Project Management Research and Practice

Editorial Policies

Focus and Scope

Acknowledging the natural dynamic of public priorities, the topics and points of focus will evolve over time and can come from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. There will be no limitations on discussing how these projects are managed. Specific topics will include (but not limited to):

• Climate action 
• Food and agriculture
• Education
• Poverty
• Water and water management
• Security
• Health care and management
• Energy, energy conservation, and utilities.
• Government services
• Internet governance
• Open and big data
• Public transportation
• Urbanization planning
• Waste and sanitation

PMRP content will start and support informed conversation that helps solve these problems and reflect public priorities.

 

Section Policies

COMMENTARY (Single peer review)

Reflections on various existing and emergent topics related to the scope of this journal are encouraged through focused commentaries written either by practitioners or researchers. Items will be chosen based on their currency and quality, and will be subject to peer review either by a member of the Editorial Advisory Board, an external practitioner or third-party researcher (depending on the topic). 

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

 

BOOK REVIEW (Single peer review)

A review is an authoritative and balanced examination of a publication in project or program management. Submissions can occur at any time and need to relate to one of PMRP’s core topics. They are subject to peer review either by a member of the Editorial Advisory Board, an external practitioner or third-party researcher (depending on the topic). 

Please contact our book editor, Dr. Steve Leybourne

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

 

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS 

Observations and reports from various conferences in the project management community and those related to the key topics of PMRP will be published. Submissions are welcome at any time.

Proceedings can also be published as a partial or complete collection. Conference chairs / organizers can work with PMRP to determine the scope and scheduling of the collection. 

Reviews are conducted in two stages: initially through external conference members and secondly with one representative of PMRP. Changes might be required as a result of either stage review. This determination is done in consultation with at least one member of the PMRP Editorial Advisory Board and an explanation of the peer review process accompanies each proceedings.

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

 

INTERVIEWS (NON-REFEREED)

Researchers, practitioners and other thought leaders are often the best source of insight to emergent, critical issues and reflected in the more open channel of an interview. Suggestions are welcome. They are subject to peer review either by a member of the Editorial Advisory Board, an external practitioner or third-party researcher (depending on the topic).

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Unchecked Peer Reviewed

 

PRACTITIONER CASE (REFEREED)

 A key goal of PMRP is to publish material of clear and immediate value to PM practitioners. To support this goal will be the provision of 'practitioner cases' - articles written by experienced professionals, reinforced with current research and placed in suitable context. They are subject to peer review either by a member of the Editorial Advisory Board, an external practitioner or third-party researcher (depending on the topic).

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

 

RESEARCH ARTICLE (REFEREED)

To be included in this section, articles must be based on substantiated scholarship, use a qualitative or mixed methods research design and provide critical reflection and analysis. They must contribute new knowledge to both the research and practice of project management as related to PMRP's topics. All research articles submitted  are reviewed by two independent peer referees who are qualified experts in the subject field. Authors and reviewers remain anonymous. The journal works with an expanded definition of peer reviewers, including suitably qualified practitioners working in a project/programme/portfolio management capacity. Reviewers' recommendations are taken into consideration by the editors in determining publication and revisions.

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

 

STUDENT RESEARCH ARTICLE (REFEREED)

Masters or doctoral candidates are encouraged to submit articles concerning their own research and experiences as a researcher-in-training. The inclusion of university or host programs are encouraged.

These articles must be structured similarly to fuller research submissions but can have a lower word count. They are subject to peer review by a member of the Editorial Advisory Board and externally with an external practitioner or researcher (depending on the topic).

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

 

TEACHING CASE (REFEREED)

The understanding and development of project management stems from education as well as research. Teaching cases will focus on actual and fictional projects and programs related to PMRP topics. Submissions are encouraged and will be peer reviewed by a combination of practitioners and/or researchers and/or educators.

Cases will have 3 parts (see Author Guidelines) and are subject to peer review by a member of the Editorial Advisory Board and externally with an external practitioner or researcher (depending on the topic).

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

 

SPECIAL COLLECTION (REFEREED)

Proposals are encouraged for a select group of scientific contributions that focus on a central theme, topic, or research direction. Special collections are initiated and supervised by Guest Editors, who are responsible for the content and for managing the review process for all contributions.

All material in a Special Collection is peer-reviewed, and each individual submission must be accepted for publication according to the same standards as all other journal content.

A person wishing to edit a Special Collection first submits a short proposal to the Journal editor. This first proposal should contain a description of the topic or issue, a list of possible papers and authors, and (if applicable) the names of other Guest Editors. Should the group of contributions be the product of a workshop or seminar, the proposal should also include information about the event.

In support of a special collection, a Call for Papers can be published in PMRP.

As an example, the first Special Collection of PMRP took place in Volume 3 with a focus on project management in the not-for-profit sector.

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

 

PRACTITIONER'S VIEW (REFEREED)

Experienced project and programme managers will be invited to offer their view on a recently published research article. These will be important submissions that place or apply theory or workable concepts in real-world project scenarios. They are subject to peer review by a member of the Editorial Advisory Board and externally with an external practitioner or researcher (depending on the topic).

