E.K. Burke, M. Dror, S. Petrovic, R. Qu*
    "Hybrid Graph Heuristics within a Hyper-heuristic Approach to Exam Timetabling Problems"
    B.L. Golden, S. Raghavan and E.A. Wasil (eds.). The Next Wave in Computing, Optimization, and Decision Technologies. Springer. Jan 2005. .pdf XML BibTex
    Top 10% cited ** (Dec 2011)

Selected refereed conference papers:

  1. Jianjun Chen, Ruibin Bai, Rong Qu, Graham Kendall
    "A Task Based Approach for A Real-World Commodity Routing Problem"
    2013 IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence, 16-19 April, Singapore.

  2. Geetha Baskaran, Andrzej Bargiela, Rong Qu
    "A Study of Cost Effective Scheduling of Nurses Based on the Domain Transformation Method"
    accepted by The 27th European Conference on Modeling and Simulation (ECMS'13), May 27th - 30st, 2013, Alesund, Norway.

  3. J. A. Castillo-Salazar, D. Landa-Silva, and R. Qu
    "A Survey on Workforce Scheduling and Routing Problems".
    The 9th International Conference on the Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling (PATAT 2012), 28-31 August 2012, Son, Norway. .pdf

  4. J. Li, R. Qu, and Y. Shen
    "Evolutionary Ruin and Stochastic Recreate: a Case Study on the Exam Timetabling Problem".
    26th European Conference on Modelling and Simulation (ECMS 2012), 29 May - 1 June 2012, Koblenz, Germany. .pdf

  5. H. Xing and R. Qu
    "A Population Based Incremental Learning for Delay Constrained Network Coding Resource Minimization"
    The 8th European Event on the Application of Nature-inspired Techniques for Telecommunication Networks (EvoCOMNET'11) pp. 51-60, at EvoStar'2011, 27-29 April 2011, Torino, Italy. .pdf XML BibTex

  6. Burke, E.K. and Qu, R. and Soghier, A.
    "An Adaptive Tie Breaking and Hybridisation Hyper-Heuristic for Exam Timetabling Problems"
    Nature Inspired Cooperative Strategies for Optimization (NICSO 2011). D.A. Pelta et al. (eds.), pp. 205-223 .pdf

  7. P. Brucker and R. Qu*
    "Network Flow Models for Intraday Personnel Scheduling Problems"
    The 8th International Conference on the Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling (PATAT 2010), 10-13 August 2010, Belfast, Northern Ireland. .pdf XML BibTex

  8. E.K. Burke, R. Qu and A. Soghier
    "Adaptive Selection of Heuristics for Improving Constructed Exam Timetables"
    The 8th International Conference on the Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling (PATAT 2010), 10-13 August 2010, Belfast, Northern Ireland. .pdf XML BibTex

  9. F. He and R. Qu
    "Constraint-directed Local Search to Nurse Rostering Problems"
    6th International Workshop on Local Search Techniques in Constraint Satisfaction (LSCS 2009), CP'09, 20 September 2009, Lisbon, Portugal. .pdf XML BibTex

  10. R. Qu*, F. He and E.K. Burke
    "Hybridizing Integer Programming Models with an Adaptive Decomposition Approach for Exam Timetabling Problems"
    The 4th Multidisciplinary International Scheduling: Theory and Applications 2009 (MISTA 2009), pp. 435-446, 10-12 August 2009, Dublin, Ireland. .pdf XML BibTex

  11. Y. Xu and R. Qu
    "A GRASP approach for the delay-constrained multicast routing problem"
    he 4th Multidisciplinary International Scheduling: Theory and Applications 2009 (MISTA 2009), pp. 93-104, 10-12 August 2009, Dublin, Ireland. .pdf XML BibTex

  12. E.K. Burke, R. Qu and A. Soghier
    "Adaptive Selection of Heuristics within a GRASP for Exam Timetabling Problems"
    The 4th Multidisciplinary International Scheduling: Theory and Applications 2009 (MISTA 2009), pp. 409-423, 10-12 August 2009, Dublin, Ireland. .pdf XML BibTex

  13. G. Ochoa, R. Qu and E.K. Burke
    "Analyzing the Landscape of a Graph Based Hyper-heuristic for Timetabling Problems"
    The Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO'09), pp. 341-348, 8-12 July, Montreal, Canada, .pdf XML BibTex

  14. G. Baskaran, A. Bargiela and R. Qu
    "Hierarchical Method for Nurse Rostering based on Granular Pre-processing of Constraints"
    The 23rd EUROPEAN Conference on Modelling and Simulation, 9-12 June 2009, Madrid, Spain. .pdf XML BibTex

  15. S. Khatijah Nor Abdul Rahim, A. Bargiela, Rong Qu
    "Granular Modelling of Exam to Slot Allocation",
    The 23rd EUROPEAN Conference on Modelling and Simulation, 9-12 June 2009, Madrid, Spain. .pdf XML BibTex

  16. R. Qu*, F. He
    "A Hybrid Constraint Programming Approach for Nurse Rostering Problems"
    Allen T., Ellis R. and Petridis M. (eds.) Applications and Innovations in Intelligent Systems XVI. The Twenty-eighth SGAI International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AI-2008), pp. 211-224, Cambridge, England, 9-11 December 2008. .pdf XML BibTex

