Dear Colleagues and Friends -- I write to provide you with an update about M&SOM. Thank you for your continued support. Chris/
M&SOM third quarter update (annual report)
September 20, 2015
Christopher S. Tang
As the Editor-in-Chief of M&SOM who started his term since January 1, 2015, I am pleased to report the following:
Basic Statistics
- New Submissions: As of September 10, 2015, we have received 248 new paper submissions. Relative to 2014, new submissions are running ahead of past few years (For example, M&SOM received 239 new submissions from Jan 1 to Oct 4, 2014)
- Cycle times: To date, our review cycle time continues to be short (average = 38 days, and 100% within 90 days).
- Backlog: We have a backlog of over two issues into 2016, including the special issue on practice-based OM co-edited by Jérémie Gallien (London B School) and Alan Scheller-Wolf (Carnegie Mellon U). (In 2015 we will publish 40 papers with approximately 600 printed pages, and it is comparable to our yield in 2014.)
Initiatives accomplished in 2015: Since Jan 1, 2015, I have accomplished the following initiatives:
On-going initiatives:
- New Special Issues: I have invited various associate editors to serve as co-editors for 3 special issues. See: http://pubsonline.informs.org/page/msom/calls-for-papers. The underlying strategy is to signal to our OM colleagues that M&SOM is committed to publish cutting-edge OM research. These three special issues are:
- Innovations in Supply Chain Interfaces and Structure (co-editors: Morris Cohen & Brian Tomlin)
- Interface of Finance, Operations, and Risk Management (co-editors: Vlad Babich & Panos Kouvelis)
- Value Chain Innovations in Developing Economies (editor: Hau Lee)
- Closer communication and coordination with MSOM society: I have been in closed communication with the past president (Serguei Netessine), President (Brian Tomlin) and President-Elect (Terry Taylor) to discuss various initiatives including: streamlining the process for the Best Paper Award, launching a new Practice-based OM research Award, etc.
M&SOM going forward:
- New departmental structure. I have been following the tradition to process every single submitted paper. By doing so, it gives me a better understanding about the state-of-the-art of OM research. However, it leaves me little time to improve the review process, to promote the journal, and to solicit more high quality papers. As stated in the article “The past, present, and future of M&SOM” (https://www.informs.org/Blogs/M-SOM-Blogs/From-M-SOM-Journal-Editor/The-Past-Present-and-Future-of-M-SOM), I promised to create three departments to handle papers arising from the manufacturing and service industries in 2016. By doing so, M&SOM will have more band-width and capacity to process more articles, and the Editor-in-Chief can spend more time on promoting M&SOM and improving the review process.
On this note, I am delighted to inform you that Morris Cohen (UPenn), Hau Lee (Stanford), and Brian Tomlin (Dartmouth) have agreed to serve as Department Editors beginning January 1, 2016. Morris will be the DE for the service operations department, Hau will be the DE for the innovative operations department, and Brian will serve as the DE for the manufacturing and supply chain management department. Of course, I shall serve a back-up for the Department Editors, process OM Forum paper submissions and papers not covered by any department, as well as appeals. (To ensure we draw on the expertise of our editorial board members, all departments will share a common pool of Associate Editors.)
- Streamlining the review process. In the spirit of “review less, and progress more,” I have reduced the number of required reviewers from 3 to 2, and I hope to be able to reduce the total number of review cycles for each submitted paper. To improve the “consistency” of our review process, I am working with the AEs to develop an email with a suggested form that are intended to guide the reviewers to provide constructive comments according to three criteria: innovation, relevance, and rigor.
Acknowledgments:
I wish to take this opportunity to thank Steve Graves (my predecessor) for guiding me through every step of the process. His advice and suggestions have helped me to operate rather smoothly so far and I shall continue rely on his support. I am grateful to all AEs who helped me to process many articles in a timely and professional manner. Knowing they are all super busy, their commitment to M&SOM is unsurpassed. On top of that, they have offered many great suggestions to me for improving our review process and for soliciting more top quality papers. Moreover, I am indebted to Frances Moskwa who helped me to manage the review process smoothly, to Kim Anoweck who helped me to manage the publication process perfectly, and to Toni Riley who helped me to post various blogs by adding beautiful graphics.
Last but not least, the success of M&SOM depends on authors who submit their high quality articles, reviewers who provide timely and constructive reviews, and readers who provide feedbacks. With everyone’s support, M&SOM is flying high and I am proud to be part of the M&SOM team!
Thank you for your continued support of M&SOM. I am grateful. Meanwhile, I welcome your suggestions and ideas so that we can continue to improve M&SOM.
Christopher S. Tang
Editor
M&SOM
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Christopher Tang
Professor
University of California-Los Angeles
Los Angeles CA
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