Best Paper Competition
College of Healthcare Operations Management
Production and Operations Management Society Conference, Reno, NV, May 7-11, 2026
The College of Healthcare Operations Management (CHOM) of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS) announces its 2026 Best Paper Competition. This annual competition honors outstanding papers in the field of Healthcare Operations Management. Each submitted paper will be judged based on its contribution towards the advancement of theory and practice of Healthcare Operations Management. The topic of the paper should fall within the scope of healthcare operations management. Submissions encompassing all research methods are encouraged, including field/case studies, empirical methods, and analytical modeling.
Eligibility Criteria
▪ The entrant must have submitted an abstract of the paper to Healthcare Analytics or Healthcare Operations Management Tracks and register for the POMS conference (see the next section for submission of the full-length paper).
▪ The entrants must be a member of the CHOM on the date of submission (visit the POMS Website for information on how to become a POMS/CHOM member).
▪ The submitted paper must present original research conducted primarily by the entrants following the POMS rules for conference submissions (i.e., the paper cannot be published or be currently accepted for publication).
▪ Entrant CANNOT submit the same paper to ANY other POMS College Best Paper Competition for 2026 POMS Annual Conference.
▪ Single submission per entrant.
Submission Requirements
1. A cover letter (in PDF format) completed by the entrant and stating: a) title of the paper, b) list of authors, along with the affiliation, mailing address, email address, and phone number of each author, c) appropriate keywords and a summary of the topic and the methodologies used in the submitted paper, and d) the abstract confirmation number.
2. The paper in completely anonymous form (in PDF format), with a length of at most 32 pages including tables, figures, and references but excluding the appendix. The paper must comply with all submission formatting standards of the POM journal (see http://www.poms.org/journal/author instructions/). The file name should be the first author's initials followed by the first three words of the title.
Entrants should send their submission containing the above two documents to Ebru Bish (U Alabama) and David Ding (Rutgers) at poms.chom.best.paper@gmail.com with the subject line-CHOM 2026 Best Paper Competition-by December 3, 2025 (23:59 EST). (Note: Do not send the paper to POMS.)
Selection Procedure
The submitted papers will undergo the following procedure:
1. All papers will go through a screening process to verify eligibility and ensure anonymity. Papers that do not meet these criteria will be disqualified from the competition.
2. All papers that pass the screening process will be sent to at least three reviewers for evaluation on four criteria: (1) Importance of the topic; (2) Theoretical and managerial insights; (3) Rigor of methodology and analysis; and (4) Presentation and clarity of the paper.
3. At most five finalists will be chosen, and their presentations will be scheduled in the "CHOM Best Papers Presentation" session at the 2026 POMS Annual Conference.
4. The first prize and runner-up prize will be announced during the 2026 CHOM Business Meeting at the POMS Annual Conference. The first prize is accompanied by a $500 honorarium, and the runner-up prize by a $250 honorarium.
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Ebru Bish, Professor,
Dept of Information Systems, Statistics, and Management Science, Culverhouse School of Business
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL
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