Dear Colleagues -
As M&SOM is attracting more new submissions, I write to provide six tips for our authors. (I hope these tips will be useful for authors who are NOT familiar with M&SOM or those who are submitting their papers to M&SOM for the first time). These tips are intended to help the author and the review team (EiC, DE, AE, reviewers) to avoid any misunderstanding or delay in the review process. For ease of exposition, I shall present these tips in the Q&A format:
1. Does my paper fit M&SOM?
In general, M&SOM is interested in publishing operations management (OM) research articles that are based on or motivated by real operational issues. For our journal editorial missions and the mission statement of different departments, please see http://pubsonline.informs.org/page/msom/editorial-mission. If you have any questions, you can always contact the editor in chief at msomeditor@informs.org.
2. How do I submit a paper to M&SOM?
Before you submit your paper, please visit our journal webpage (http://pubsonline.informs.org/journal/msom) and review the information posted on the “For Author” tab that provides information about the submission process, and ourconflict of interest policy. To submit a paper, please visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/msom. If you have questions about our ScholarOne system, please contact our managing editor Frances Moskwa at frances.moskwa@informs.org.
3. Shall I cite existing work that is related to my paper before submitting to M&SOM?
M&SOM publishes original OM research work. It is the responsibility of the author not only to cite the existing work including his or her own, but also to provide an indication of the extent to which a manuscript depends on this existing work. In the event that the empirical analysis is based on the same dataset used in the existing work, the author should cite this existing work along with an explanation about the similarities and differences. If the author failed to cite the existing (including his or her own) work, this issue will surface because we cross check all submissions for potential plagiarism. Once our submission system alerts us of the issue of potential plagiarism (including self-plagiarism), we shall follow the procedure and sanction as stated in our ethical guidelines. For details, please see http://pubsonline.informs.org/page/msom/guidelines-for-ethical-behavior-in-publishing.
4. Which department should process my paper?
Before selecting the department, please review the mission statement of different departments (http://pubsonline.informs.org/page/msom/editorial-mission). If no department fits your paper and yet your paper fits the mission of M&SOM, you can submit your paper to the “None of the above” department that is handled by the editor in chief.
5. How do I choose my “preferred” Associate Editor(s)?
To save us time and to help us assign your paper to an appropriate associate editor, please consider the following steps:
(a) Visit http://pubsonline.informs.org/page/msom/editorial-board to view our “current” list of associate editors.
(b) For the research interests and background of each associate editor, please visit his or her own website via
Google search.
(c) Select three preferred associate editors from the list as stated in (a).
6. How do I choose my “preferred” reviewers?
To save us time and to help us find appropriate reviewers to review your submitted article, please suggest six potential reviewers who do not pose any conflict of interest. For detailed information about our conflict of interest policy, please see http://pubsonline.informs.org/page/msom/conflict-of-interest-policy.
If all submitting authors follow the tips as stated above, it will prevent any misunderstanding or any delay in the review process. By avoiding unnecessary work, we can keep our review cycle time short! This way, everyone wins!
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Christopher Tang
Professor
University of California-Los Angeles
Los Angeles CA
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