Dear Colleagues,
We would like to take this opportunity to announce an exciting development in strategic management, namely the inaugural call for papers for the Strategic Management Review, www.strategicmanagementreview.com, the first online academic journal dedicated to the field of strategic management. The mission of the editorial team at SMR is to provide timely, relevant, and interesting research on strategic management through an open online submission, reviewing, and publishing process.
FEATURES
The journal supports a complete online submission, reviewing, and publishing process The journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
Newly accepted articles will appear continuously on this site with a new issue started every quarter and a new volume every year.
Supplementary files (such as data, transcripts, or additional analysis) can be associated with any article
Readers can commenton articles
The site is fully searchable
Papers can be accessed in HTML and PDF formats
All papers come with a set of reading tools that provide additional functionality for the reader, including contacting the author, searching for additional work by the author, and adding comments.
The site accepts thesis abstracts from PhD students
Journal content will be indexed by Google Scholar
Journal content will be archived at dozens of universities worldwide using the LOCKSS system
CALL FOR PAPERS Our primary concern is to reflect upon, understand, and improve the effectiveness of strategic management. We seek a balance between empirical research, philosophical reflection, and conceptual development. In every case, we favor significant implications for knowledge development and practice - for the "big picture." Your submission may come from any theoretical and methodological framework provided it is consistent with its declared framework and achieves a high level of excellence.
The scope of the journal mirrors the domain of the Business Policy and Strategy division of the Academy of Management. As such, the journal is interested in "the roles and problems of general managers - those who manage multi-business firms or multi-functional business units."
Major topics include: strategy formulation and implementation; strategic planning and decision processes; strategic control and reward systems; resource allocation; diversification and portfolio strategies; competitive strategy; selection and behavior of general managers; and the composition and processes of top management teams.
We especially welcome submissions from new scholars in strategic management, in particular, doctoral students and junior faculty. (We invite you to introduce yourself by posting in our Thesis Abstract section of the site.) At SMR, we recognize the considerable time pressures these members of the strategic management community face with hiring and tenure deadlines and we are deeply committed to reducing the cycle time from submission to editorial decision to publication.
Moreover, this reduced cycle time will not come at the expense of quality. We are committed to a target acceptance rate of 30% - about the same acceptance rate as competitive papers submitted to the BPS division for the Annual Academy of Management Meeting. If your paper was accepted for the Academy meeting you should have a reasonable expectation of it being published in SMR.
In fact, a paper accepted in the competitive track of any major English-speaking conference (e.g. the Strategic Management Society, European Academy of Management, British Academy of Management, Canadian Administrative Sciences Association, or Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management) will be well received at SMR. We do not privilege the data or theoretical/methodological concerns of one geographical region over another.
Please contact the Editor-in-Chief if you have any questions regarding the suitability of your manuscript for the journal.
PEER REVIEW PROCESS
Q. Is the journal peer-reviewed?
A. The journal adheres to a standard double-blind review process.
Q. How many reviewers review each manuscript?
A. Every manuscript is reviewed by at least two reviewers.
Q. What criteria do reviewers use to judge submissions?
A. The journal has a targeted acceptance rate of 30% - about the same as the competitive tracks at major international conferences, such as the Annual Academy of Management Meeting. It follows that any paper accepted at a major competitive conference should have a strong probability of being accepted in SMR. Any reviewer comments are required to minimize theoretical, methodological, or personal biases against a particular approach. The journal seeks to be the "journal of record" for interesting insights or results in the field of strategic management, regardless of theoretical or methodological stance. The bottom line is whether an article adds to the on going "conversation" in strategic management.
Q. What is the typical time taken to conduct reviews?
A. Reviewers are asked to return their reviews within 14 days. Our experience is that a quality review can be completed within a day or less. The real question is whether the reviewer has the time to devote to the review within a 14-day window. If not, they can respectfully decline the request to review. If they agree then we can reasonably expect a rapid turnaround will result. Consistent failure to adhere to review deadlines will result in removal from the editorial board.
Q. How are reviewers recruited?
A. When authors and readers register for the site they also have the option to sign up as reviewers and list their areas of research expertise. This pool of reviewers is matched against the keywords in a paper to select appropriate reviewers. Reviewers are then rated on the quality of their reviews. A reviewer with four or more satisfactory reviews within a twelve-month period becomes eligible for membership of the editorial board of the journal. We realize that we are bucking the trend by not having a "star-studded" editorial board in place at the journal's inception but we believe that providing transparency in the selection of editorial board members on the basis of demonstrated review skills is a more important contribution to the strategic management community.
We are excited by the opportunities presented by the creation of the Strategic Management Review. We believe there is an opening in the strategic management community for the type of journal we are launching. We invite you to support our vision by visiting our website, www.strategicmanagementreview.com, and registering as a reader, author and/or reviewer.
Sincerely
The Editorial Team
Strategic Management Review
(See attached file: SMR_Announcement_Nov2006.doc)