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Author Guidelines

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Submit to the journal

Submissions to the International Journal of Managing Projects in Business are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts.
http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijmpb

The Editor

Derek H.T. Walker

derek.walker@rmit.edu.au

 

Editorial objectives

The International Journal of Managing Projects in Business  will provide both researchers and practitioners with the latest developments in project management, with a distinct focus on business, identifying key implications for senior practitioners and managers of projects world-wide.

The reviewing process

Each paper is reviewed by the Editors and, if it is judged suitable for this publication, it is then sent to two referees for double blind peer review. Based on their recommendations, the Editor then decides whether the paper should be accepted as it is, revised or rejected.  

Research Thesis Notes Guidelines

The thesis notes have been an innovation for Emerald and the IJMPB that has attracted a lot of positive attention and feedback. I (the Editor) have had numerous questions about how these are evolving and for guidance on how to prepare them. I hope the following helps.

The aims for the thesis notes can be summarised as:

• Providing access to readers on recent (within the past 12-24 months) doctoral theses/dissertations that relate to PM topics. Often when reading an interesting paper a reader is intrigued by a topic and would like to find more about the author’s work. While that author may have cited several related papers of theirs, the main and core source is often their doctoral thesis. It would be very useful to know a little more about what the thesis was about, its context and how to electronically download it for further detail.
• Providing a summary of the thesis. All doctoral theses require a summary at the start of the thesis usually about 1000 to 1500 words. This can be used with modifications as the basis of the thesis note. There may also be a similar amount of content perhaps a page or two that has a useful figure that summarises a model or the findings. The idea is to provide a summary and not a full paper, the author may have already written one or several papers already that are in print or under review.
• Provide a context of the thesis. It would be interesting to know a little about the thesis author and their journey to the thesis topic. Generally they are reflective practitioners and have an interesting background that led them to this topic. Other readers may be prompted after reading the thesis note to follow a similar journey.
• Provide a context for the university where the thesis was developed. Most readers are unaware of the variety of schools, universities and opportunities to undertake a doctorate on a research topic. They may have done so from a PhD, DBA or DPM base. Many readers would be interested in a description of a short contextual setting of the University, the PM topic expertise that can be accessed. A short section of about a half to one page could provide useful information for readers about what opportunities are available to study and research PM topics at the doctoral level.
• Indicate outcomes from the work. The thesis notes should cite papers presented at conferences, journal papers, any other IP outcomes such as a patent, invention new process or whatever else may be of practical use that came out of the work.
• A URL where the thesis can be downloaded. People would like to be able to download the thesis, even if it is in a language other than English.

The paper should be about 8-10 pages or about 3,000 to 4,000 words. It is usually co-authored with the thesis supervisor who can add in insights for where that work is now heading, the philosophy of the institution that supported the doctorate and any other issues that are relevant to being able to deliver the doctorate.

Practice Notes Guidelines

There is often interesting changes in PM practice that may go unreported for a long time before validating research is undertaken about the practice, or else the practice may be emerging with only a few practitioners or authoritative ‘pracademics’.

The aims for the practice notes can be summarised as:

1. Providing readers with less developed papers than conceptual ‘regular’ papers. The ideas presented in the paper should be novel and innovative rather than replicating established existing PM practice—the ideas may be developed in other disciplines but never/rarely used in PM. These contributions may be tentative in that they have been tested on isolated cases rather than field tested and to be accepted they should show promise. They may be in developmental stage and so reported results are tentative and tested using explorative approaches rather than accepted purposeful research methodologies. Nevertheless, such papers could spark interest in PM academics and practitioners.
2. Another type of paper that could be contributed is a brief historical commentary and analysis on existing or emerging trends in practice or calling for radical rethinking of existing practice due to perceived radical shifts in the environment in which projects are realised. This type of paper may be prompting debate or adding to a debate.
3. The practice note may be reporting on innovative technology or process advances that by their nature are proprietary or experimental and so the identity of the author may be closely linked to the innovation. However, this is not intended to be an opportunity for an advertorial or for ‘spin doctoring’. The publication of these research note papers may spark interest in other researchers or continued development by the authors. Subsequently the papers will be short and possibly highly controversial.   

