About Journal of Managerial Psychology

Aims and scope

The journal concerns itself with application of theory and practice of managerial psychology, which as a field focuses on the behaviours, theories, practice, methods, and tools used to solve workplace problems and increase the efficacy of people at work. Managerial psychology is a field that applies psychological principles and theory to executive and managerial roles, to support, improve, and advance the effectiveness of those in the roles towards achieving a healthy, meaningful, and productive organization.

JMP strongly encourages empirical articles based on theory and a solid literature foundation that are interesting, novel, impactful, and well executed. The journal has no methodological preference; papers that fall along the qualitative to quantitative to mixed-method approach are welcome and will be given full consideration. Book reviews are not appropriate for the journal. Consideration will be given for full literature reviews that support and justify a series of propositions and advancement of theory in managerial psychology. Thus, conceptual papers grounded in a solid literature foundation, which provides for theoretical development and advancement in the field, are welcome. Case studies that describe actual interventions or experiences within organizations that are grounded in rigorous scientific methods, such as quasi-experimentation, and that can advance the field are welcome.

Why read the Journal of Managerial Psychology?

JMP positions itself at the leading edge of developments in psychological knowledge as applied to managing and organizing people and work. JMP encourages novel discourse and the application of theory and best practices in research and science, aiming to provide a bridge from science to practice, and from practice to science.

Why publish in the Journal of Managerial Psychology?

JMP is dedicated to publishing rigorous and unique contributions to understanding the psychological underpinnings and mechanisms of managing in organizations. We aim to find contributions that matter – that make a difference in our science and practice, and that are based on credible scientific methods. Our goal is to make an impact on the field of managerial psychology by publishing good science that can inform practice and good practice that can inform science.

Editorial criteria

All papers accepted into the journal’s peer review process will be assessed against the following criteria:

  • Importance of the study and contribution to the field
  • Value and rationale of the study
  • Description of the background theory and research
  • Relevant connection to previous theory and research
  • Methodology that is rigorous, appropriate for the study, and clearly explained
  • Results that are clearly and accurately presented, as well as appropriate for the study
  • Conclusions that accurately and adequately interpret the results and place them in light of the introduction
  • Complete references format that follows the American Psychological Association most recent Style Guide
  • Logical structure and formatting that follows the American Psychological Association most recent Style Guide
  • Overall clarity of expression and writing (JMP is an English journal)

Manuscript Types

JMP considers three types of articles:

Research papers: submissions are limited to 7,500 words, and include any type of research undertaken by the author(s), including:

  • The construction or testing of a model or framework
    Action research
    Testing of data, market research or surveys
    Empirical, scientific or clinical research
    Papers with a practical focus

Conceptual papers: submissions are limited to 7,500 words, with focus on developing hypotheses and is usually discursive. Covers philosophical discussions and comparative studies of other authors’ work and thinking.

Brief Reports: submissions are limited to 4,000 words. This includes all text, including the structured abstract, references, all text in tables, figures, and appendices. Brief Reports otherwise follow the manuscript requirements described in the author guidelines. Concise papers that are methodologically rigorous, make meaningful intellectual contributions of wide potential interest to readers, and are likely to stimulate further research in the field. Brief Report submission types may include, but are not limited to:

  • Important incremental contributions
  • Preliminary or exploratory results offering interesting insights
  • Empirical findings with immediate and significant practical implications
  • Replications
  • Null findings, especially those challenging existing theory

The review process is the same for all submission types. Authors may choose to submit their manuscripts as Brief Reports during their initial submission. Further, associate editors may propose that manuscripts initially submitted as longer submission types, such as Research Papers (i.e., 7,500-word limit), be revised and resubmitted as Brief Reports when they perceive that the manuscript’s contribution can be concisely expressed in a shorter format.