In a historic first, two Terry professors guide flagship Management journals

Scott headshot

For the first time in school history, the Management Department has faculty members serving as associate editors for the field’s two flagship journals.

Scott Graffin is associate editor of the Academy of Management Journal, the flagship empirical journal for the field. Mike Pfarrer serves as associate editor of the Academy of Management Review, the field’s premier conceptual journal.

In the history of AMJ and AMR, only five universities have had associate editors for both journals at the same time. Those universities are UGA, Michigan State, Maryland, Florida and Southern California. Moreover, the current associate editors for AMJ and AMR come from 25 different universities. Only UGA and Michigan State have faculty members serving on both current teams.

“The historic nature of the situation has significant implications for the status of our department,” said Jason Colquitt, professor of management. “Being in an editorial role gives a faculty member enormous impact on, and awareness of, the field. Individuals in those roles shape what’s being published and gain a keen sense of the trends affecting the literature. Having Scott and Mike in those positions at the same time, for such acclaimed outlets, is extremely valuable for our junior faculty and PhD students. Scott and Mike are at the center of what’s going on, making them even more effective as mentors.”

But the service brings more than pride and status, Graffin said.

“There are a number of benefits for both my students and myself. For my undergraduate and MBA students, being an associate editor means that I am aware of cutting-edge research well before it is published and disseminated through the journal,” he said. “This allows to me to share new trends and findings in management scholarship months (or even years) before my colleagues worldwide become aware of this research by reading AMJ. For PhD students, serving as associate editor allows me to better understand the process by which articles are accepted or rejected. In turn, this allows me to more effectively mentor PhD students. Finally, despite the significant time commitment associated with serving an associate editor, it has really allowed me to sharpen my professional saw and become a better scholar. Over time, these skills should allow me to be a more productive researcher, which will benefit UGA in terms of its academic reputation.”

The service increases the visibility and academic reputation of Terry’s Management Department, Pfarrer said, and helps to strengthen its educational offerings for students at all levels.

“Being an associate editor exposes me to the leading and newest theories in management and organization science, and also keeps me current on cutting-edge ideas and literatures. This exposure also helps me in my own research, which I can also translate into my courses on strategic decision making and reputation management,” he said. “My reading of manuscripts and the reviewers’ comments on the submissions also helps me hone my writing skills and enhances my focus on crafting logical, clear, and parsimonious arguments in my own research.”