British Academy of Management

Doctoral Symposium (publication) IJMR

Co-editors: Ossie Jones & Caroline Gatrell

State of the Art Review Journal: Specific aspect of sub-discipline, e.g.

HRM, Appraisal systems Broadly focused: HRM; OB; IM; SM; Operations; Man. Sci.;

IS; Acc & Fin; MarketingDoctoral students ideally placed

here!

Launched 1999

4 Issues per year (approx 24 articles)

Current Impact Factor 3.857 (4.981) 6th /115 in Business 11th /185 in Management

IJMR: History & Impact

Planning your paper (getting through the door)Check out the style of your target journal. Does your

paper meet their criteria? (e.g. empirical articles submitted to IJMR inevitably get rejected).

What does the journal ask you to do? Do exactly what they say e.g. submit a paper no longer or shorter than the number of words specified

Ensure you are familiar with the journal and its perspectives – what has been published in it and by whom? is it focused on empirical studies (quantitative, qualitative?) does it publish tables/appendices; does it address social problems etc….

If asked to review for the journal, accept and do a good job.

Getting through the doorWhat do you need to do to hook them in?Explain how paper meet aims of target journal?Needs to advance debate within the journal and/or

field?How does it depart from/extend/challenge what is

already known? Article fits style, interest and perspective of

journal. Look at what others have written and engage with this.

Is the contribution clear? (can be a small step). What is new about what you are doing? Extending existing arguments; looking at things from a new angle; filling a gap in literature; challenging existing literature; turning the field on its head?

Getting through the doorMake clear links to explain how your paper is in

keeping with what the journal doesMethods are detailed and clear. Spend time on this

– look at how others justify their approachEnsure argument is logical, consistent and

sequential Allow more writing time than you think you need

– go for polish. Presentation in style of journal, no grammatical errors, references complete

Relate your paper specifically to others published in journal

Good relevant title

Getting through the doorMost papers only make between one and

three points in their paper. Try to do the same. Need a strong line of argument which you can support and substantiate

Make your claims convincing and ensure they match your aim (Murray 2013)

Get feedback from others. Present your ideas at conferences/seminars.

Get others to read your work and comment on it, and do the same for them.

Take care how you refer to the work of previous scholars. They may be your reviewers!

Getting through the doorSeek advice from your supervisor/writing

partners. Sort out in advance whose name goes on the paper, and in what order.

Proof read so manuscript is really tidySubmit with a polite letter saying who you

are, why you are doing the research and situating the research. Your letter should be short. You may need to work with inflexible electronic submission processes so be aware of rules.

Give yourself plenty of time to submit (S1M not intuitive or empathetic, lots of questions to answer)

Why papers get rejected

•Author has not read submission guidelines

•Paper doesn’t fit the style of the journal•Too much information stuffed into one

paper•Contribution unclear/Argument hard to

follow•Fighting battles on too many fronts•Paper fails to make links between what it

does and aims of journal•Paper is poorly presented, grammatical

errors and typos

Summary…..

•All papers (including IJMR reviews) should make a contribution to knowledge, should be in keeping with criteria for publication in submission guidelines - and it helps if they are interesting!