The paper should be about 8-10 pages or about 3,000 to 4,000 words. These papers may not necessarily be double blind peer reviewed because the degree of referencing and types of citations may be too revealing to the authors to be reasonably perceived as ‘double-blind’. An editorial decision will be made about that. They are however, rigorously reviewed for content, style and other expectations of a paper presented in a refereed journal. 

Research Notes Guidelines

The aims for Research Notes can be summarised as:

1. Providing readers with access to less developed papers than conceptual ‘regular’ papers. The ideas presented in the paper should be novel and innovative to be adapted to PM rather than simply replicating established existing PM knowledge—the ideas may have been developed in other disciplines but never/rarely used in PM. These contributions may be tentative in that they have been tested on simulation data rather than field tested and they should show promise to be accepted for publication in IJMPiB.
2. Another type of paper that could be contributed is a brief historical commentary and analysis on existing or emerging trends in research. This type of paper may be prompting debate or adding to a debate.
3. The publication of these research note papers may spark interest in other researchers or continued development by the authors. Subsequently the papers will be short and possibly highly controversial.   

The paper should be about 8-10 pages or about 3,000 to 4,000 words. These papers may not necessarily be double blind peer reviewed because the degree of referencing and types of citations may be too revealing to the authors to be reasonably perceived as ‘double-blind’. An editorial decision will be made about that. They are however, rigorously reviewed for content, style and other expectations of a paper presented in a refereed journal.

Regular Research Paper

Papers should be about 6000 words in length (excluding references figures, tables etc) though longer papers may be considered. This allows authors to more fully develop their case study context sections and/or their discussion section as compared to many other journals that require shorter word count limits for papers. For access to Emerald Abstract details refer  For access to Emerald Abstract details refer http://www.emeraldinsight.com./info/authors/writing_for_emerald/abstracts.jsp

Paper type
Pick the category which most closely describes your paper. We understand that some papers can fit into more than one category but it is necessary to assign your paper to one of the categories - these are listed and will be searchable within the database.

Research paper
This category covers papers which report on any type of research undertaken by the author(s). The research may involve the construction or testing of a model or framework, action research, testing of data, market research or surveys, empirical, scientific or clinical research. 

Viewpoint
Any paper, where content is dependent on the author's opinion and interpretation, should be included in this category; this also includes journalistic pieces.

Technical paper
Describes and evaluates technical products, processes or services. 

Conceptual paper
These papers will not be based on research but will develop and test hypotheses. The papers are likely to be discursive and will cover philosophical discussions and comparative studies of others' work and thinking.

Case study
Case studies describe actual interventions or experiences within organizations. They may well be subjective and will not generally report on research. A description of a legal case or a hypothetical case study used as a teaching exercise would also fit into this category.

Literature review
It is expected that all types of paper cite any relevant literature so this category should only be used if the main purpose of the paper is to annotate and/or critique the literature in a particular subject area. It may be a selective bibliography providing advice on information sources or it may be comprehensive in that the paper's aim is to cover the main contributors to the development of a topic and explore their different views.

General review
This category covers those papers which provide an overview or historical examination of some concept, technique or phenomena. The papers are likely to be more descriptive or instructional ("how to" papers) than discursive. 

Supply up to six keywords for tagging the paper when archived in the database. Researchers will be more likely to retrieve the paper when conducting a keyword search of our database if the paper is suitably tagged. In the near future, the controlled list of keywords will appear.

Copyright

Articles submitted to the journal should be original contributions and should not be under consideration for any other publication at the same time. Please see Emerald's policy on originality. Use this in conjunction with the points below about references, before submission i.e. always attribute clearly using either indented text or quote marks as well as making use of the preferred Harvard style of formatting. Authors submitting articles for publication warrant that the work is not an infringement of any existing copyright and will indemnify the publisher against any breach of such warranty. For ease of dissemination and to ensure proper policing of use, papers and contributions become the legal copyright of the publisher unless otherwise agreed.

The editor may make use of iThenticate software for checking the originality of submissions received. Please see our press release for further details.

