Submission Guidelines

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Transformational Management Review (TMR), a prestigious academic research journal of IILM, Lodi Road, published ONLINE, has following distinctive characteristics:

  • All articles are “Open Access”- anyone can freely download and cite.
  • Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for each article will facilitate citations by other authors.
  • No Article Processing Charges to be paid by authors – the institute bears all charges.
  • Every article must deliver a sharp outcome meeting its stated purpose.
  • ‘Quick response’ and ‘Review to Improve’ are differentiating factors.
  • Fully compliant to the UGC circular suggesting parameters for choosing Peer-Reviewed journal dated July 16, 2025.

Why publish in TMR?

  • Increase the discoverability.
  • Make an impact.
  • Freely share your work.
  • Comply with UGC suggestive parameters for choosing a peer reviewed journal.
  • Improve the quality of the article with rigorous peer review.

Positioned at the Intersection of Theory and Practice, Reimagining Management for a Changing World, TMR accepts Policy Perspectives of Practitioners, Research Articles on Contemporary Issues, Review Articles, Executive Perspectives, Teaching Cases with Notes, Thesis Briefs, and Book Reviews

Recipes for desk rejection

  • Policy Perspectives of Practitioners: Opiniated article sans evidence.
  • Research Articles on Contemporary Issues: Gap not established following a process; Theoretical contribution missing or weak.
  • Review Articles: No framework used for inclusion/exclusion; Review of reviews section absent; Directions for future research missing.
  • Executive Perspectives: Narratives without analytical depth; vague language lacking evidence.
  • Teaching Cases with Notes: No connection with theory; vague teaching objectives and hence learning outcomes; Narration full of author’s voice.
  • Thesis Briefs: Too long; Broad unfocussed objectives; More than three years old; Done from an institute which is not accredited by NAAC/NBA
  • Book Reviews: Simple description not critical review; Book is not recent or not of world class; Uninvited or unapproved submission

Journal Section Do’s and Don’ts

Policy Perspectives of Practitioners.

Purpose: This section seeks articles written primarily by experienced practitioners who can offer deep, reflective insights that influence or reshape management policy. Contributions should go beyond surface-level reporting of practices, instead translating field-based experience into evidence-backed recommendations for institutional or systemic change.

 

Do: 

  • Connect practice to policy: Explicitly show how your insights could inform the creation, modification, or refinement of management policies. Provide concrete examples of policy applications and potential impacts.
  • Ground arguments in experience, data or research: Use your professional experience as a foundation, but substantiate claims with relevant research, frameworks, and data.
  • Reference relevant debates: Situate your work within current policy discussions, both nationally and internationally, and link it to established policy models or theoretical frameworks.
  • Suggest a new perspective that has the power to change the current narrative
  • Compare the relative strength of the new perspective with the standard perspective
  • Maintain logical structure: Present your argument in a sequence that makes it easy for readers to follow how specific lived experiences lead to proposed policy changes.

Don'ts:

  • Provide opinion pieces without clear links to policy change or supporting evidence.
  • Over generalize lessons from a single context without identifying its boundaries.
  • Use dense, technical jargon that limits accessibility—write for a mixed audience of scholars and practitioners.
  • Forget to declare any personal or organizational interests related to the policies discussed..
Research Articles on Contemporary Issues.

Purpose:  This section welcomes rigorous empirical or theoretical research addressing emerging management challenges such as strategic innovation, digital transformation, leadership in turbulence, sustainability, and behavioral implications of technology.

Do: 

  • For empirical studies: Organize your paper following the IMRaD structure (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) for clarity and consistency.
  • For theoretical works: Present a well-defined conceptual framework, identify how it extends existing theory, and highlight practical relevance.
  • Bridge theory and practice: Clearly articulate the managerial implications of your findings, demonstrating their applicability in real-world contexts.
  • Identify the knowledge gap
    • By creating a contradiction through review of literature
    • From the directions for future research of a recent paper
    • Any other………………………………………………
  • List unique contributions, first theoretical, followed by managerial
  • Use theory (ies) to explain the phenomenon
  • Define the context
  • Use inclusive language: Avoid terms that unintentionally exclude based on gender, culture, ability, or other identity markers.
  • Comply with ethics: State any conflicts of interest, describe contributor roles, and specify whether peer review was undertaken.

Don'ts:

  • Base arguments solely on anecdotal evidence or underdeveloped theories.
  • Ignore the scope and limits of your study—be explicit about boundaries and assumptions.
  • Overload the text with unexplained technical terminology.
  • Omit ethical disclosures or transparency about methodology.
Review Articles

Purpose:  Review articles should integrate and synthesize existing literature to provide a comprehensive understanding of a management topic, identify gaps, and propose well-justified future research directions.

