Writing to Have an Impact Factor?

Editors and reviewers hope to find articles that are competitive, well written and unique, on the evaluation process for publication. On the other hand, authors believe that when they submit an article to a journal it means they have an almost ready for publication research result in a form of a theoretical and/or practical contribution. But it is not that simple. Many different variables impact in this process, but for sure, the article quality and its contribution to the advancement of the knowledge are key elements on the acceptance for publication in journals around the world. The problem sometimes is that authors look first for impact factors, rather than having an impact with their publication. This should be the consequence of their contribution to science.

One way to have a competitive paper for publication is to first present it at an academic conference. From my years in the academic field participating in scientific conferences in Brazil, I have experienced mixed feelings when presenting a paper. One feeling was always present: anxiety. What to expect from the audience? Positive feedback, contributions for improving the article, or ironic and deconstructive words? I am sure that many Brazilian scholars have had similar experiences. Over the years I have learned that academic meetings are the place for networking and getting suggestions for improving a paper before submitting to a Journal, or even given up the idea of submitting it, due to poor or no contribution, or a place to listen what one does not want to hear.

It is notorious that academic conferences are a great opportunity for elaborating on articles, that need better improvement before sending them for definitive publication. We still need to take full advantage of academic conferences. Workshops to discuss paths to publication, to present guidelines for choosing a research problem and most of all, to have sessions where contributions from the audience to help researchers with their papers, should be the stimulated and more present at our conferences. We should focus on the contributions, and not simply on point out paper's weaknesses, especially when dealing with master and Ph.D. students. Usually, in this kind of meetings one will find sound scholars with great experience in publishing that could be a strong resource for newcomers, in a sense of sharing their experiences in publishing in top journals, among other things. For that, a positive environment is necessary to exist on any specific conference. For that to happen, authors should be open to suggestions, and not too involved in their own research and thinking it is a finished work. Sometimes outsiders see things more clearly and they could make suggestions that will make a difference for a paper competitiveness.

Writing a scientific paper is an intense intellectual activity. The writing process sharpens one's own thinking. This way, considering the world without boards that we live in, it is important to elaborate on the question: am I writing to have an impact factor or to have an impact? This may seem a simple question, but it can make a significant difference on the expected result of a submission to a top journal. Serra, Fiates and Ferreira (2008)Serra, F., Fiates, G., & Ferreira, M. (2008). Publicar é difícil ou faltam competências? O desafio de pesquisar e publicar em revistas científicas na visão de editores e revisores internacionais. Revista de Administração Mackenzie, 9(4), 32-55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1678-69712008000400004
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1678-69712008... comment that is not an easy task to publish in an international journal, as the rejection rates are increasing, as are the lead time between submission and acceptance for publication. Add to this the global competition and the pressure to publish.

A usually wrong path for publication is to first write a paper and then look for a place to publish it. This is not recommended, considering that content, focus, structure, and style must be driven for a specific journal. Authors should save time by deciding on a target journal and work out how to write in a way that suits it, therefore a smarter decision. Also, consider submitting papers to a journal where you recognize some of the editorial board. Recently I have participated in an international conference and I attended a workshop with two invited editors of a special issue of a competitive journal, and a whole afternoon was dedicated on discussing work in progress and to receive feedback on those that had fitted the journal, for a first friendly review, before the actual submission. I really appreciated that workshop, and I was lucky enough to have a paper invited for submission to a special edition in Latin America at a journal with a good impact factor, even though I was looking to impact others first hand with the results of the research. Bartunek, Rynes and Ireland (2006)Bartunek, J., Rynes, S., & Ireland, R. (2006). What makes management research interesting, and why does it matter? Academy of Management Journal, 49(1), 9-15. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2006.20785494
https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2006.2078549... elaborating on what it is an interesting paper, they make it clear that "being ‘interesting' is not all that matters to good research. The importance of the research question and the validity of a study's conclusions are, in our opinion, more central elements of high-quality research than is being regarded as interesting" (p. 10). When one looks only for an impact factor he/she can suffer from myopia on the interesting trap illusion.

As the editor of BAR, I would stimulate authors to participate and present their papers in academics meetings both inside and outside Brazil, before submitting them to journals. It can be an enriching and learning experience, and a place to make new friends and to get to know interesting people. Also, do not take for granted a well-written cover letter. More important, as stated by Ragins (2012, p. 493)Ragins, B. R. (2012). Editor's comments: Reflections on the craft of clear writing. Academy of Management Review, 37(4), 493-501. http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amr.2012.0165
http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amr.2012.0165... , "most of us struggle with our writing. We thrash and hack our way through paragraphs, writing and editing and rewriting until we think we have made some progress on that God-forsaken manuscript". "never lose sight of your reader. Each and every sentence has to be constructed with the reader in mind" (p. 497).

In this issue, we bring you six interesting articles as follow:

The first article (Organizational Decline Research Review: Challenges and Issues for a Future Research Agenda by Fernando Antônio Ribeiro Serra, Rosiele Pinto, Luiz Guerrazzi and Manuel Portugal Ferreira), investigates organizational decline that is related to the deterioration of the resource base and performance of an organization for a sustained period of time. A bibliometric study of a sample of 214 articles, and a qualitative study with 41 authors enabling the identification of the most influential works and their conceptual approaches.

The second article (Strategic Management in Hospitals: Tensions between the Managerial and Institutional Lens by Lucilaine Maria Pascuci, Victor Meyer Júnior and João Marcelo Crubellate), deals with how strategic management contributed to reducing tensions derived from managerial and institutional logics in philanthropic hospitals. It is a comparative case study, with a multi-method approach.

The third article (Sociomaterial Practices: Challenges in Developing a Virtual Business Community Platform in Agriculture by Norberto Hoppen, Amarolinda da Costa Zanela Klein and Eduardo Henrique Rigoni), explores virtual business communities (VBC). As its main result, this paper reveals the mangling process during the design and application of the VBC platform and details the different instances of tuning between the participants and the technology. We observed resistance and factors that weakened cooperation and resulted in a lack of governance rules, which are key to the success of a VBC platform.

The fourth article (Business-Community Relationships for Extractive Industries: A Case Study in Peru by Jose Ventura and Kety Jauregui), aimed to understand the relationships between companies in the extractive industries and rural families through case-study method. The findings show that a trustful relationship is supported by a beneficiary-society approach that builds upon philanthropic and ethical types of relationships. Unlike the type of relationship based on economic or legal interests, a trust-based relationship offers avenues for managing social conflicts that have yet to be explored.

The fifth article (Co-Evolution of Industry Strategies and Government Policies: The Case of the Brazilian Automotive Industry by Roberto Gonzalez Duarte and Suzana Braga Rodrigues), examines the evolution of the automotive industry in Brazil and the drivers of this evolution. The study generates new insights in institutional and co-evolution political perspectives by showing that the rules of the game are not only the making of the government, but are also the result of interdependencies between industry and government.

The sixth article (Ethical Leadership in South Africa and Botswana, by Priviledge Cheteni and Emmanuel S. Shindika) was conducted to investigate the extent of ethical leadership practices in African public utilities, given the relatively high corruption reported in such institutions, with consequences of seriously constrained development of national economies and significant hindrance to good governance.

Enjoy reading and learning!

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