Emerald Literati Network Editing Service

The Emerald Literati Network can recommend, via our Editing Service, a number of freelance copy editors, all themselves experienced authors, to contributors who wish to improve the standard of English in their paper before submission. This is particularly useful for those whose first language is not English.

Manuscript requirements

1. As a guide, articles should be between 4000 and 7000 words in length.
2. A title of not more than eight words should be provided.
3. A brief autobiographical note should be supplied including:
   • Full name
   • Affiliation
   • E-mail address
   • Full international contact details
   • Brief professional biography.
   NB This information should be provided on a separate sheet and authors should not be identified anywhere else in the article.
4. Authors must supply a structured abstract set out under 4-7 sub-headings (see our "How to... write an abstract" guide for practical help and guidance):
   • Purpose (mandatory)
   • Design/methodology/approach (mandatory)
   • Findings (mandatory)
   • Research limitations/implications (if applicable)
   • Practical implications (if applicable)
   • Social implications (if applicable)
   • Originality/value (mandatory).
   Maximum is 250 words in total.
5. Please provide up to six keywords which encapsulate the principal topics of the paper.
6. Categorize your paper under one of these classifications:
• Research paper
• Viewpoint
• Technical paper
• Conceptual paper
• Case study
• Literature review
• General review.
7. Headings must be short, with a clear indication of the distinction between the hierarchy of headings. The preferred format is for headings to be presented in bold format, with consecutive numbering.
8. Notes or Endnotes should be used only if absolutely necessary and must be identified in the text by consecutive numbers, enclosed in square brackets and listed at the end of the article.
9. Each Figure and Plate should be supplied separately (i.e. not within the article itself). All Figures (charts, diagrams and line drawings) and Plates (photographic images) should be of clear quality, in black and white and numbered consecutively with arabic numerals.
      Figures created in MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, Illustrator and Freehand should be saved in their native formats. Electronic figures created in other applications should be copied from the origination software and pasted into a blank MS Word document or saved and imported into a MS Word document by choosing "Insert" from the menu bar, "Picture" from the drop-down menu and selecting "From File..." to select the graphic to be imported.
      For figures which cannot be supplied in MS Word, acceptable standard image formats are: .pdf, .ai, .wmf and .eps. If you are unable to supply graphics in these formats then please ensure they are .tif, .jpeg (.jpg) , or .bmp at a resolution of at least 300dpi and at least 10cm wide.
      To prepare screenshots, simultaneously press the "Alt" and "Print screen" keys on the keyboard, open a blank Microsoft Word document and simultaneously press "Ctrl" and "V" to paste the image. (Capture all the contents/windows on the computer screen to paste into MS Word, by simultaneously pressing "Ctrl" and "Print screen".)
      Photographic images (Plates) should be saved as .tif or .jpeg (.jpg) files at a resolution of at least 300dpi and at least 10cm wide. Digital camera settings should be set at the highest possible resolution/quality.
      In the text of the paper the preferred position of all tables, figures and plates should be indicated by typing on a separate line the words "Take in Figure (No.)" or "Take in Plate (No.)".
10. Tables should be typed and included as part of the manuscript. They should not be submitted as graphic elements. Supply succinct and clear captions for all tables, figures and plates. Ensure that any superscripts or asterisks are shown next to the relevant items and have corresponding explanations displayed as footnotes to the table, figure or plate.
11. References to other publications must be in Harvard style and carefully checked for completeness, accuracy and consistency. This is very important in an electronic environment because it enables your readers to exploit the Reference Linking facility on the database and link back to the works you have cited through CrossRef.
       You should cite publications in the text: (Adams, 2006) using the first named author's name or (Adams and Brown, 2006) citing both names of two, or (Adams et al., 2006), when there are three or more authors. At the end of the paper a reference list in alphabetical order should be supplied:
• For books: Surname, Initials (year), Title of Book, Publisher, Place of publication.
  e.g. Harrow, R. (2005), No Place to Hide, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.
• For book chapters: Surname, Initials (year), "Chapter title", Editor's Surname, Initials (Ed.), Title of Book, Publisher, Place of publication, pages.
  e.g. Calabrese, F.A. (2005), "The early pathways: theory to practice – a continuum", in Stankosky, M. (Ed.), Creating the Discipline of Knowledge Management, Elsevier, New York, NY, pp. 15-20.
• For journals: Surname, Initials (year), "Title of article", Journal Name, volume, number, pages.
  e.g. Capizzi, M.T. and Ferguson, R. (2005), "Loyalty trends for the twenty-first century", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 72-80.
• For published conference proceedings: Surname, Initials (year of publication), "Title of paper", in Surname, Initials (Ed.), Title of published proceeding which may include place and date(s) held, Publisher, Place of publication, Page numbers.
  eg Jakkilinki, R., Georgievski, M. and Sharda, N. (2007), "Connecting destinations with an ontology-based e-tourism planner", in Information and communication technologies in tourism 2007 proceedings of the international conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2007, Springer-Verlag, Vienna, pp. 12-32.
• For unpublished conference proceedings: Surname, Initials (year), "Title of paper", paper presented at Name of Conference, date of conference, place of conference, available at: URL if freely available on the internet (accessed date).
  eg Aumueller, D. (2005), "Semantic authoring and retrieval within a wiki", paper presented at the European Semantic Web Conference (ESWC), 29 May-1 June, Heraklion, Crete, available at: http://dbs.uni-leipzig.de/file/aumueller05wiksar.pdf (accessed 20 February 2007).
• For working papers: Surname, Initials (year), "Title of article", working paper [number if available], Institution or organization, Place of organization, date.
  e.g. Moizer, P. (2003), "How published academic research can inform policy decisions: the case of mandatory rotation of audit appointments", working paper, Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, Leeds, 28 March.
• For encyclopedia entries (with no author or editor): Title of Encyclopedia (year) "Title of entry", volume, edition, Title of Encyclopedia, Publisher, Place of publication, pages.
  e.g. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1926) "Psychology of culture contact", Vol. 1, 13th ed., Encyclopaedia Britannica, London and New York, NY, pp. 765-71.
  (For authored entries please refer to book chapter guidelines above.)
• For newspaper articles (authored): Surname, Initials (year), "Article title", Newspaper, date, pages.
  e.g. Smith, A. (2008), "Money for old rope", Daily News, 21 January, pp. 1, 3-4.
• For newspaper articles (non-authored): Newspaper (year), "Article title", date, pages.
  e.g. Daily News (2008), "Small change", 2 February, p. 7.
• For electronic sources: if available online the full URL should be supplied at the end of the reference, as well as a date that the resource was accessed.
  e.g. Castle, B. (2005), "Introduction to web services for remote portlets", available at: http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/library/ws-wsrp/ (accessed 12 November 2007).
  Standalone URLs, i.e. without an author or date, should be included either within parentheses within the main text, or preferably set as a note (roman numeral within square brackets within text followed by the full URL address at the end of the paper).

