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Department of Management Meets the Editor: Professor Jonathan Doh

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Researchers aspiring to publish in Journal of Management Studies joined Birkbeck’s Department of Management for an hour with General Editor Professor Jonathan Doh.

Birkbeck’s Department of Management was delighted to welcome Professor Jonathan Doh for the seventh event in our Meet the Editor series on Monday 14 February 2022.

The seminar was chaired by Dr Muthu De Silva, Assistant Dean for Research in Birkbeck’s School of Business, Economics and Informatics, who welcomed colleagues from all over the world to the online session.

Professor Doh is General Editor of the Journal of Management Studies and was Editor in Chief of the Journal of World Business from 2014-18. He is Associate Dean of Research and Global Engagement, Rammrath Chair in International Business, Co-Faculty Director of the Center for Global Leadership, and Professor of Management at the Villanova School of Business. With over 130 publications and 18,000 Google Scholar citations to his name, Professor Doh brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our Meet the Editor series.

Introduction to the Journal of Management Studies

The Journal of Management Studies (JMS) is a consistently highly ranked, multidisciplinary journal with a long-established history of excellence in management research. It has a 5-year Impact Factor of 10.960 and has been on the FT 50 list since 2010.

JMS has three General Editors and nine Associate Editors based across Europe, Asia and North America and has an Editorial Review Board of over 200 academics.

While JMS is a general management journal, there are several factors that set it apart from other journals in the field:

  • JMS considers itself to be especially pluralistic, with a range of different contributions from different places. The journal is open to a wide range of methodological approaches and philosophical underpinnings.
  • JMS Editors have a fixed term of office and cannot publish in JMS, aside from Editorials and Introductions to commissioned content.
  • JMS Editors consult another member of the editorial team in the advanced stages of revision to ensure consistency in the decision-making process.
  • JMS has a dedicated Editorial Office team to assist with any issues or queries regarding paper submissions.

Why become a reviewer?

Professor Doh encouraged members of the audience, particularly early career researchers, to consider volunteering as a reviewer. For many Editors, becoming a reviewer is the first step in their editorial journey. Reviewing improves scholarly skills and is an opportunity to give back to the academic community. Those interested in becoming a reviewer for JMS can apply via Scholar One.

What are the publication criteria for the Journal of Management Studies?

JMS publishes innovative empirical and conceptual articles which advance knowledge of management and organisation. Professor Doh stressed that editors are particularly interested in unusual, surprising or challenging papers with a strong theoretical orientation.

Common reasons for rejection include lack of clear contribution, lack of methodological rigour or a clear and appropriate theoretical framework and lack of clear implications for management theory and practice.

In 2021, submissions to JMS reached an all-time high of 1,260. The majority of submissions come from Europe and Asia, with North America being the next highest contributor.

What is the review process for the Journal of Management Studies?

JMS operates a double-blind peer review process. Papers that go out for review typically receive three reviews drawn from the JMS Editorial Board as well as ad hoc reviewers and they aim to provide a decision within three months. Any paper that is to go out for review is screened for overlap with previous papers using the iThenticate software.

Typically, manuscripts will be revised two to four times before acceptance. Time from acceptance to appearing in print is approximately one year.

The desk rejection rate for JMS currently stands at 66% and the rejection rate after the first round of reviews is 26%. The acceptance rate is around 3%, however Professor Doh encouraged researchers to view this in the context of a vast increase in submissions year on year.

What types of articles does the Journal of Management Studies publish?

While the bulk of JMS publications are regular articles, Professor Doh highlighted the value in review articles. This could be particularly relevant for PhD students, who will have conducted a literature review as part of their thesis. In particular, JMS looks for literature review articles that add value in terms of theory contribution by situating and critiquing the literature, identifying any gaps and suggesting new avenues for research. JMS also considers meta-analyses as review articles.

The journal also publishes short essays, ‘JMS Says’, intended to catalyse new thinking and ‘point-counterpoints’ articles, which put forward a position or argument paired with one or more other articles proposing alternative arguments or perspectives. Essays are considered on an ad hoc basis. Professor Doh reflected on the merits of collaborations between junior and senior scholars and encouraged junior scholars to consider such collaborations when submitting to JMS says.

Instructions on how to submit to the different areas of JMS can be found online.

We would like to thank Professor Doh for an insightful and informative session.

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Department of Management meets the editor: Dr Robert Wapshott

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The Editor of International Small Business Journal shared insights into achieving publication success in this virtual event.

Birkbeck’s Department of Management was delighted to welcome Dr Robert Wapshott, Editor for International Small Business Journal (CABS 3*), to our latest Meet the Editor session. The event was chaired by Dr Muthu De Silva, Assistant Dean (Research) in Birkbeck’s School of Business, Economics and Informatics.

