POOMS Author Guidelines

Our author guidelines mirror our commitment to publishing meaningful scholarly management research that is not just scientifically rigorous but relevant and useful to real-world management practitioners and businesses. It provides key guidance on how to prepare the practitioner and scholar versions of your manuscript for optimal practitioner impact.

Overview of POOMS Publishing

POOMS Publishing, accessible at https://www.pooms.org, is an academic journal publisher specializing in management research. Unlike traditional scholarly journals, POOMS journals focus on research that is both scientifically rigorous and most importantly, highly relevant to management practitioners. Our innovative approach includes a patent-pending dual-format bipartite publishing model and a post-publication open peer and practitioner review process, ensuring timely publication and transparency.

This guide helps authors prepare and submit manuscripts, ensuring alignment with our unique and innovative publishing model.

Publication Model Overview

POOMS journals use a bipartite dual-format model that equally prioritizes scientific rigor and relevance to real world management practitioners. Every accepted paper is published in two versions: a practitioner‐friendly “Poomslays” format and a scholarly “Regular Research Article” format. The Poomslays version is written for management practitioners (straightforward, jargon‐free, and focused on actionable insights) and is the primary format. The Regular Research Article (RRA) is the scientific version optimized for scholarly audiences and presented in typical academic style (with theory, detailed methods, and analysis) and is published as a secondary DOI-linked document. POOMS operates on fully open-science principles: articles are open access, underlying data and methods are published, and all editorial and review reports from its post-publication open peer + practitioner review process are transparent.

In brief, POOMS’ framework is practitioner-relevant, scientifically rigorous, transparent, and rapid, ensuring that only work truly useful to practitioners (and meeting high scholarly standards) is published.

Choosing the Right Journal

Start by visiting the ‘Which Journal’ page to find a journal that matches your manuscript’s scope. Our current journals include POOMS Management, POOMS Strategy, POOMS Marketing and POOMS Entrepreneurship. Authors must first ensure their manuscripts align with the scope of a POOMS journal before deciding to submit to it. In addition, authors are encouraged to explore the ‘Calls for Submissions’ page or the ‘Journal Catalog’ to filter by discipline and ensure topical and content-scope fit.

General Manuscript Requirements Necessary to Meet Our Practitioner-Relevance Policy

Irrespective of the format, the research work submitted must meet two stringent criteria: (a) It must be scientifically rigorous (we determine this during the post-publication open review stage), and (b) it must meet our eight core practitioner relevance and usability criteria (we determine if these have been met first, at the initial internal editorial check stage and a second time during the post-publication open reviews stage) as follows:

Descriptive Relevance: The research question or problem must be representative of a real-life management situation and important to practitioners.. At POOMS we believe that even purely theoretical or abstract research questions/problems must be shown to exist or to be capable of existing in the appropriate form in real-world practice. Since we exist to make scholarly management research useful and accessible to real-world management practitioners, we do not support ‘arm-chair theorizing’ or the abstract conjuring up of hypothetical or ‘ideal’ management research questions/problems which neither exist in real world practice nor are capable of existing in real-world practice in the way and manner they are presented.
Currency Relevance: Ideally the research question/problem should exhibit timeliness (the topic, question, problem, and findings are current or trending, readily implementable or deploy-able). However, we also encourage research that exhibits timelessness (usually theoretical papers and those whose aim is to stimulate critical and theoretical thinking or synthesize literature for evidential benefit). However, in the latter, efforts must be made to demonstrate their validation in practice or their capability to be validated in practice.
Goal Relevance: The dependent variable or focal variable must be relevant to an outcome of interest to practitioners.
Operational Validity: Where used, independent variables should be manipulable in organizational settings. This therefore requires a demonstration of the necessity, parsimony and manipulability of the independent or antecedent variables in the research.
Non-obviousness: The results must provide useful information that extends beyond mere common sense for both academic and practitioner audiences.
Actionable Advice for Practitioners: The study must contain clear, actionable advice for practitioners.
Implementation Frameworks/Guidelines: The study must contain clear implementation (How) frameworks/guidelines for practitioners to readily deploy actionable advice. Where impractical, detailed elaborations of the reasoning (Why) behind actionable advice proffered should be provided.
Article Readability: The manuscript, particularly the Poomslays version, must be readable to management practitioners. At POOMS we officially have a preference for Grade 8 readability levels for Poomslays.1

Please note that submitted manuscripts which do not meet any of the eight criteria listed above may face outright rejection at the internal editorial check stage.

Also, please note that these criteria will be checked twice during the editorial process. Once at the initial internal editorial check stage and a second time during the post publication open reviews phase of the process where both scientific rigor and practitioner relevance and usefulness will be evaluated.

While the above section has detailed the requirements for a manuscript to be considered for publication in POOMS journals; please note that for each individual manuscript, two versions have to be submitted.

The ensuing sections provide a description of both formats/versions and guidance on how to prepare each of them.