Submissions Process

Authors should note that proofs are not supplied prior to publication and ensure that the paper submitted is complete and in its final form.

Submissions to International Journal of Managing Projects in Business are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts, the online submission and peer review system. Registration and access is available at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijmpb. Full information and guidance on using ScholarOne Manuscripts is available at the Emerald ScholarOne Manuscripts Support Centre: http://msc.emeraldinsight.com.

Registering on ScholarOne Manuscripts

If you have not yet registered on ScholarOne Manuscripts, please follow the instructions below:

• Please log on to: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijmpb
• Click on Create Account
• Follow the on-screen instructions, filling in the requested details before proceeding
• Your username will be your email address and you have to input a password of at least 8 characters in length and containing two or more numbers
• Click Finish and your account has been created.

If you have previously registered with another journal on ScholarOne Manuscripts but wish to submit to International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, you will need to create an author account on International Journal of Managing Projects in Business to do so. You can use the same username and password.

Submitting an article to International Journal of Managing Projects in Business on ScholarOne Manuscripts

• Please log on to International Journal of Managing Projects in Business at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijmpb with your username and password. This will take you through to the Welcome page (To consult the Author Guidelines for this journal, click on the Home Page link in the Resources column)
• Click on the Author Centre button
• Click on the submit a manuscript link which will take you through to the Manuscript Submission page
• Complete all fields and browse to upload your article
• When all required sections are completed, preview your .pdf proof
• Submit your manuscript.