As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
Supports PMRP mission: Demonstrates or contributes to socially responsible project management research and/or practice.
Immediately useful: Provides immediate meaning and use for project and program managers.
Clearly communicated: Has been written clearly and persuasively to capture the attention of the reader.
Proper documentation: separate documents have been prepared for the main submission, author details and supplementary files.
Has followed relevant Author Guidelines and followed our Ethics Policy before submitting any manuscript.
Author Guidelines
General information in the preparation of manuscripts
PMRP does not charge any type of article processing charge (APC) or any type of article submission charge.
Specific guidelines are available for research articles, teaching cases and practitioner cases. Please consult with the section descriptions for clarification on the different article types. Do not hesitate to email pmrp@uts.edu.au if you have questions.
In addition to those templates, the following general authorship guidelines should be followed.
Article length: Article length is dependent on the type of submission.
Submission title: A title of not more than eight words should be provided.
The work is original, and all sources are accurately cited.
Authorship is accurately reflected, meaning that all individuals credited as authors legitimately participated in the creation of the work and have given consent for publication.
Author details: All contributing author details should be added to the submission in a separate file. Once approved for publication, professional photographs will be needed.
Figures created in MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, Illustrator should be supplied 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 an MS Word document or alternatively create a .pdf file from the origination software. Photographic images should be submitted electronically and of high quality. They should be saved as .tif or .jpeg files at a resolution of at least 300dpi and at least 10cm wide. Digital camera settings should be set at the highest resolution/quality possible.
Tables: Tables should be formatted and included at the end of the main article with the position of each table should be clearly labeled in the body text of article.
Format: Article files should be provided in both Microsoft Word and PDF formats.
Headings: Headings must be concise, with a clear indication of the distinction between the hierarchy of headings. The preferred format is for first level headings to be presented in bold format and subsequent sub-headings to be presented in medium italics.
Keywords: Authors should provide appropriate and short keywords to a maximum of 10 words in total.
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.
References: 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.
Research Funding: Authors must declare all sources of external research funding in their article and a statement to this effect should appear in the Acknowledgements section. Authors should describe the role of the funder or financial sponsor.
Conflicting and/or competing interests are disclosed on the submission.
Structured abstracts: Submissions vary in their use of abstracts. Specific instructions are available for research articles, teaching and practitioner cases.
Language
Manuscripts are accepted in English only. Either International English or American English spelling may be used as long as consistency is maintained throughout the manuscript. Non-discriminatory language has to be used throughout the manuscript. Sexist or racist terms must not be used. Third-person form should be followed.
It is strongly recommended authors carefully check the manuscript before submission and ensure grammar, spelling and styles are correct. Non-English speaking authors may seek assistance from a competent English writer for such checks.
The manuscript should be prepared in A4 size with a margin of 2.5 cm (1 inch) all around, in portrait orientation and in single column.
Landscape orientations may be applied only if necessary for presenting tables and figures effectively. However, section breaks should be introduced before and after changed page orientations.
The manuscript should be numbered consecutively and the page numbering should appear on the top right of pages.
Language conventions will follow that of the author(s) / the host organization(s).
General Layout
The manuscript should be prepared in A4 size with a margin of 2.5 cm (1 inch) all around, in portrait orientation and in single column.
Landscape orientations may be applied only if necessary for presenting tables and figures effectively. However, section breaks should be introduced before and after changed page orientations.
The manuscript should be numbered consecutively and the page numbering should appear on the top right of pages.
Headings
Limit headings to three levels.
The first level (for the title of the paper) should be Garamond font 16 pt bold, left aligned, single-line spaced and have 0 pt before and 6 pt after for paragraph spacing.
The second level (for subheadings) should be Garamond font 14 pt bold, left aligned, single-line spaced and have 18 pt before and 6 pt after for paragraph spacing.
The third level heading should be Garamond font 12 pt bold, left aligned, single line spaced and have 18 pt before and 6 pt after for paragraph spacing.
Capitalise only the first letter of the title and headings.
Do not put a line space to separate a subheading from the preceding paragraph; instead, use the above line spacing correctly for separating different sections within the body.
Do not number headings.
Tables and Figures
Tables should not be misused for producing lists of text, as an option for reducing word count. Tables should only be used when it is necessary to show relationships between different pieces of information on to a subject matter.
All figures and tables must be embedded in the manuscript near the first reference to the corresponding figure or table. Figures and tables must be clearly labelled as Figure or Table 1, Figure or Table 2, etc., at the bottom for figures and at the top for tables, left justified, numbered in sequence, and must be referenced within the text of the article. Alternatively the term 'Exhibit' may be used to cover both figures and tables.
It is the responsibility of the author/s to obtain permission for the use of any illustrations, tables or artwork for which they do not hold copyright.
Standard Paragraphs
The text should be single-line spaced; use 12 pt Garamond font; justified; and have paragraph spacing of 6 pt before and after.
Do not indent the first line of any paragraph.