How to publish papers in International Small Business Journal

Dr Wapshott began the session with advice for researchers aspiring to publish in International Small Business Journal (ISBJ). The journal focuses on publishing high-quality, highly relevant research on small business and entrepreneurship and features a broad range of fields and approaches.

Dr Wapshott shared some key details about ISBJ emphasising that the team works hard to reach decisions quickly and the importance of reviewers’ valued contributions to the journal’s overall strength. Dr Wapshott also highlighted that a small percentage of the manuscripts submitted to the journal are finally published in the journal

When a paper is submitted to ISBJ, it undergoes an editorial review by one of the two editors or the Editor in Chief. This is to check that the submission is relevant in scope and fit for the journal. Papers are then peer-reviewed, hopefully ending in publication.

How can I tell if my paper is a good fit for International Small Business Journal?

Above all, Dr Wapshott advises reading the journal and allowing time for the style to “sink in” to get an idea of whether your work is a good fit. An exercise to support this process would be to select some papers from the journal and study each of them by section.

When submitting papers, it is important to show how the work is relevant to journal’s readership, for instance the kinds of debates that might be of interest. Finding the ‘right’ audience for a paper can help the spread of its author’s ideas because the readers will be engaged in pursuing similar questions and topics.

Dr Wapshott also advised asking for feedback from colleagues that have published in ISBJ before, or who know the field, on whether the paper is a good fit for the journal.

Finally, it is important to consider whether ISBJ publishes the kind of work that you would like to write in terms of length, style and topic and whether there is an engaged readership for the paper’s topic, as this is key to supporting engagement with the paper beyond publication.

Papers accepted for publication in ISBJ have several things in common:

  • Clearly articulated contributions to debates that are relevant to the ISBJ audience
  • A contribution that matters beyond simple novelty
  • Careful engagement with the reviewers’ comments

Advice on writing and submitting a research paper

Dr Wapshott shared some general advice on writing and submitting a research paper.

Firstly, carefully consider keywords and ensure they are not too specific; they should link to other work in the journal and not just the paper submitted. Papers should be written in plain language where possible, showing sophistication instead through the ideas and their development.

What are the reasons for rejecting papers from International Small Business Journal?

Dr Wapshott shared the main reasons why a paper may be desk rejected:

  • Vague aims
  • Dated literature
  • Little sign of claimed contribution
  • Poor fit with the journal

If a paper is rejected at the full review stage, it could be due to:

  • Questionable contribution (e.g. inadequate theory)
  • Argument does not ‘work’, perhaps due to gaps or leaps in reasoning
  • Limitations in the method (e.g. inappropriate data for the claims made in the paper)

Advice for responding to reviewers

Dr Wapshott stressed the importance of treating reviewers with respect, even when disagreeing with their comments, by engaging with any feedback given and taking the time to explain your position. A good check is to imagine the reviewer in the room, or that they are an immediate colleague, and consider how you would respond to them.

A question from the audience asked for advice on dealing with rejection. Dr Wapshott focused on this as an evaluation only of the work submitted rather than anything broader, such as the author’s ability or potential. In this context, Dr Wapshott reassured delegates that rejection is something that happens to all researchers.

He encouraged delegates to try and understand what the editors or reviewers see as the weakness of the paper and to recognise the reviewers’ expertise – if it feels like they have missed the point of a paper, how could this be possible? It can be helpful to return to a paper with a fresh view once the comments have settled to see what might need to be improved.

Dr Wapshott’s presentation was followed by a Q&A session with delegates. One attendee asked what makes an article more impactful? Dr Wapshott responded: “It’s all about the significance of the contribution. How does this change how I see the world, how I think about it or practice? The author’s role is to articulate why the contribution matters. Then people can cite the work because there is a really clear takeaway.”

We would like to thank Dr Wapshott for an insightful and productive session.

Join us for our next Meet the Editor Session

Our next Meet the Editor Session will welcome Professor Jonathan Doh, General Editor of Journal of Management Studies on February 14 2022. Find out more and book your place.

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The politics of power in (ir)responsible business

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Birkbeck’s Responsible Business Centre seminar series discusses gender inequality and the mechanisms through which men and masculinities maintain their dominance in marketing and consumer research.

The second in the series of Birkbeck’s Responsible Business Centre research seminars was focused on the politics of power in (ir)responsible business: Men, masculinities and transnational patriarchies and the case of marketing and consumer research.

The seminar was led by Dr Wendy Hein, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Birkbeck University of London. Dr Hein was joined by Professor Jeff Hearn from Hanken School of Economics, Finland, who recently co-authored a chapter in the book: ‘The Routledge Companion to Marketing and Feminism.’.

