Author’s Guidelines
Vision
Dynamics of Public Administration (DPA), the bi-annual refereed journal of the Department of Public Administration, Lucknow University, Lucknow endeavours to look into different dimensions of Public Administration theory and practice and also issues related to policy-making, interventions, evaluations, researches and academics.
Scope
Journal invites interesting papers related to different aspects of administration and governance. Looking to the needs of its target audiences DPA seek papers with significant value addition. They need not only be technical papers but should add to the existing body of knowledge or present a different perspective. Readability and sustaining the reader’s interest is an important criterion. Research based articles are strongly encouraged but focus should be on analysis and recommendations cutting down on technical aspects. Policy papers, best practices and case studies, creative concepts and applications, book reviews, commentaries, interviews and other thought provoking manuscripts are strongly encouraged. Particularly welcome are future oriented manuscripts that offer small businesses and start-ups a vision of business in twenty first century and practical road maps for getting there. Also encouraged are manuscripts that address interdisciplinary topics or approach “traditional” topics from interdisciplinary perspective. We encourage success stories of policy implementation at a macro level as also best practices and creative solutions at organizational level.
Contributions
Dynamics of Public Administration publishes in following categories of contributions:
Policy: Submission in this section discuss issues of policy framework and macro environment constructs that affect or are likely to affect issues related to governance and administration and experiences of policy implementation at regional, national or global level. Our readers would be particularly interested in knowing about how such policies will affect them.
Research: This category of papers report on any type of research- quantitative or qualitative undertaken by author(s). The research may involve the construction or testing of a model or framework, action research, testing of data, market research or surveys, empirical, scientific or clinical research. Comparative studies are encouraged. Contributions of this type must state contribution of research to body of knowledge or practice.
Concept: The conceptual papers would present premise, make suggestions, develop and test hypothesis. These papers are likely to be discursive and may cover philosophical discussions and comparative studies of thought.
Review: Papers of this category can draw from two sources. One, literature reviews. These papers should typically critique the literature related to a particular issue of academic or practitioner interest. Readers of I.J. T&T would like to see the development of thought and analysis of different view point to throw up a pertinent question or converge to an opinion. Authors’ analysis is welcome in particular. Second type is a general reviews. These papers are more general in nature and may provide an overview or historical examination of some concept, technique, phenomenon or an industry (cluster). These are likely to be more descriptive or instructional (“how to” papers) than discursive.
Case studies: We look forward to two types of cases. One is the case studies of policy implementation and associated experience. The other category is the firm level cases that raise a debate or highlight a typical decision making situation that is generalisable. Smaller firm level case studies demonstrating best practice or results of policy shall be entertained in Best practice and/ or Practitioner notes category.
Shorter contributions of 1500-3000 word are welcome for following categories:
Viewpoint: This is envisaged as a forum to share imagination and opinions. These shorter works rely on contents that draw on author beliefs and interpretations. Typical journalistic pieces can find a place in this section.
Best practice: This is a platform to report and share best practices in governance and allied areas that have an educational value for other practitioners and may come handy to them resolve their problems.
Notes: Others who have a significant experience of working with and for administration - consultants, academics, researchers, administrators may contribute to this section. These papers are likely to benefit from experience of such individuals. The papers must highlight the challenges faced by the practitioners and opportunities available to individuals and organisations in administration and academics. Papers may also make recommendations which are tactical in nature. Strategic and policy issues go to Policy category.
Concern: Entrepreneurs and others may raise relevant issues through this section. A complete (not lengthy) description of the challenge faced can be shared here. This may typically help to initiate a dialogue or research endeavours to seek answers to these pressing concerns.
Book reviews: Terse and lucid reviews of books targeted at start up and those useful for public administration and related subjects are also acceptable. In addition to the publication details of such books, the body of review should highlight objectives and/or overview of the contents of the book; and attributes, achievements and limitations of the book. The review must summarise for whom the book is suitable and for what purposes. Publishers may also send two copies of the publication for getting the book reviewed by the Department of Public Administration.
Review Process
Each submission to DPA shall be subject to following review process:
- It is reviewed by the editor for general suitability for publication.
- If it is considered suitable, two reviewers are selected and a double blind review takes place.
- Based on the recommendations of the reviewers a decision is taken as to whether the article is accepted as is, returned for revision or rejected.
- It is the intention that all articles submitted for review should be refereed within 10 weeks of receipt so as to avoid annoyance caused to contributors on account of excessive response times.
Preparing Manuscripts
Articles are not restricted to a certain length however, those of 4,000 to 5,000 words are considered proper (Policy, Research, Concept, Review, and Case study sections). Shorter contributions of 1500 to 3,000 words are also invited for inclusion in Viewpoint, Best practice, Notes, Book reviews and Concern sections of the journal (suitable work may include innovative examples of entrepreneurial behaviour and discussion of policy related issues). Following must be kept in mind while preparing manuscripts for the DPA.