Do not put a line space between a heading and a paragraph and between paragraphs; instead apply the above paragraph spacing correctly.
Use past tense when discussing the literature and your findings whenever possible.
Use a single (not a double) space after periods and other punctuations. Do not put a space in front of a question mark, or in front of any other closing quotation mark.
End notes and foot notes should be avoided as much as possible. If essential, foot notes may be used in a limited manner.
Employ italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses)
Numbered and Bulleted Lists
Lists should be kept to a minimum.
Lists should be single-line spaced; use 12 pt Garamond font; justified; and have paragraph spacing of 6 pt before and after.
Lists should be set to left indent by 0.6 cm and hanging by 0.6 cm.
The first word of each item of a numbered or bulleted list is to be capitalised unless the list is part of a sentence.
Numbers vs bullets — a numbered list should be used if a definite number is mentioned or it is an exhaustive list. Bullets are preferable if the number of points is incidental, or the list is not exhaustive.
Abbreviations and Contractions
Use abbreviations sparingly. If abbreviations are going to be used, write the name of the organisation or the phrase in full the first time it is referenced, followed by the abbreviation in brackets. Subsequent references in the same manuscript can use the abbreviation.
The first letter in the words of an abbreviated phrase or name should be capital and do not use periods in abbreviations. E.g.: New South Wales (NSW)
Use periods with most contractions, particularly where the word is cut part-way through, such as Rev. as in Reverend, Feb. as in February, Ed. as in Editor, etc. However, do not use periods when the last letter of the abbreviation is the same as the last letter of the full word, such as Dr as in Doctor, Mr as in Mister, St as in Street, Ave as in Avenue, etc.
Quotations
Use "double quotation marks” for short quotes within a paragraph. “Use ‘single quote marks’ for quotations within short quotations.”
Use ellipses (…) for breaks within quotations and do not italicise quotations.
Long quotations of more than three lines should be indented at both right and left margins, set to have a line spacing of exactly 12 pt and appear independently without quotation marks.
Numbers and Measurements
Measurements should be given in metric units. If other units are used, the metric equivalent should be given in parenthesis.
For simplicity, it is better to use abbreviations for units of measurement as it is faster to read and saves space. The abbreviation should appear with a space between it and the number (e.g. 8 metres becomes 8 m).
With units of measurement, the number, even if it is below 10, should always appear as a numeral (e.g. eight should be written as 8).
Most units of measurement are written in lowercase, except for units named after a person (Newton – N; Joule – J; Pascal – Pa) and there is no plural or no full stop placed immediately after the abbreviation for a unit of measurement.
Spell out other numbers if they can be written in one or two words. Do not begin a sentence with a numeral.
Except at the beginning of a sentence, always use numerals: with technical units of measurement and symbols (6 kg, $50, 6%); in addresses (2876 14th Avenue); in dates (1 April 2014); in decimal fractions (8.32); and in page references (page 7370).
For large numbers, a combination of numerals and words may be used (e.g. 4.5 million).
Express related numbers in the same style. E.g.: only 5 of the 250 participants; exactly 7 vehicles and 123 passengers; from 1 billion to 1.2 billion.
Commas or single spaces should be placed between the third and fourth digits from the right, the sixth and the seventh, and so on (e.g. 1,250; 23,560; 7,654,320 or 1 000; 23 560; 7 654 320) except for page and line numbers (on page 1016), addresses (at 1436 Broadway) and four-digit year number (in 2013).
Dates should be expressed by day, month and year (1 July 2010) though this must be written as First of July at the beginning of sentences. Use 1920s not 1920’s, 1959-60 not 1959-1960 and 10-26 Feb. not 10 Feb.-26 Feb.
Citations: – Spell out up to three authors at first mention; subsequent citations are “Author et al.” – No comma between author(s) and date – Examples: (Costantino, Di Gravio & Nonino 2015) and (Costantino et al. 2015) Authors are encouraged to conduct their own copy-editing. We recommend the use of Grammarly as an efficient way of checking one’s own papers: https://www.grammarly.com
This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics. We expect all prospective authors to read and understand our Ethics Policy before submitting any manuscript to this journal. 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
Issues of suspected misconduct, possible corrections and retractions will be handled in accordance with the guidelines set out by the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Editors, with individual questions being sent to the Editor, Dr. Beverly Pasian
The views presented in this journal are those of the author(s) and do not represent those of the University of Technology Sydney or UTS ePress.
Copyright Notice
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
a) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share and adapt the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
b) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
c) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Open Access Citation Advantage Service). Where authors include such a work in an institutional repository or on their website (ie. a copy of a work which has been published in a UTS ePRESS journal, or a pre-print or post-print version of that work), we request that they include a statement that acknowledges the UTS ePRESS publication including the name of the journal, the volume number and a web-link to the journal item.
d) Authors should be aware that the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License permits readers to share (copy and redistribute the work in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the work) for any purpose, even commercially, provided they also give appropriate credit to the work, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. They may do these things in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests you or your publisher endorses their use.