Manuscript Preparation

As reflected in our practitioner-optimized publishing model, POOMS journals use a dual-format bipartite publication format which entails the publication of a practitioner-optimized version called a Poomslays [this is the primary version], and a scholar-optimized version called a Regular Research Article (RRA) [our secondary complementary version].

This means that each singular manuscript submission to any POOMS journal must include two versions of that manuscript: one optimized for practitioners and one optimized for scholars.

Dual Manuscript Formats (Two Versions)

Authors must prepare two versions of each submission: one for practitioners and one for scholars. Key differences include:

Practitioner Version (Poomslays): Tone is concise and engaging, free of academic jargon and a focus on practical implications. Use short, clear sentences, active voice, and plain language. Emphasize key takeaways, actionable recommendations, implementation guides or frameworks that enable and empower practitioners to immediately implement or deploy findings, and real-world impact. Sections may blend literature into the narrative or present succinct summaries of evidence. This version should be accessible and shareable for busy managers.

Scholarly Version (Regular Research Article): Tone is formal and technical, aimed at academic readers. Include standard sections (literature review, hypotheses, full methodology, detailed results, and discussion of theoretical contributions). Use discipline-specific terminology and elaborate on research design and statistical analysis. Nevertheless, this version must also be clear and readable to non-academic audiences and must highlight how findings advance both theory and practice.

Both versions cover the same core findings, but the Poomslays highlights ‘readily deployable research-backed findings, innovative solutions and valuable non-obvious insights’ for practitioner audiences, while the Regular Research Article includes the rigorous scientific detail behind those insights.

Preparing the Regular Research Article Version

The RRA version of your manuscript is the version optimized for the scholarly community and for academic/research audiences.

Key points to consider when preparing the Regular Research Article (RRA) version include:

(1) Manuscript Length: Aim for a clear, concise manuscript. (As a guideline, submissions to POOMS journals should range in the order of 35-40 double-spaced pages total, including references and exhibits, roughly 8,000–10,000 words.)

(2) Document Setup: Use 12‑point Times New Roman (or a similar serif font), double-spacing, and 1″ margins on all sides. Include page numbers (upper right). Use up to three levels of headings (e.g. ALL CAPS CENTERED, bold flush left, italicized indented) to structure the paper.

(3) Title & Abstract: Include a title page with title, full author names, affiliations, and contact info (do not include author ID info on submissions). Provide an abstract of about 150–200 words (no references or abbreviations). On the abstract page, also list 3–5 keywords.

(4) Sections: Organize the paper into conventional sections. For example: Introduction (with problem statement and contribution), Literature Review/Theory, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion. Practical Implications or Managerial Implications can be a separate section or integrated into Discussion. Ensure each section flows logically.

(5) In-Text Citations & References: Cite sources in-text in Author (Year) format, following APA style. For two authors use “&” (Smith & Jones, 2020); for 3+ authors use “et al.” after the first citation. Alphabetize the References list by first author’s last name. Every in-text citation must appear in the ‘References’ section and vice versa.

(6) Tables and Figures: Number tables and figures separately and consecutively (Table 1, Table 2…; Figure 1, Figure 2…) and place them at the end of the manuscript. In the text write placeholders like “Insert Table 1 about here”. Each table needs a clear title atop and notes/footnotes beneath (define any abbreviations, include significance stars with †/*/**, etc.). Figures should be prepared in high resolution (e.g. vector graphics or PNG); avoid color (use black/white or grayscale) so that they reproduce clearly. In the text, introduce every table and figure (“Table 2 shows…” or “see Figure 1”).

(7) Formatting Conventions: Use active voice and first-person plural (“we”) when describing methods and findings. Avoid biased language (e.g. use “they” instead of “he”/“she”). Cite page numbers for direct quotes. Spell out abbreviations at first use. Submit figures (and tables with complex formatting) as editable source files if possible (Word or PDF).

(8) Open Science Materials: Be prepared to submit links to repositories where methods, data or code have been deposited, and to submit appendices as separate files under POOMS’s open data and methods policy. (These will be linked from the article.)

Preparing the Poomslays Version

The POOMS Lay Summary (Poomslays) version of your manuscript is the version optimized for practitioner audiences and designed to offer maximum domain-specific utility to management practitioners and the business community.

Poomslays represent a practice-optimized lay summary of the regular research article optimized for usage by management practitioners. While they are required to demonstrate all of the general manuscript requirements, especially the eight practitioner-relevant components mentioned in the general manuscript requirement section above, the order in which they are presented is not of significance.

However, they should contain sections that:

(a) situate the research problem in a real-world setting,
(b) summarily intimate practitioner audiences about what was previously known about the research problem,
(c) what new insight the current study contributes to the existing body of knowledge [What do we now know through this study that we didn't know before?],
(d) The practical value of this knowledge to actual practitioners in the related domain,
(e) actionable advice and recommendations for related practitioners
(f) implementation frameworks and guidelines to aid the immediate deployment by related practitioners/organizations.

