[Logprofs] Research proposals are due this month: Journal of Business Logistics “AI-Integrated Research: A Field Experiment in SCM Knowledge Production” Special Topic Forum.

[Christian Hofer]

Dear scholars,

Now that the proposal submission window is open (July 1-31, 2026), this is a brief reminder about the Journal of Business Logistics “AI-Integrated Research: A Field Experiment in SCM Knowledge Production” Special Topic Forum.
Please find the Call for Papers below (and here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/21581592/call-for-papers/ai-integrated-research).

We look forward to receiving your proposal submissions!

Call for Papers
AI-Integrated Research: A Field Experiment in SCM Knowledge Production
Submission deadline: 31 July 2026
The Journal of Business Logistics invites submissions to a Special Topic Forum (STF) on AI-integrated supply chain management research.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming supply chain management practice. As scholars increasingly examine how AI alters operational decision making, far less attention has been devoted to how these tools may reshape the production of supply chain knowledge itself. It is both natural and necessary to examine AI’s influence on how supply chain research is conducted, developed, and evaluated. Scholars and journals now play a central role in determining how AI will shape the future of academic research.
Authors submitting to this STF are explicitly allowed to use AI in the development of their empirical research. Authors may use AI for ideation, theorizing, literature synthesis, writing, coding, simulation, data analysis support, and methodological design. The only non-negotiable boundary is that the unchecked fabrication or falsification of empirical data is strictly prohibited. Beyond that constraint, authors have broad discretion in how they integrate AI into the research process. Authors do, of course, remain fully responsible for the integrity, originality, and accuracy of their work.
This STF differs from regular submissions in two important ways. First, it explicitly allows AI use across the research process, making visible what is often implicit or unevenly disclosed. Second, it invites reflectivity. Authors are required to explain how AI was used in the cover letters that accompany their submissions. Thus, the research process itself becomes partially examinable as an object of scholarly inquiry.
The EIC Team will treat this STF as a subject of disciplined experimentation. We seek to observe AI-integrated research, and thereby provide systematic insight into how generative technologies reshape theorizing and empirical research in supply chain management. This initiative positions JBL as a laboratory for responsible, transparent, and rigorous AI-integrated supply chain scholarship.
Submission Scope
Any topic within the domain of supply chain management is welcome. However, submissions must meet JBL’s high standards for substantive insight, relevance to supply chain management, theoretical contribution, and methodological rigor. Polish and execution alone will not substitute for meaningful intellectual insights.
Comprehensive AI Disclosure Requirement
For this STF, AI Use Statements are not merely compliance disclosures. They are an integral component of the scholarly initiative. Authors will be required to document their use of AI in the cover letter. This should include details about the nature and intensity of AI usage, tools and prompting approaches employed, stages of the research process affected, instances where AI outputs were rejected or substantially modified, and authors’ reflections on benefits, limitations, and unexpected behaviors.
These disclosures will not influence editorial decisions. The information will be analyzed in aggregated and anonymized form. In particular, this information will enable systematic analysis of AI integration patterns and associated outcomes. As part of an accompanying editorial study, we will examine AI usage, reviewer responses, and manuscript development trajectories. Longer-term citation and impact patterns will be evaluated as data become available.
What We Hope to Learn
Through this STF, JBL seeks to better understand:

  *   Where AI meaningfully enhances theoretical clarity and rigor
  *   Where it risks superficiality or intellectual homogenization
  *   How AI affects hypothesis generation and model specification
  *   Whether AI-integrated research differs in novelty, coherence, or impact
  *   How reviewers evaluate AI-integrated work
The lessons learned will inform future editorial policy and contribute to broader conversations about responsible AI use in scholarly research.
Submission and Review Process
The STF will follow a two-step submission and review process:

  1.  Proposal submission:
AAuthors must submit a research proposal. The proposal should clearly state the research question(s), summarize the (expected) theoretical contributions and managerial interest, and outline the proposed methodological approach(es) and data source(s). In addition, the proposal should outline in what way(s) the authors anticipate using AI tools. Authors are asked to clearly indicate in the cover letter whether they agree to the information they provide in the letter being used for editorial research purposes by including one of the following statements:
Consent: “By submitting this proposal, I/we grant permission to the Editors-in-Chief (and any guest editors, as applicable) to use the information provided in this cover letter and the cover letters of any subsequent full-manuscript (re)submissions for editorial research purposes. I understand that no identifying information will ever be publicized and any findings will be reported in an aggregated fashion only.
No consent: “By submitting this proposal, I/we do not grant permission to the Editors-in-Chief (and any guest editors, as applicable) to use the information provided in this cover letter for editorial research purposes.”
As noted previously, all proposals will be reviewed by the Editors-in-Chief without regard for whether authors opted to provide consent or withhold it. The focus is on evaluating each proposal’s fit with JBL’s mission of publishing high-quality empirical supply chain management research that meaningfully contributes to theory, literature, and practice. Authors of proposals that are deemed to potentially meet these expectations will be invited to submit full-length manuscripts. Such invitations do not present guarantees that the papers will ultimately be published.

  1.  Manuscript submission and review:
All papers will undergo full double-blind peer review consistent with JBL standards. As noted above, the cover letter must include a detailed AI Use Statement. Reviewers will be informed that the manuscript is part of the STF and that AI use is permitted within the stated guidelines. But they will not have access to the authors’ AI disclosures in the cover letters. Reviewers will be instructed to evaluate submissions independent of the extent of any perceived AI integration.
Timeline

  *   Initial proposal submission window: July 1st – July 31st (2026).
  *   Proposal decisions: September 1, 2026
  *   Full paper submissions due prior to: February 1, 2027
  *   Standard review process initiated after paper submission


Dr. Christian Hofer  |  Professor
Co-Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Business Logistics
J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc. Department of Supply Chain Management
waltoncollege.uark.edu/lscm/

Sam M. Walton College of Business
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701-1201

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.mit.edu/pipermail/logprofs/attachments/20260702/0bfe9e1e/attachment-0001.htm>