Cover page: The cover page should contain only and only title, structured abstract, key words, autobiographical note and contact details.
Title: Please suggest a title of not more than ten words, and an auto-biographical note. A brief autobiographical note should include full name, and affiliation. Also provide contact address including email address.
Keywords: Authors should also provide up to 5 keywords or descriptors that clearly describe the subject matter of the article. These terms have two purposes: to help describe the subject content of an article to prospective readers; to index the article for retrieval from a database or bibliography.
The main body of manuscript starts from second page and should conform to following details. Always use UK English.
Headings: should be typed in capitals. Sub-headings should be typed in upper and lower case. Headings should not be numbered.
Footnotes: used as sparingly as possible, should be numbered consecutively and will be listed at the bottom of the page.
Figures, Charts and Diagrams: should be kept strictly to a minimum. They should be provided both electronically and as good quality originals. They must be black and white with minimum shading and numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals.
Artwork should be either copied or pasted from the origination software into a blank Microsoft Word document, or saved and imported into a blank Microsoft Word document. Artwork created in MS PowerPoint is also acceptable. Artwork may be submitted in the following standard image formats: .eps - Postscript, .pdf – Adobe Acrobat portable document, .ai - Adobe Acrobat portable document, .wmf – Windows Metafile. If it is not possible to supply graphics in the formats listed above, authors should ensure that figures supplied as .tif, .gif, .jpeg, .bmp, .pcx, .pic, .pct are supplied as files of at least 300 dpi and at least 10cm wide.
In the text the position of a figure should be shown by typing on a separate line the words "take in Figure 2". Authors should supply succinct captions. For photographic images good quality original photographs should be submitted. If submitted electronically they should be saved as .tif files of at least 300dpi and at least 10cm wide. Their position in the text should be shown by typing on a separate line the words "take in Plate 2".
Tables: These should be typed on a separate sheet of paper and numbered consecutively and independently of any figures included in the article. Each table should have a number in roman numerals, a brief title, and vertical and horizontal headings. In the text, the position of the table should be shown by typing on a separate line the words “take in Table I” etc.
Citation and Referencing
Enterprise shall subscribe to Harvard Style for citation and referencing. Authors should cite publications in the text: (Adams, 1997) using the first author’s name. At the end of the paper, a reference list in alphabetical order should be supplied.
For books: surname, initials (year), title of book, publisher, place of publication. e.g. Fulbright, A. and Khan, G. (2001), Competing Strategies, Outhouse Press, Rochester, NJ.
For book chapters: surname, initials (year), “chapter title”, editor’s surname, initials, title of book, publisher, place of publication, pages. e.g. Bessley, M. and Wilson, P. (1999), “Marketing for the Production Manager“ in Levicki, J. (ed.), Taking the Blinkers off Managers, Broom Relm, London, pp. 29-33.
For journal articles: surname, initials (year), “title of article“, journal name in full, volume and/or issue number, pages. e.g. Greenwald, E. (2000), “Empowered to serve”, Management Decision, vol. 33 no. 5, pp. 6-10.
For electronic sources: If available online, the full URL should be supplied at the end of the reference along with the date of access.
Abstract
Abstract not only introduce reader to the paper, they also help the author with a self check. We appreciate a structured abstract as suggested by Emerald. To produce a structured abstract for the journal please evaluate the following fields about your paper and this is also the abstract that we require. Abstracts should contain no more than 250 words. Write concisely and clearly. The abstract should reflect only what appears in the original paper. May touch upon following points.
Purpose of this paper
What are the reason(s) for writing the paper or the aims of the research?
Design/methodology/approach
How are the objectives achieved? Include the main method(s) used for the research. What is the approach to the topic and what is the theoretical or subject scope of the paper?
Findings
What was found in the course of the work? This will refer to analysis, discussion, or results.
Research limitations/implications (if applicable)
If research is reported on in the paper this section must be completed and should include suggestions for future research and any identified limitations in the research process.
Practical implications (if applicable)
What outcomes and implications for practice, applications and consequences are identified? Not all papers will have practical implications but most will. What changes to practice should be made as a result of this research/paper?
What is original/value of paper
What is new in the paper? State the value of the paper and to whom.
Submission
Preferred method of submitting manuscripts is through electronic mail to the editor. Submission should be made in Word .doc or .rtf formats. Do not disclose your identity anywhere in the paper except on the cover page. Always indicate which category of submission you are making. Editor/ referees can suggest a change of category.
While submitting electronically always mention in the subject line: Enterprise/Author name/ first three words in the title.
In case manuscript is submitted thru surface mail, submit three copies it must accompany paper on CD in the desired format. Ensure that file is free of viruses. It is generally good to create a folder and one copy each inside and outside the folder is safe.
Submit to:
Editor
Dynamics of Public Administration
c/o The Head
Department of Public Administration
Lucknow University
Lucknow – 226007
E-mail: manojdixit23@gmail.com