  17. R. Qu*, Y. Xu, G. Kendall
    "A Variable Descent Search Algorithm for Delay-Constrained Least-Cost Multicast Routing"
    Lecture Notes in Computer Science 5851, pp. 15-29, Learning and Intelligent OptimizatioN (LION 3), Trento, Italy, Jan 14-18, 2009. LION3 online publication. .pdf XML BibTex

  18. N.R. Sabar, M. Ayob, G. Kendall and R. Qu
    "Roulette wheel graph colouring for solving examination timetabling problems". The 3rd Annual International Conference on Combinatorial Optimization and Applications (COCOA'09), Lecture Notes in Computer Science 5573, pp. 463-470. .pdf

  19. J.R. Carrington, N. Pham, R. Qu, J. Yellen
    "An Enhanced Weighted Graph Model for Examination / Course Timetabling"
    Proceedings of 26th Workshop of the UK Planning and Scheduling Special Interest Group 2007 (PlanSIG 2007), 9-16, Prague, Czech Republic, Dec, 2007. .pdf XML BibTex

  20. R. Qu* and E.K. Burke
    "Adaptive Decomposition and Construction for Examination Timetabling Problems"
    Proceedings of the 3rd Multidisciplinary International Scheduling: Theory and Applications 2007 (MISTA 2007), pp. 418-425, Aug, 2007, Paris, France. .pdf XML BibTex

  21. S. Abdullah, U. Aickelin, E.K. Burke, A. Mohamed Din and R. Qu
    "Investigating a Hybrid Metaheuristic for Job Shop Rescheduling"
    Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence 4828, pp. 357-368, 2007. .pdf XML BibTex

  22. M. Ayob, A. Malik, S. Abdullah, A.R. Hamdan, G. Kendall and R. Qu
    "Solving a Practical Examination Timetabling Problem: A Case Study"
    In: O. Gervasi and M. Gavrilova (Eds.): Lecture Notes in Computer Science 4707, Part III, pp. 611–624, 2007. .pdf XML BibTex

  23. R. Qu* and E.K. Burke
    "Hybrid Variable Neighbourhood Hyper-heuristics for Exam Timetabling Problems"
    Proceedings of Metaheuristic International Conference 2005 (MIC 2005), Vienna, Austria, Aug 2005. (Note: there are updated results of this paper, which are different from the published ones. Please refer to the paper at this web page for the latest results.) .pdf XML BibTex

  24. P. Brucker, R. Qu*, E.K. Burke and G. Post
    "A Decomposition, Construction and Post-processing Approach for a Specific Nurse Rostering Problem"
    Proceedings of the 2nd Multidisciplinary International Scheduling: Theory and Applications 2005 (MISTA 2005), pp. 397-406. New York, USA, Jul 2005. .pdf XML BibTex

  25. E.K. Burke, A. J. Eckersley, B. McCollum, S. Petrovic and R. Qu
    "Analysing Similarity in Exam Timetabling"
    Proceedings of the 5th International Series of Conferences on the Practice and Theory of Automated Timetabling 2004 (PATAT 2004), pp. 89-106. Pittsburgh, USA, Aug 2004. .pdf XML BibTex

  26. E.K. Burke, A. Eckersley, B. McCollum, S. Petrovic, R. Qu
    "Using Simulated Annealing to Study Behaviour of Various Exam Timetabling Data Sets"
    Proceedings of Metaheuristic International Conference 2003 (MIC 2003), Kyoto, Japan, Aug 2003. .pdf XML BibTex

  27. E.K. Burke, A. Eckersley, B. McCollum, S. Petrovic, R. Qu
    "Similarity Measures for Exam Timetabling Problems"
    Proceedings of the 1st Multidisciplinary International Scheduling: Theory and Applications 2003 (MISTA 2003), pp. 120-136. Nottingham, UK, Aug 2003. .pdf XML BibTex

  28. E.K. Burke, S. Petrovic, R. Qu*
    "Case-Based Heuristic Selection for Examination Timetabling"
    Proceedings of Asia-Pacific Conference on Simulated Evolution and Learning (SEAL'02), pp. 277-281. Singapore, Nov, 2002. data set .pdf XML BibTex

  29. E.K. Burke, B. MacCarthy, S. Petrovic, R. Qu*
    "Knowledge Discovery in Hyper-heuristic Using Case-Based Reasoning on Course Timetabling"
    Lecture Notes in Computer Science 2740, pp. 276-287, 2003. Also available in the Proceedings of PATAT'02, 90-103. Aug, 2002. .pdf XML BibTex

  30. S. Petrovic, R. Qu*
    "Case-Based Reasoning as a Heuristic Selector in a Hyper-Heuristic for Course Timetabling Problems"
    Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information Engineering Systems and Allied Technologies, Volume 82, pp. 336-340. IOS Press. .pdf XML BibTex

  31. E.K. Burke, B. MacCarthy, S. Petrovic, R. Qu*
    "Case-based Reasoning in Course Timetabling: An Attribute Graph Approach"
    Case-Based Reasoning Research and Development, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence 2080, pp. 90-104, 2001. .pdf XML BibTex

  32. E.K. Burke, B. MacCarthy, S. Petrovic, R. Qu*
    "Structured Cases in Case-Based Reasoning - Re-using and Adapting Cases for Time-tabling Problems"
    Proceedings of Expert Systsms 1999 (ES99), awarded as one of the six best technical papers. .pdf XML BibTex

Theses

Others