To get a stronger sense of the key audience for your journal article, let us look more closely at the editorial and review process in one instance: The International Journal of Management Reviews (IJMR).
If you click on the link to the journal website, you will find further links on the homepage to ‘aims and scope’ and ‘author guidelines’. That information offers you some insight into the coverage of this journal, the criteria for acceptance, and the editorial and review process.
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In 2007 the editors-in-chief of IJMR published an editorial article which goes through the editorial and reviewing process in some detail. If you have access to IJMR through your university library, you could read through the article to extend your understanding of what academic journal editors are trying to achieve. This insight could help you to keep in mind as you write just what this key audience is looking for in an article submitted for publication. Then you can ensure that you maximise your chances of meeting the criteria for acceptance that the editors will be applying.
The reference for this editorial article is:
Armstrong, S and Wilkinson, A (2007) Processes, procedures and journal development: past, present and future, International Journal of Management Reviews 9, 2: 81-93 |
IJMR is a widely respected official journal of the British Academy of Management specialising in the publication of literature reviews in any area of the management field. So it might be a potential target journal for an article drawing on your literature review for a doctoral dissertation or thesis.
The work of administering IJMR is shared out amongst an editorial team. The editors-in-chief are the ‘number one’ gatekeepers. On receipt of a submitted article, they make the initial decision whether to reject it straightaway, or whether to have it ‘peer reviewed’ by academics. If the article is to be reviewed, it is sent on to one of the associate editors, who selects and liaises with academic reviewers. Once the reviewers’ feedback has been received, the associate editor makes a recommendation in the light of this feedback to the editors-in-chief. They decide what response to make in the light of this feedback, and contact the authors of the article to give them the response and anonymised feedback.
You can find out what the editors are looking for and what they ask reviewers to look for by clicking on the IJMR homepage link we gave you above. Then click on ‘author guidelines’.
You will notice that there is very clear guidance for authors. It includes the specification of five key criteria for acceptance.
If you aspire to get your work published in an academic journal, key learning points are to select a target journal which covers the topic you wish to write about, to identify the explicit or implicit criteria for acceptance, to check whether there are any requirements for length, style, or referencing conventions. Make a conscious effort to meet the criteria and conform to the writing requirements!