Transnational patriarchies are complex, structural and material issues that remain despite efforts of business to increase a focus on gender and intersectionality. Dr Hein provided perspectives on these structural and material complexities by naming and addressing transnational male-dominated patriarchies.

Increase in women’s representation = increase in young men’s crime?

Dr Hein began the seminar with a quote from Nick Fletcher MP, who made a speech at Westminster on International Men’s Day 25th November 2021.

“In recent years we have seen Doctor Who, Ghostbusters, Luke Skywalker, The Equalizer, all replaced by women, and men are left with the Krays and Tommy Shelby. Is there any wonder we are seeing so many young men committing crime?”

Dr Hein argued that while the cultural sphere has evolved, it has done so as a result of decades and histories of under-representation. Although representation has increased, this does not imply that women are equally represented. There are still industries and sectors where women are underrepresented in terms of roles and participation.

How important is gender equality?

Achieving gender equality is central to development, as Dr Hein explained by presenting the report findings from the UN: ‘Reaching gender-equal educational attainment and labour force participation would add US$4.4 trillion to global GDP by 2030’ which would in turn help to reduce poverty.

Gender equality is also critical in driving sustainable development in areas such as providing equal access to family planning and education on land rights and sustainability.

Gender inequality is still prevalent today and gender relations are still characterised by various types of male dominance on a global/transnational scale. Dr Hein put this into focus by discussing the reports that Afghanistan has recently banned girls from attending school. Women also remain the main care workers in positions that are unpaid. According to a report by Oxfam 2020 ‘women and girls put in 12.5 billion hours of unpaid care work each day—a contribution to the global economy of at least US$10.8 trillion a year, more than three times the size of the global tech industry’.

What is patriarchy or transpatriarchy and how does this relate to marketing?

The majority of research in marketing is about men and produced by men. As a result, men are often mentioned in the context of consumer culture but rarely gendered, thus forming an ‘absent presence’.

Dr Hein then discussed the role of patriarchy in transnational markets, including the worldwide flow of products, services, and finance. As a result, there is worldwide wealth inequality and international migration is widespread.

Dr Hein concluded the seminar by emphasising the importance of maintaining momentum on debates on critical study of men, masculinities and transpatriarchies. There is a greater need than ever before, since the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Report stated that the ‘impact of Covid-19 has set gender equality back by another generation. It is now believed that it will take 135.6 years to reach gender equality’.

The focus of research should be on the superior position of transnational media, as well as transnational influence in private and public spheres. Unless we tackle these growing inequities and transnational structural inequalities, true sustainability will remain a goal for future generations.

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Early career researchers in Management receive expert feedback at Birkbeck’s Paper Development Workshop

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The workshop invited delegates from universities across the globe to present their work-in-progress research papers to well-published academics from Birkbeck’s Department of Management.

The Department of Management’s Paper Development Workshop welcomed students from institutions across the globe to share their research and receive feedback from well-published academics.

The Workshop was organised by Dr Konstantinos Chalkias, Director of the PhD Management Programme; Dr Muthu De Silva, Assistant Dean (Research) in the School of Business, Economics and Informatics; Dr Neil Pyper, Assistant Dean (Learning and Teaching) in the School of Business, Economics and Informatics; and Mark Thurgood, PhD student in Birkbeck’s Department of Management.

In total, 27 papers were accepted for the event, with submissions from the UK, Germany, India, Spain and the Netherlands.

The workshop began with a keynote address from Professor Yehuda Baruch, Southampton Business School, on ‘Transforming PhD research into publishable papers’. Yehuda advised delegates on how to produce a strong paper and how to capitalise on their PhD research in further publications, reminding students that this is “probably the only time in your career when you’re able to devote a full three years of your life to a big project without competing demands on your time.”

Yehuda encouraged students to think ahead to the kind of role they would like to have after their PhD, contrasting the benefits of teaching vs research-oriented institutions and academic roles vs postdoctoral research positions.

Following the keynote, participants were divided into groups based on their research interests, where they presented their papers to an expert reviewer from Birkbeck.

Prizes were awarded for the best full paper and best developmental paper and all accepted attendees were offered a year of British Academy of Management membership. Congratulations to our prizewinners:

Saurabh Jain, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Ahmedabad

Best Developmental Paper Award for ‘Impact of Service Innovation on Social Media Entrepreneur’s Performance’.

Thanos Fragkandreas, Leo Leitzinger and Marius Liebald, Goethe University Frankfurt

Best Full Paper Award for ‘Is the Linear Model of Innovation Actually Dead? A ‘Topic-Sentiment Analysis’ of Policy Documents.’

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