Call for Papers in Journal of Management Scientific Reports
Special Issue: Theory Testing, Replication and Refinement in the African Context
Special Issue Editors:
Moses Acquaah, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA
Anastacia Mamabolo, Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, SA
Samuel Aryee, University of Surrey, UK
Given the growing importance of Africa in the global economy and the need for management knowledge to provide an actionable base for management of Africa-based organizations, Africa provides an interesting context to subject management theories to empirical scrutiny. While existing management theories offer valuable frameworks, their applicability and explanatory power in African settings warrant replication.
This special issue calls for submissions that replicate and extend existing theories developed in the advanced western economies within the broader African management scholarship. Specifically, we call for submissions that replicate previously published empirical studies, empirical investigation of the foundational assumptions of existing theories, and/or examination of previously published yet untested theories or theoretical models within the African management domain. Submissions from all management sub-disciplines (e.g., entrepreneurship, international/cross-cultural management, human resource management, organizational behaviour, strategy, and supply chain) are welcome. A key criterion for this special issue is that the data (whether secondary or primary) be from an African country, whether it be macro-level, firm-level, team-level, or employee-level, to enhance the generalizability of the original published study and have implications for future research on the topic of interest within the African context. We are open to a variety of methodological approaches as long as they are robust, consider levels of analyses appropriately, and adhere to open science principles adopted by JOMSR. Specific emphasis should be given to how the study refines or extends theory, resolves controversy, addresses past methodological weaknesses, or addresses boundary and contextual conditions.
To kick off this Special Issue, we encourage you to attend the PDW on replication studies held on Tuesday, January 6, 10:30am-12:15 (Milan – 6th floor) during AFAM. Attendance at the PDW, however, is not required to submit a paper to the special issue.
Submission deadline: all manuscripts should be submitted between 1 October and 30 November 2026, with a final deadline of 30 November 2026, midnight GMT. Submitted papers will undergo a double-blind review process and will be evaluated by at least two reviewers and a special issue editor. Final acceptance is contingent on the review team’s judgments of the paper’s contributions to theory refinement and empirical rigor.
Authors should prepare their manuscripts for blind review according to the JOMSR’s Submission Guidelines, which can be found at the following website: https://journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/MSR
Manuscripts can be submitted electronically at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jomsr
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