Decision Sciences

A Premier Journal of the Decision Sciences Institute

Editorial Statement of Purpose

Decision Sciences publishes scholarly research about decision making within the boundaries of an organization, as well as decisions involving inter-firm coordination. The journal promotes research advancing decision making at the interfaces of business functions and organizational boundaries. The journal also seeks articles extending established lines of work assuming the results of the research have the potential to substantially impact either decision making theory or industry practice. Ground-breaking research articles that enhance managerial understanding of decision making processes and stimulate further research in multi-disciplinary domains are particularly encouraged. Decision Sciences recognizes that a delicate balance must be maintained between publishing traditional scholarly research and promoting novel, seminal research in new frontiers.

Through its focus on contemporary decision problems, the journal welcomes articles utilizing diverse research approaches that address the many complex phenomena of the decision making process. By publishing articles with theoretical, empirical, and analytical research methods, Decision Sciences recognizes that business scholars often share a common interest in gaining greater insights into complex decision problems, independent of research methods. The journal encourages research examining different types of decision problems ranging from strategic to operational that occur in various forms including inter-organizational, group-based, and technology-enabled. Since approaches to decision making may differ in different economies and cultures, Decision Sciences encourages articles advancing decision making theory and practices around the globe.

Articles published in Decision Sciences must meet high standards of research rigor and originality, while embracing managerial relevance, not only in the research problem studied, but also in their impact on enhanced decision making. The journal also publishes notes dealing with technical and methodological issues as well as theoretically-driven review and integration articles, particularly those focusing on an emerging topic or redirection of a line of research.

Editorial Policies

Decision Sciences distinguishes itself as a business journal with an explicit focus on decision making. While this purpose may appear to encompass a broad-based spectrum of articles, the implementation of the journal’s aims will be directed towards the needs of its research community. In the past, Decision Sciences scholars have come from the operations management, information systems, technology management, and quantitative methods disciplines. In the future, articles published in the journal will continue to address the needs of these disciplines, but will devote greater attention to decision making that spans the boundaries of business disciplines and integrates theoretical perspectives across the research domains. Expanding these targeted disciplines to also include perspectives from accounting, economics, finance, marketing, organization behavior, and strategy will be encouraged by the Editorial Team in their review and decision processes.

Submissions

Submissions to Decision Sciences that support its mission are accepted electronically at DSJ Online.

Articles that relate to teaching or innovative education should be submitted to the Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education.

Keyword Reviewing System

To be responsive to the changing needs of its research community, Decision Sciences maintains a flexible keyword reviewing system that allows the addition of new keyword groups and areas. Two categories of keywords are available for identifying the research areas and expertise needed to complete a comprehensive review of a manuscript: Topic Areas and Methodological Areas.

Topic areas are organized around different themes, including:

• Decision Making Type (Interorganizational, Organizational, Collaborative, and Individual)

• Cross-Functional Processes (E-Business, Knowledge Management, International Business, Product/System/Service Development, Supply Chain Management, System/Process/Service Design, and Technology and Innovation)

• Cross-Functional Interfaces (Accounting, Information Systems, Marketing, Operations, Organizational Behavior, Strategy, Supply Chain, etc.)

• Functional Perspectives (Accounting, Finance, Information Management and Systems, Marketing, Operations, Organizational Behavior, and Strategic Management)

• Industry Areas (Airlines, Biotechnology, Financial Services, Health Care, Manufacturing, etc.)

To promote more intense interactions between the targeted disciplines, cross-functional processes with commonality in the decision problem are grouped together. For example, Product/System/Service Development share similar decision making processes and are known to be influenced by similar phenomenon.

Methodological Areas embrace the diversity of methodological approaches to decision making used by scholars in the Decision Sciences research community. Major areas include:

• Algorithm Development

• Chaotic Systems

• Computer Science Methods

• Economic Methods

• Empirical Methods

• Forecasting Methods

• Game Theory

• Interpretive Studies

• Longitudinal Studies

• Multi-Criteria Decision Making Methods

• Probabilistic Models

• Programming Methods

• Simulation Methods

• Statistical Methods

• Theoretical Foundations

A listing of the specific subareas within each Topic and Methodological Area can be located in the Author Information Center.