Checked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

 

 

Peer Review Process

All submissions to PMRP will undergo an initial screening by the Editor to assess suitability to the journal’s focus and scope. Articles are considered for publication if they have not been published or accepted for publication elsewhere and are not being concurrently considered elsewhere.

After initial screening, submissions will be forwarded to appropriate reviewers from our pool that include project managers, researchers, industry professionals and members of our Editorial Advisory Board. Attempts will be made with each submission to find appropriate external reviewers.

After the reviewer recommendations have been returned, the Editor will make the final decision resulting in one of the following outcomes:   Accept /  Accept with minor revision /  Accept with major revision after additional review / Redirection to another journal. 

Authors will usually be notified of result as soon as possible after submission. 

For further information on best practice peer review processes, please see the the UTS ePress policies on Ethics and Transparency and/or   COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Editors and Publishers and/or the COPE Principles of Transparency and Best Practices in Scholarly Publishing.


Appeals
Multiple appeals are permitted for each manuscript, and appeals can only take place after peer review. Final decisions on appeals will be made by the Editor-in-Chief following consultation with appropriate Editorial Advisor(s).


Conflicts of Interest
PMRP team members are required to declare any potential competing interests in undertaking their duties. In cases where a manuscript is submitted by a colleague at their own institution or from their research networks, that team member will remove themselves from the decision-making process. A co-editor, or an external trusted expert, with no such connections, will then be asked to act as the Editor and will be assigned to manage the entire review process for that particular article. If the article proceeds to publication, it will be explicitly stated on the article that the editor who submitted the paper has had no involvement with the journal's handling of this particular article, along with the reasons for this, and the name of the assigned Editor. 

Publication Frequency

PMRP publishes two issues per year (Jan-June and July-December) within a single volume. After articles have been peer reviewed and accepted, they are then allocated and published to the relevant annual volume. Articles can be published individually or as part of a group as part of a publish-as-you-go model.

Open Access Policy

This 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. 

Such access is associated with increased readership and increased citation of an author's work. For more information on this approach, see the Public Knowledge Project, which has designed this system to improve the scholarly and public quality of research, and which freely distributes the journal system as well as other software to support the open access publishing of scholarly resources.

This journal has no submission or article processing charges.

Authors of published articles remain the copyright holders and grant others the right to use, reproduce, adapt and share their articles according to the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.

Authors are permitted to self-archive works on their personal or institutional webpages and repositories.

 

Author Responsibilities

It is the responsibility of the author/s to ensure:

- Any conflicting or competing interest is disclosed on submission of their work and all sources of funding are declared.

- They contact the Editor, Dr. Beverly Pasian to identify and correct any material errors upon discovery, whether prior or subsequent to publication of their work.

- The work is original, and all sources are accurately cited, according to the Journal's style guide.

- The authorship of the work is accurately reflected. This means that all individuals credited as authors legitimately participated in the authorship of the work, and all those who participated are credited and have given consent for publication. Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution or interpretation of the work. Other contributors should be mentioned in the acknowledgement section of the article and their contribution described. 

Handling of Suspected Misconduct

Issues of suspected misconduct and corrections will be handled in accordance with the guidelines set out by the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Editors.

Corrections and Retractions

Corrections and retractions will be treated in accordance with the guidelines set out by the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Editors

Plagiarism

This journal automatically runs all submissions multiple times through iThenticate anti-plagiarism software: first upon submission and lastly after any revision of the manuscript based on peer review. 

Complaints Handling

Complaints related to PMRP should be directed in the first instance to the Editor, Dr. Beverly Pasian. Complaints will be investigated according to recommendations by the Committee on Publication Ethics (see COPE Flowcharts). If complainants are unsatisfied with the response they may contact the Publisher, utsepress@uts.edu.au. Authors with complaints related to the peer review or editorial process should refer to the Author Guidelines.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this journal are those of the authors and do not, and should not, be considered representative of Project Management Research and Practice or UTS ePRESS or the University of Technology Sydney.

 

Sources of Support

Project Management Research and Practice adheres to the Advertising and Sponsorship Guidelines as set out by UTS ePRESS.

Journal History

Interest has steadily grown in the last few years across the PM community in publishing a new practitioner-oriented research journal (often with references made to Harvard Business Review). Discussions have occurred at various research and practitioner events, with the result being the generous offer made by Professor Shankar Sankaran (at the University of Technology, Sydney) to redirect his journal of Organisational Project Management toward the goals of (what now is) Project Management Research and Practice.

UTS ePress, as the publisher of both OPM and PMRP, was immediately supportive of the idea. Dedicated staff saw the journal as an opportunity for a new approach to project management research and worked closely with the PMRP team in the development of new cover design and internal page design templates. The publishing of PMRP at UTS is also consistent with its commitment to measuring and guiding its social impact as a university.

With the mission of the journal agreed upon and the support of a leading university ePress, the next step was to recruit an international Editorial Board (EB). The EB has been carefully selected based on their topical and methodological expertise, access to emergent researchers, location and diversity within the PM community. It will continue to grown in the coming years to be consistent with this diversity.

PMRP has been conceived and developed as a journal with a mission to advocate socially responsible PM research and practice. With this as a starting point, the support of those above, and a world of public priorities being satisfied through the increasing use of projects, its future looks even more promising than its history.