[Logprofs] A Message from the Incoming Editor Team at JBL

[Goldsby, Thomas J.]

Would you please consider posting the following message regarding the Journal of Business Logistics to the Logprofs listserv?

Thank you for your consideration.

- TJG






A Message from the Incoming Editor Team at the Journal of Business Logistics


Thomas J. Goldsby and Walter Zinn
Department of Marketing and Logistics
Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH (USA)  43210



With the upcoming transition among editors at the Journal of Business Logistics (JBL), we receive a common inquiry:  What’s in store for JBL? In light of the instrumental role of the journal in academic discourse in logistics and supply chain management, we understand the call for this question.


Overall, we believe that the journal is in great shape. Its reputation is surging up, largely as the result of the work of previous editors, AEs, and reviewers.  Under Jim Stock’s editorship, JBL was first included in the Thomson Reuter’s Web of Science Index, then known as the ISI Web of Knowledge. The current editors, Matt Waller and Stan Fawcett, moved JBL to a higher plateau by publishing four issues a year, lowering the acceptance rate, and building a partnership with Wiley that exponentially increased its visibility and distribution, helping the journal to reach more than 40,000 libraries worldwide.  As a result, submissions to the journal nearly quadrupled in the first four years of their five-year term.

The principal task of the new editorial team is to continue the improvement in the reputation of JBL.  Despite the progress that has been made, JBL is recognized in many colleges as an “A” journal, but not all. Therefore, we will strive to strike a balance between what needs to change and the traditions and identity of JBL that we need to keep. On the latter, it is important to maintain and reinforce the tradition of publishing applied logistics and supply chain research with strong emphasis on managerial implications, such that we advance theory and practice. As Fawcett, Waller, and Bowersox point out in an editorial piece appearing in JBL in 2011, our opportunity is to:


1)      Conduct research to articulate more clearly how logistics contributes value both via day-to-day operations and in the bigger picture; and

2)      Conduct research to develop and clarify more fully SCM’s influence on business model design as well as on strategy development and execution.

We still see these avenues as critical to increasing the visibility and stature of the logistics and SCM disciplines.

It is equally important to continue to encourage and accept submissions employing any of a multitude of available research methodologies. These include, but are not limited to, multivariate statistics, optimization, simulations, experiments, and qualitative methods.  It is essential that methods match the research question presented.  To go further, we believe it is essential for all working appearing in the journal employ methodological rigor.  The application of state-of-the-art methodology is the common denominator among all top journals and a main determinant of reputation. Methods can differ from one discipline to another and from one journal to another, but whatever method is employed needs to be done very well to validate the quality of the research. Thus, the review process will place enhanced focus on the rigor of the methods employed.  The editorial team is currently working to recruit reviewers who can contribute expert input on any methodology employed by authors. Methods experts will come from our current pool of reviewers or from experts in other business fields. Experts in the latter case will be ineligible to serve as Associate Editors, however.


The review process, itself, will closely follow the pattern of expedient and fair reviews inherited from previous editors. The goal of the process is to attract manuscripts that substantially contribute to the academic literature and advance practice, while also respecting the interests of authors in terms of the speed, quality, and constructive tone of the reviews. Similarly, expedient and fair reviews will continue to help JBL attract and publish quality research on pressing topics of contemporary interest.



Another key point regarding the reputation of the journal is the quality of reviews provided by reviewers. As a scholarly field, we must underscore that. The reputation of any journal is limited by the quality of the review process. Reviews must be timely, knowledgeable, constructive, and detailed. It is extremely important that they are also telling. The editorial team is aware that preparing good reviews can be very time consuming. Nevertheless, for the sake of JBL’s reputation we will expect reviewers to provide high-quality reviews and intend to recognize annually the best contributions.



The policy of publishing Special Topic Forums (STFs) will continue. In this case, the review process will be the same, but with many responsibilities handed to the STF guest editor(s) – as is current practice. We will also occasionally publish Thought Leadership pieces. The review process for these will be managed by the editorial team.



An additional point concerning the management of the review process is that the editorial team will not employ the “reject and resubmit” tactic to boost rejection rates. According to this tactic, manuscripts with reasonably good first reviews are rejected with the encouragement to resubmit in order to boost a journal’s rejection rates. While this tactic was never employed by JBL, we find it unacceptable and decided to issue this clarification, as it is becoming more common elsewhere.



We offer a final note concerning submissions by Ohio State faculty and doctoral students. Given the potential conflict of interest and to ensure the integrity of journal standards, such submissions will be assigned to a guest editor-in-chief (EIC). The guest EIC will work independently to select an AE and reviewers and will have authority on the disposition of the manuscript. Guest EICs will be recruited from the pool of past JBL editors who are experienced and fully knowledgeable of JBL’s standards and processes.



We expect to work on the transition until the CSCMP Annual Global Conference meeting in San Diego. After that we will begin to handle submissions. Our term as co-editors officially starts January 1, 2016.  However, we expect to begin processing manuscripts as soon as October 1, 2015.



In sum, we are at a pivotal point in history when our field is being increasingly recognized in the worlds of business practice and education. JBL is positioned at this time to remain as the “journal of choice” for leading-edge logistics and supply chain research.  With the help of our research community’s critical contributions to state-of-the-art research, excellent reviews, and valuable ideas for JBL’s future, we will continue to raise its profile to ensure that JBL remains the preeminent journal for our research output and broaden its appeal among fellow business disciplines. We look forward to working with the research community for the benefit of our journal, the JBL.





Thomas J. Goldsby                             Walter Zinn

Goldsby.2 at osu.edu<mailto:Goldsby.2 at osu.edu>                           Zinn.13 at osu.edu<mailto:Zinn.13 at osu.edu>









REFERENCES



Fawcett, S. E., Waller, M. A. and Bowersox, D. J. 2011, “Cinderella in the C-Suite: Conducting Influential Research to Advance the Logistics and Supply Chain Disciplines.” Journal of Business Logistics, 32(2): 115–121.

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