Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education
Information for Contributors
The Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education is a 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 include both 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.
Focus of Journal
Online courses, Executive MBA programs, new information technologies, blended learning models, and global competition bring new pressures on faculty members to refine their pedagogies and instructional materials. This journal provides a rich set of articles that will allow new and existing faculty members to draw upon the collective wisdom of the professoriate so that they can become more effective teachers and researchers; the articles also provide examples of how their research expertise can be used to develop innovative and well-tested teaching practices.
Types of Articles Published
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 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, a description of the statistical analysis of the data, and a discussion of the findings, including suggestions for readers who would like to implement the innovative 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.
Articles in this category could include an in-depth study of a single class or several classes, but all are based on careful and detailed documentation of the use and impact of an educational innovation in the decision sciences. In analyzing the data, similarities and differences between the classes should be noted and documented as far as possible. Authors are requested to make comments on their direct observations and are expected to spend time dealing with the case itself and explaining the details. It is crucial that authors have a clear objective in writing the case; for example, excellent cases have been presented that contrast research philosophies, demonstrate phenomena, falsify hypotheses, inform practitioners, etc. The following article provides a good guide to case study research:
Simpson, N. and Hancock, P. “Project Cheddarfield: Supporting Co-Curricular Themes Through Creative Use of Video Course-Casting,” Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, Vol. 9, Issue 2, (2011).
The Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education does not publish case studies designed for classroom use.
Conceptual/Theoretical Articles
A conceptual article describes an approach to innovative education or a learning issue relevant to the decision sciences. A conceptual article should be strongly grounded in the relevant theoretical literature in functional areas such as education, organization behavior, or psychology, as well as in the literature specific to the innovative approach or learning issue being described. The focus may be on a single approach or issue, or 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 research articles focus on cutting-edge topics and present significant new insights.
Teaching Briefs
Teaching briefs briefly describe an innovative approach for teaching in the decision sciences. They should describe the innovative approach in sufficient detail to allow it to be replicated in the reader's classroom. They should also provide a brief summary of evidence indicating the effectiveness of the innovative approach. Teaching briefs should focus on the innovative approach itself, and do not need to include a statistical analysis of the data. They should be more "how-to" oriented compared to 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. It is critical that half a page of the teaching brief be devoted to a brief literature review and another half a page used to list references (a minimum of five references). Please include an abstract.
Abstracts and Writing Style
Each article submitted to DSJIE has to be accompanied by an abstract that is limited to 200 words. The abstract should address the following: purpose of manuscript, design/methodology/approach, findings, research implications, practical implications, and innovation. The title of the article and abstract are the most important parts of a manuscript and need to provide the important findings and implications of the research. Careful attention needs to be devoted in crafting them. Please follow the APA manual of style (http://www.apastyle.org/) in writing the manuscript. Please do not identify the authors in the manuscript. Even though there are no page restrictions for the submitted manuscripts, authors are encouraged to limit their manuscripts to fewer than 25 to 30 double-spaced pages.
Acceptance Rate
The acceptance rate for papers in DSJIE is between 20 and 25%. Most papers go through a number of revisions before they are accepted. It normally takes two to three months before an author receives a decision on his/her manuscript.
Submission
Only electronic submissions will be allowed, including submission of copyright forms. Please go tohttp://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/dsjie for more information.
Website
The Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education website (www.dsjie.org) contains information for contributors.
Review Process
Each manuscript submitted to the Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education is subjected to the following reviewing process:
1. First, articles go through an initial screening by the Editor to determine the suitability of the article for the Journal. Suitable articles are assigned to an Associate Editor (AE), according to their functional and methodological content. Based on the AE’s recommendation, the article is assigned to two or three reviewers. 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 and will not be assigned to an Associate Editor.
2. Next the article is carefully reviewed by the referees, each of whom makes a recommendation to the Associate Editor/Editor and provides comments for the authors. The following guideline is provided to reviewers when they are invited to review articles.
Reject is suggested if:
- Topic is not appropriate for DSJIE and more appropriate for another journal
- Topic is not interesting for readers
- Article is not written well for publication consideration in a high-quality journal
- For teaching brief:
o Not innovative
o No evidence of effectiveness
- For empirical work:
o Fatal research design flaws
o Contribution is not significant
o Additional data needs to be collected
Major revision is suggested if:
- Paper needs to be restructured
- Anonymity of author(s) in not maintained
- For teaching brief
o No explicit discussion of innovation
o Difficult to read
- For empirical paper
o Additional analysis is required
o Literature review is insufficient to support hypothesis
Minor revision is suggested if:
- Additional editing is required for clarity or grammar.
- Figures or tables require additional formatting.
- Additional writing is required
o For teaching brief
§ Not enough detail provided to allow the reader to replicate the pedagogy
o For empirical paper
§ Implications for the classroom are not evident
Accept is suggested if:
- The teaching brief or empirical paper is considered acceptable for publication
Reviewing a paper is a complicated process and the reviewer may consider other criteria than those proposed above in making his/her recommendation.
3. Then, the Associate Editor appraises the review and makes a recommendation to the Editor. If the Editor feels the paper has potential for publication, the author is invited to make revisions, according to the suggestions of the AE and reviewers. If major revisions, minor revisions, or reject decisions are appropriate, the editor will inform the author(s) and provide them with feedback from the reviews.
4. 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. In the case of both major and minor revisions, the article may be sent through the review process again if, in the Editor’s opinion, significant changes have been made.
The Editor reserves the right to deviate from the above procedures when the situation warrants and as it is deemed appropriate.