All articles must address a well-known or emerging decision problem that is of interest and concern to practicing decision makers. It is the responsibility of the authors to demonstrate the managerial relevance of the decision studied as well as to explain the managerial implications of the research results. If an article satisfies the high standards of research rigor necessary for publication, yet does not fully develop the managerial relevance and implications of the research study, the editorial decision will be to return the manuscript with encouragement to revise and submit a new manuscript for consideration to the journal.

Manuscript Policies

Decision Sciences strives to provide constructive and developmental reviews to authors within approximately two months. To accomplish this meaningful objective, the journal maintains strict policies for manuscript submissions and the reviewing process.

In order to ensure that as many worthy papers as possible appear in each issue, manuscripts submitted to Decision Sciences should not exceed more than 40 double-spaced pages excluding references, appendixes, tables, and figures. Preparation guidelines containing required style guidelines should be reviewed before submission of a manuscript. All manuscripts for publication consideration must be submitted electronically in the Author Center. As a rule, Decision Sciences does not accept resubmissions of rejected manuscripts, unless the revised manuscript represents a substantially different research contribution.

Authors submitting their manuscript to DSJ for publication consideration must certify that: (a) none of the contents of their manuscript has been copyrighted, published, or accepted for publication by another journal, or is under review by another journal; (b) authors whose manuscripts utilize data that are reported in any other manuscript, published or not, are required to inform the editor at the time of submission in a cover letter explaining the duplication; (c) this manuscript uses appropriate citations for the reproduction of someone else’s original words or expression of ideas; (d) this manuscript has not been previously submitted to DSJ for review; (e) all working papers, prior drafts, and/or final version of submitted manuscripts that are posted on a website will be taken down during the review process. When a paper is accepted for publication, authors must provide an electronic copy of the final version in Word or TeX.

Review Process

Decision Sciences considers it is the highest honor to receive a manuscript for publication consideration from prospective author(s). As such, the review process is designed to promote expedited reviews, developmental feedback, and a service culture of professionalism and collegiality.

Decision Sciences maintains a double-blind review process where the authors, reviewers, and associate editor are anonymous. All manuscripts go through a comprehensive evaluation by at least two reviewers, an Associate Editor, and a final evaluation by the Editor. Incoming manuscripts are screened against the “Preparation Guidelines” before being sent out for review. Manuscripts that are outside of the journal’s mission will be returned immediately after a review by the Editor, and, if appropriate, an Associate Editor. The Editor makes the final decision to accept, reject, or invite a revision. If the author(s) select to revise and resubmit the manuscript, the revision is sent back to an Associate Editor, who reviews the manuscript, and may, on occasion, request additional reviews, before making a recommendation to the Editor. Manuscripts will be evaluated on a number of critical dimensions including: (a) appropriateness of the topics/issues, (b) relevance in advancing decision making in the academic community, (c) managerial significance and potential impact on practicing managers, (d) conceptual and methodological rigor, (e) clarity of presentation and readability, and (f) intellectual stimulation. To promote the highest quality reviews that are of value to authors and align with the journal’s mission, all reviews are evaluated by members of the Editorial Team. Associate Editors rate Reviewers and the Editor rates Associate Editors on five dimensions, including comprehensiveness, accuracy, professionalism, developmental value, and overall performance. These ratings are used to continuously improve the quality of the reviewing process.

The Editorial Team strives to respond to all authors within two months of an initial submission, and within one month for a revision. If a second revision is necessary, the expected turnaround time should be less than one month. To realize these goals, Decision Sciences lists up-to-date turnaround times on its web site and also reports individual turnaround times to members of its Editorial Team on a regular basis. Every quarter, the Editorial Team evaluates past performance and identifies areas for improvement in the reviewing process. To further reinforce the need for responsive and high-quality reviews, members of the Editorial team serve a two-year commitment, renewable at the end of the year. Additional two-year extensions are available for those members that desire to remain on the Editorial Team. By limiting editorial terms to shorter durations, while at the same time offering the flexibility to extend their appointments, Decision Sciences recognizes that the quality of the editorial review process can suffer when members of its Editorial Team are diverted to other scholarly activities. The rotation of the Editorial Team allows for new members as needed and for reviewers with the interest and expertise to serve as Associate Editors to be afforded this opportunity.