Poomslays versions should be prepared in word document format. Follow general APA-style (7th ed.) guidelines for end-references and formatting. With regard to in-text referencing, please use only numbered superscripts for the Poomslays version.

Key points to consider when preparing the Poomslays version include:

(1) Manuscript Length: Aim for a clear, concise jargon free manuscript with preferably grade 8th level readability. (As a guideline, we suggest that your Poomslays version should be in the order of 4-8 double-spaced pages total, including references and exhibits, roughly 1,000–2,000 words.) Keep this version as brief as possible

(3) Title & Abstract: Include a title page with title, full author names, affiliations, and contact info. Provide an executive summary optimized for practitioners of about 100–150 words (no references or abbreviations). On the abstract page, also list 3–5 practitioner or managerial-domain relevant keywords

(5) In-Text Citations & References: Use numbered superscripts for in-text referencing and order the end-references in the order with which they appear in the Poomslays. Every numbered superscript in-text citation must appear in the end-references and vice versa

(6) Tables and Figures: Use tables sparingly in the Poomslays version. Number tables and figures separately and consecutively (Table 1, Table 2…; Figure 1, Figure 2…) and place them at the end of the poomslays manuscript. In the text write placeholders like “Insert Table 1 about here”. Each table needs a clear title atop and notes/footnotes beneath (define any abbreviations, include significance stars with †/*/**, etc.). Figures should be prepared in high resolution (e.g. vector graphics or PNG); you can also use colored images in the Poomslays version. In the text, introduce every table and figure (“Table 2 shows…” or “see Figure 1”)

(7) Formatting Conventions: Use active voice and first-person plural (“we”) when describing methods and findings. Spell out abbreviations at first use. Submit figures (and tables with complex formatting) as editable source files if possible (Word or PDF)

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NOTE: Please note that you are required to stick to the format guidelines detailed in the sections above for both the RRA and the Poomslays version of your manuscript.

Our internal production team will be responsible for the final branded format for each of the versions.

Submission & The Review Process

Once the two versions of your manuscript are finalized and you feel ready to submit, the following is a brief description of the submission process and the editorial/review process that follows each submission.

The submission process and what to expect:

(1) Register and Submit: Create an account on the POOMS website and log in to use the submission portal. In your dashboard’s “My Submissions” area, select the appropriate POOMS journal (POOMS Strategy, POOMS Management, POOMS Marketing and POOMS Entrepreneurship), and upload both manuscript versions (along with any supplementary files) via the submission form.

(2) Pre-Publication Evaluation: Upon submission, the POOMS editorial team will quickly screen for scope, practitioner-relevance, ethics, clarity and format. If revisions are needed to meet basic criteria (especially practitioner relevance and clarity), you will be notified to resubmit. Once cleared, the article is immediately published online in dual format (marked “Awaiting Peer Review”). This rapid turnaround (target ≈14 days from submission to first publication) ensures timeliness - a hallmark of practitioner-relevance.

(3) Post-Publication Peer Review: After initial publication, POOMS begins the open, post-publication peer review process. Expert reviewers from both academia and practice are invited to evaluate the article. All reviewer reports (and any author responses) are published with the article. Reviewer identities and affiliations are fully disclosed (ANSI/NISO “identity transparent” model). Authors revise the manuscripts in response to reviews; revised versions replace the original online (with version histories and review reports visible). Authors may also respond to reviewers’ comments via public “Comment” threads if desired. This transparent model holds true to POOMS’s commitment to fairness and openness. The review process ends with an acceptance or rejection. Manuscripts are accepted at any round of reviews when two academic reviewers and one practitioner reviewer return ‘Approved’ decisions. Unsuccessful manuscripts remain as Preprints. For more details please see our How It Works page.

(4) Timeline and Transparency: Authors should expect the editorial pre-check and publication within about two weeks of submission. Peer + practitioner reviews follow a post-publication open reviews model as mentioned in (3) above - typically following a set schedule (authors will be informed). All stages of the process are public: from the initial decision letter (pre-publication report) to final reviews as well as author revisions and rebuttals, every document is archived and citable. The goal is full transparency and rapid dissemination, without sacrificing rigorous scientific evaluation.

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By following these guidelines, authors can effectively prepare manuscripts that meet POOMS’s standards of scholarly rigor and practical relevance.

For any remaining questions about format, our post-publication review process and general criteria for acceptance or rejection, please consult the POOMS How It Works and Our Framework pages as well as journal-specific pages on www.pooms.org.

You can also contact the coordinating editors, the internal editorial team representatives or directly email POOMS Publishing's Author Services team at author.services@pooms.org.

We look forward to your submission!

The POOMS Team.

P.S: POOMS Publishing reserves the right to make changes to this guideline or its policies without the express consent of the public. However, we communicate such changes to the public in advance.

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