Decision Sciences Journal
of Innovative Education
Information for Contributors
The Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education
is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal published by the Decision
Sciences Institute. Its mission is to publish significant research
relevant to teaching and learning issues in the decision sciences.
The decision sciences is the union of the quantitative and behavioral
approaches to managerial decision making, encompassing all of
the functional areas of business, including (but not limited
to) accounting, business strategy and entrepreneurship, economics,
finance, international business and globalization, marketing,
MIS/DSS and computer systems, organizational behavior/organizational
design, operations and logistics management, quantitative methods
and statistics.
Types of articles suitable for publication in the Decision
Sciences Journal of Innovative Education include the following:
Empirical Research Articles
An empirical research article describes high quality empirical
research related to innovative education in the decision sciences.
It should begin with an in-depth review of the literature and
development of hypotheses, drawing upon theory in the functional
area to support details of the innovative approach, as well as
upon educational and psychological theory to support the intended
learning effects of the innovation. The hypotheses will typically
refer to the effect of the innovation, in terms of measures of
student learning, measures of course effectiveness, etc. Empirical
research articles should include a description of the innovative
approach and its rationale, a description of the methodology
used for gathering data to test the effectiveness of the approach,
description of the statistical analysis of the data and a discussion
of the findings, including suggestions for readers who would
like to implement the approach in their classroom.
Case Study Research Articles
A case study research article describes high quality research
related to innovative education in the decision sciences that
employs a class as a case. This approach allows in-depth study
of a single class or several classes and is based on careful
and detailed documentation of the use and impact of an educational
innovation in the decision sciences. The multiple case study,
which contains detailed information on several classes or several
sections of a class, is preferred. In analyzing the data, similarities
and differences between the classes should be noted and documented,
to the extent possible. The following article provides a good
guide to case study research:
Eisenhardt, K.M. "Building Theories from Case Study Research."
Academy of Management Review, vol. 14., no. 4, 532-550.
A case study research article should begin with an in-depth
review of the literature, drawing upon theory in the functional
area to support details of the innovative approach, as well as
upon educational and psychological theory to support the intended
learning effects of the innovation. It should include a structured
approach for analyzing the data and should lead to a set of propositions
providing a foundation for future research. Either quantitative
or qualitative analysis of the data may be appropriate. A case
study research article should include a description of the innovative
approach and a description of the cases (classes), highlighting
their similarities and differences. Tables should be used to
present summaries of the quantitative or qualitative comparisons.
It should also include a thorough discussion of the findings,
including suggestions for readers who would like to implement
the innovative approach in their classrooms.
The Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education
does not publish case studies designed for classroom use.
Conceptual/Theoretical Articles
A conceptual/theoretical article describes an approach to innovative
education or a learning issue relevant to the decision sciences.
A conceptual/theoretical article should be strongly grounded
in the relevant theoretical literature in an area such as education,
organizational behavior or psychology, as well as in the literature
specific to the innovative approach or learning issue being described.
It may focus on a single approach or issue, or it may be based
on a comparison and contrast of alternative approaches or issues.
Because it should lay the groundwork for future research in the
area, a conceptual/theoretical article should develop a set of
propositions about the effectiveness of the innovative approach
or learning issue. It is important that conceptual/theoretical
articles focus on cutting-edge topics and present significant
new insight.
Teaching Briefs
A teaching brief briefly describes an innovative approach for
teaching in the decision sciences. Limited to five double-spaced
pages (12-pt. font) of text, it should describe the innovative
approach in sufficient detail so that it could be replicated
in the reader's classroom. It should also provide a brief summary
of the evidence of the effectiveness of the innovative approach.
Teaching briefs should focus on the innovative approach itself,
and do not need to include a literature review or statistical
analysis of the data. They should have more of a "how to"
flavor than the empirical or case study research articles. Teaching
briefs may refer readers to the authors' website for additional
detail about how to use the innovative approach.
Submission
Five copies of the manuscript should be submitted to:
Professor Barbara B. Flynn, Editor
Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education
Wake Forest University
Babcock Graduate School of Management
P.O. Box 7659, Reynolda Station
3102 Worrell Professional Center
Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109-7659
336-758-3672, fax 336-758-4514
Barb.Flynn@mba.wfu.edu
Your submission certifies that none of the contents are copyrighted,
published or accepted for publication by another journal, under
review by another journal or submitted to another journal while
under review by the Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative
Education. All manuscripts should be printed in Times Roman
(12 pt.), double-spaced on 8 ½ x 11 paper and accompanied
by an abstract of not more than 180 words (except for teaching
briefs, which do not require an abstract) and an author's vita
of not more than 150 words. The author's name and affiliation
should appear on a separate page.
Figures, charts and tables should be consecutively numbered
in Arabic. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education
does not allow the use of footnotes or endnotes. References should
be listed alphabetically by author at the end of the paper and
referred to in the body of the text by Name (date).
Should the manuscript be accepted for publication, the author
will be asked to submit a copy on a disk containing the final
post-review version of the paper. The word processing file (or
ASCII text file) will be used in the typesetting process.
There is a nonrefundable submission fee of $25 per manuscript
for Institute members and $50 for nonmembers. Checks should be
made out to the Decision Sciences Institute and enclosed with
the manuscript when it is submitted.
Website
The Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education
website contains abstracts of all empirical research, case study
research and conceptual/theoretical articles, as well as teaching
briefs in their entirety. It contains information for contributors
and a site where authors can check on the status of articles
in process. The website also contains announcements about upcoming
events related to innovative education in the decision sciences
and a section for personal news about DSI members, such as news
about winners of teaching awards. Please send your news and announcements
to the Editor, at the address listed above.
Review Process
Each manuscript submitted to the Decision Sciences Journal
of Innovative Education is subjected to the following review
process:
- An initial screening by the Editor to determine the suitability
of the article for the journal. Suitable articles are assigned
to two or three referees, according to their functional and methodological
content. If the manuscript is deemed inappropriate for the journal
because it is not a match for the Decision Sciences Journal of
Innovative Education's audience or mission, it will be promptly
returned to the author.
- A careful review by the referees, each of whom makes a recommendation
to the Editor and provides comments for authors.
- An appraisal of the reviews by the Editor. If the Editor
feels the paper has potential for publication, the author is
invited to make revisions, following the suggestions of the reviewers.
- Upon receipt of the revisions, the Editor will make a final
decision. The Editor will appraise the entire review process,
making sure that all revisions suggested by the referees have
been addressed.
The Editor reserves the right to deviate from the above procedures
when the situation warrants and as it is deemed appropriate.
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