PCMA Journal of Business

Instructions for Contributors

Copyright: Articles, papers, abstracts or cases submitted for conference/publication should be original contributions and should not be under consideration by any other publication at the same time. Authors submitting articles/papers/abstracts/cases for publication warrant that the work is not an infringement of any existing copyright, infringement of proprietary right, invasion of private, of libel and will indemnify, defend, and hold PCMA harmless from any damages, expenses and cost against any breach of such warranty. For ease of dissemination and to ensure proper policing of use, papers/articles/abstracts/cases and contributions become the legal copyright of Punjab Commerce and Management Association, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

PCMA-JBS looks for conceptually sound and methodologically rigours articles that extend knowledge on particular topics of management through empirical work or by building on existing theory, and draw out the implications of the research for practitioners. Consequently, we expect the articles to have a long shelf life and the potential to advance management theory and practice.

Our readership comprises managers in public, private and not-for-profit sectors, consultants, and academics and students of management schools in India and abroad. We invite articles relevant to this group, covering the fields of general management; corporate strategy, policy and governance; finance, control and law; public policy; IT; marketing; OB/HR; technology and manufacturing; and related areas like economics and social sciences. Articles may be either conceptual or application oriented, with a rigorous research methodology. Articles that consist solely of literature surveys or descriptions of particles in a particular field will not be considered. Authors may also contribute to some other features of review

Editorial and Review Process

PCMA-JBS is a refereed journal. Articles submitted for publication are initially screened by the editors for relevance to our readership, theoretical framework, methodological rigour, and potential to advance theory/practice. Articles that present conceptually and methodologically rigorous ideas in the friendly format to our readership and highlight key insights and managerial implications of the proposed ideas in the manuscript stand a better chance for active consideration. Those considered appropriate are put through a double blind review, a process that may take from four to eight months. Authors may be asked to revise and resubmit the manuscript based on the referees’ comments. Accepted articles are edited to suit our format. Authors may consult the detailed format and style guidelines given below. Published articles become the exclusive copyright of PCMA-JBS, which includes the right for electronic distribution. We regret our inability to provide detailed comments on rejected manuscripts.

While PCMA-JBS cannot publish all the submissions it receives, we appreciate the time invested and the interest shown by the authors. Academics and practitioners are encouraged to share through the various features of the journal.

Formats & Styles

1. Contribution should be submitted in duplicate, the first two impressions of the typescript. It should be typed on a quarter or foolscap sized paper, in double space with at least one and a half inch margin on the right. Two copies of a computer printout along with a CD are required. They should subscribe strictly to the journal format and style requirements.
2. Though there is no standard length for articles, a limit of 20 to 30 typed pages including tables, appendices, graphs etc. would be appreciated.
3. The cover page of the typescript should contain: (i) title of the article, (ii) name(s) of author(s), (iii) professional affiliation, (iv) an abstract of the paper in less that 200 words including a few keywords, and (v) acknowledgements, if any. The first page of the article must also provide the title, but not the rest of the item of cover page.
4. Tables should preferably be of such size that they can be composed within one page area of the journal. The source should be given below each table containing data from secondary source all results from previous studies. Tables should be invariably included in the text wherever the reference comes.
5. Indication of notes should be serially numbered in the text of the articles with a raised numeral and the corresponding noted should be given at the end of the paper.
6. Figures and charts, if any, should be professionally drawn using such materials (like black ink on transparent papers) which allow reproduction by photographic process. Considering the prohibitive costs of such process, figures and charts should be used only when they are most essential.
7. A reference list should appear after the list of notes. It should contain all the articles, books, reports, etc. referred in the text and they should be arranged alphabetically by the names of authors or institutions associated with those works.
   1. Reference to publications mentioned should present the following details in the same order : name, year of publication(within brackets), title of publication(underlined/italic), place of publication for example:
      Kotler, Philip (1999), Marketing Management, Prentice Hall of India, Delhi.
   2. Reference to institutional publications where no specific author(s) is (are) mentioned should present the following details in the same order: institutions name, year of publication (within brackets), title of publication(underlined/italic), place of publication for example:
      Reserve Bank of India (1998), RBI Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 5, Mumbai.
      International Labour Office (2000), Child Labour: A Briefing Manual, Geneva.
   3. Reference to articles in periodicals should present the following details in the same order: author’s surname and name (or initials), year of publication (within brackets), title of the article (in double quotation marks), title of periodical (underlined/italic), number of the volume and issue (both using Arabic numerals), and page numbers. For example:
      Sharma, Amit (1996), “Foreign Investments and its Impact on Corporate Sector”, The Indian Journal of Public Enterprises, Vol. 30, No.1, pp. …
      Vinten, Gerald (1998), “Internal Auditing”, Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 100-105.
   4. Reference in the text or in the notes should simply give the name of the author or institution and the year of publication, the latter within brackets, e.g., Shekhar (1999). Page numbers too may be given wherever necessary, e.g., Shekhar (1999) pp. 10-15.

Other Details

• The editors reserve the right to accept or refuse an article for publication, and they are under no obligation to assign reasons for their decision.
• Authors will receive a complimentary copy of the review in which their articles are published; they will also receive ten reprints of their articles for their personal use. A regular reprint service is available and further copies required may be obtained, or prior permission sought for limited and specified reproduction, on payment of prescribed charges.
• For more details authors are encouraged to visit the journal page at www.publishingindia.com and go through sample articles of the journal.

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