Call for Special Issue Proposals
Submission Deadline: 31st December 2026
We would like to invite proposals for a special issue of the International Journal of Management Reviews (IJMR). The special issue will be published in 2028/2029 and we anticipate that the Call for Papers will identify a specific topic or discipline, and a range of themes that might be addressed within that area. Recent examples of special issues include: ‘Neurodiversity in Organisations: Taking Stock and Shaping Future Research’ guest edited by Nancy Doyle, Miriam Moeller, Dana L. Ott, and Matevž Rašković; ‘Entrepreneurship as an Academic Field: Taking Stock and New Directions’ guest edited by Sophie Bacq, Maribel Guerrero, Donald Siegel, and Jonathan Pinto; and ‘Strategy in the Digital Transformation Era’ guest edited by Marko Kohtamäki, Rodrigo Rabetino, Vinit Parida, and Paavo Ritala.
In line with the IJMR publication criteria, all papers included in the special issue should make a significant and novel conceptual contribution (Alegre, Callahan and Iszatt-White, 2023; Breslin, Gatrell and Bailey, 2020; Gatrell and Breslin, 2017) and all contributions should be grounded in a thorough and critical review of the literature (Jones and Gatrell, 2014). In addition, we are looking for special issues that will contribute to the journal’s strategic aim of enhancing its reach, relevance and reputation (Breslin, Callahan and Iszatt-White, 2021) as the leading international literature review journal in organisation and management studies, open to a wide range of authors, disciplines and methodologies and serving a global readership. All proposals should focus on key topics related to management and organisation studies that are broad enough to attract a wide range of contributors and sufficient number of submissions. Topic areas may include, for example, Entrepreneurship, HRM, OB, International Business, Strategic Management, Operations Management, Management Sciences, Information Systems & Technology Management, Accounting & Finance, and Marketing. The special issue offers a unique opportunity to set out new strategic directions for research in the topic and shape future conceptualisations in the discipline. In particular, the journal welcomes proposals that seek to challenge and shift paradigms in a manner which is both engaging and convincing and promotes contributions that have an interdisciplinary reach.
All proposals will be evaluated by members of the editorial board and judged according to the quality of the likely contributions, the guest editorial team, and the potential for the special issue to enhance the international reputation of IJMR. We are looking for an experienced and diverse guest editorial team who reflect the international readership of the journal. The guest editorial team will be joined by one of our Associate Editors from the IJMR editorial team who will work closely with them throughout the entire process. As in the case of manuscripts submitted to general issues of the journal, the final decision regarding acceptance rests with the Editors-in-Chief. Guest editors may not author papers included in the special issue themselves (excluding the issue introduction).
The responsibilities of guest editors include handling all submissions, communicating with authors, inviting reviewers and making recommendations on each article using ScholarOne Manuscripts. The special issue should adhere to the usual IJMR criteria for handling papers, including standards of correspondence, turnaround times and the peer review process.
Proposals should contain the following information:
- Justification for the special issue.
- Explanation of how the special issue fits with the aims and ethos of IJMR.
- Brief introduction to the guest editors and their previous editorial experience as well as standing in the field.
- Explanation of plans to disseminate the call to as wide an audience as possible to ensure sufficient submissions.
- A project plan setting out target dates.
The deadline for proposals is 31st December 2026 and a decision will be made by 28th February 2027.
Proposals should be emailed to [email protected] and be no more than four pages in length.
Ashish Malik, Alexandra Beauregard and Andrea Caputo
Editors-in-Chief
References
Alegre, J., Callahan, J., & Iszatt-White, M. (2023). Innovative conceptual contributions—Raising the game for theory-driven reviews. International Journal of Management Reviews, 25, pp. 233–239, https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12333.
Breslin, D., Callahan, J., & Iszatt-White, M. (2021). Future-proofing IJMR as a leading management journal: Reach, relevance and reputation. International Journal of Management Reviews, 23, pp. 431-442, doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12275.
Breslin, D., Gatrell, C., & Bailey, K. (2020). Developing insights through reviews: reflecting on the 20th anniversary of the International Journal of Management reviews. International Journal of Management Reviews, 22, pp. 3-9, doi:10.1111/ijmr.12219.
Gatrell, C., & Breslin, D. (2017). Editors’ statement. International Journal of Management Reviews, 19, p. 3, doi:10.1111/ijmr.12133.
Jones, O., & Gatrell, C. (2014). Editorial statement. International Journal of Management Reviews, 16, p. 1, doi:10.1111/ijmr.12027.