 

Do: 

  • Define the scope and rationale for your review early in the paper.
  • Conduct a critical evaluation—summarize key findings while assessing the quality, gaps, and contradictions in the literature.
  • Provide answer to the question
    • Why another review article when already so many reviews exist?
    • How does this article contribute? (Incorporated a Review of Reviews section)
  • Suggest clear, actionable avenues for future research.
  • Organize content thematically or conceptually for coherence.
  • Maintain an objective and structured tone, with minimal bias.

Don'ts:

    • Ignore review studies done earlier. Build on their findings and justify the contribution of this study.
    • Simply list studies without synthesis or interpretation.
    • Sacrifice depth for breadth-ensure the review has a focused, valuable narrative.
    • Exclude emerging perspectives or less mainstream viewpoints.
    • Use language that inadvertently excludes minority perspectives or reinforces bias.
Executive Perspectives

Purpose:  This section features reflective, experience-based articles that distill lessons from significant leadership or strategic experiences, offering value to executives and senior managers.

Do: 

    • Explain with the support of evidence the problem/challenges (Conceptual, practical, methodological etc.) that are faced and why they needs to be changed.
    • Suggested a new perspective that has the power to change the current narrative.
    • Compared the relative strength of the new perspective with the existing standard perspective.
    • Share specific, context-rich experiences from leadership or transformation initiatives.
    • Link those experiences to broader strategic, theoretical, or managerial concepts.
    • Reflect critically—explain both successes and failures, and why they happened.
    • Structure content to show the challenge, the approach taken, outcomes, and learned insights.

Don'ts:

    • Submit narratives that lack analytical depth.
    • Avoid discussing failures or challenges—balanced reflection adds credibility.
    • Keep language vague – use concrete examples to illustrate points.
  •  
Teaching Cases with Notes

Purpose:  Teaching cases should present realistic managerial dilemmas accompanied by detailed instructor notes that guide educators in using the case effectively.

 

Do: 

    • Include a teaching note that specifies learning objectives, target audience, discussion questions, and potential solutions or decision paths
    • Present a realistic, engaging scenario with clear management challenges.
    • Integrate ethical, inclusion, sustainability, or innovation dimensions where relevant.
    • Clearly separate the case narrative from exhibits/appendices and teaching notes.

Don'ts:

    • Omit instructor support materials.
    • Overcomplicate the narrative with unnecessary detail that distracts from learning objectives.
    • Neglect diverse perspectives or inclusive practices in the case content.
    • Submit imaginary cases.
  •  
Thesis Briefs

Purpose:  Thesis briefs distill the essence of recent doctoral work into an accessible, concise summary that highlights key contributions to theory and practice.

 

Do: 

    • State your research question, methodology, findings, and contributions upfront.
    • Emphasize how your work advances theory or provides novel conceptual insights.
    • Highlight implications for both researchers and practitioners.
    • Keep the brief concise (generally 1–2 pages).

Don'ts:

    • Submit the full thesis or excessive detail—this is a summary format.
    • Leave out the theoretical basis or managerial relevance.
    • Use overly broad or unfocused writing.
  •  
Book Reviews

Purpose:  Book reviews should critically engage with recently published and academic management-related works, preferably those released no earlier than 2010, in order to ensure contemporary relevance. Reviews must assess both the scholarly and practical value of the work, providing an informed perspective for the journal’s audience.

Do: 

    • Summarize the book’s objectives, main arguments, and structure succinctly.
    • Critically evaluate strengths, weaknesses, and the book’s relevance to TMR’s scope.
    • Discuss how the work aligns with or challenges transformational, inclusive, or innovative approaches to management.
    • Indicate the likely audience for the book—academics, practitioners, policymakers, or educators.

Don'ts:

    • Write a review that is purely descriptive without evaluation.
    • Use the review as an opportunity to rewrite the book instead of assessing it.
    • Ignore theoretical contribution or practical applicability.

General Do’s and Don’ts: The Transformational Management Review encourages all authors to produce clear, accessible, and inclusive writing that avoids excessive jargon while maintaining high editorial clarity. Submissions must demonstrate transparency by including ethical statements, conflict-of-interest disclosures, funding acknowledgements, contributor ship details, and information on data or material availability.

    • Check the word limit
      • The article/case is within the limit
      • Exceeds by ……………. Words
    • Submit Turnitin reports for similarity and AI
    • Follow APA 7 Style Guide
    • Serially number all tables and give titles
    • Serially number all figures and give titles
    • Place tables and figures at the appropriate places in the text
    • Check that all references appear in the article as in-text citations
    • Check that each in-text citation is linked to a reference at the end of the article