Editorial
Article Type: Editorial From: Property Management, Volume 28, Issue 4
Hello. I am excited and honoured to have been appointed the new Editor of Property Management. I am indeed fortunate to take over the reins of such a well-managed publication and of course this is due to the hard work of the retiring editor, Professor Frances Plimmer. For many years her dedication has built the reputation and circulation of the journal and, on behalf of all the readers, I extend our thanks and appreciation. I would also personally like to thank her for all the help she has given me, the newby.
Behind every successful publication is a hard working team, so our gratitude also goes to Aimee Wood and all at Emerald Group Publishing. Thank you for trusting me with the role of editor and for the opportunity to steer the future direction of Property Management. I believe it is my role to develop the circulation and influence of the journal. I look forward to working with you all to achieve my vision that Property Management will become the pre-eminent source for leading thinking in the field.
As a property management professional and academic researcher, I already recognise the important role the journal plays in providing a quality vehicle for the dissemination of research and leading thought provoking papers to the academic research community and to professional practitioners working to deliver real estate services to owners, investors and occupiers. The link between research and practical application is an important one in a journal dedicated to a field of endeavour inherently about the delivery of practical property solutions. It is essential, therefore, that the papers published in the journal resonate with the profession and have an impact in the way we manage property in the future. I hope to encourage a greater participation in the journal by practitioners in order to achieve this.
With the assistance of the Editorial advisory board (EAB) I will ensure that the papers we publish continue to be of the highest quality and grounded in practical research and knowledge development so that they benefit both researchers and professional practice. In recent years there has been some debate regarding the benefits and pitfalls of pursuing a double blind peer review process. No system is perfect, but I can assure readers and authors alike that the peer review process for this journal is both rigorous and fair. The EAB and other reviewers are drawn from among the world leaders in their field and,as such, bring considerable expertise to bear in ensuring that all papers published in the journal meet the quality standards we would all expect to find.
The quality of the journal relies not only on the integrity of its peer review process but also in the reputation and international recognition among researchers and practitioners that it enjoys. A recent paper published in Property Management Volume 28, Number 2 by Tu and Worzala sought to list real estate journals according to rankings provided by academics drawn from the various real estate societies. Interestingly, this paper highlighted the relatively low level of recognition of Property Management in certain parts of the world. It is my hope that as editor I will be able to increase this international level of recognition.
As academic researchers around the world we are being increasingly scrutinised by government, funding bodies and university authorities in terms of the quantum and quality of our research output. In the UK the Research Assessment Exercise seeks to produce “quality profiles for each submission of research activity made by institutions” (RAE 2009), the quality assessment being based on a measure of the national or international significance of the published research. In Australia, we too are embarking on a very similar Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative, which will benchmark the quality of research emanating from universities and other publicly funded research establishments. The first phase of this process was the development of a national journal ranking scheme, the results of which were published in early 2010.
What is evident in each of these research-benchmarking exercises is that, as researchers, we are required to not just publish but to publish research that has an international impact. Property Management and I have an important role to play in maintaining the quality of articles published in the journal to achieve the best possible impact internationally. We will work to improve the already substantial level of international ranking which the journal enjoys by striving to ensure that the various organisations collating and publishing citation indexes and impact factors are aware of the journal and include the publication within their databases.
As authors, reviewers, subscribers, researchers and readers of the journal we all have an interest in raising the profile of this journal and I encourage you to assist in this process. Please share any thoughts and suggestions regarding the future direction of the journal by emailing or calling me. Use the journal and help to keep it relevant at this exciting time in property management.
Clive M.J. WarrenEditor
