More than 7 years have passed since the last change of the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Management and Governance, and the time has come for a new handover. We have worked closely together over the past few months to prepare for it, and this joint editorial is intended to summarise the main aspects of the work done and future expectations.

In these 7 years the Journal went from about approx. yearly 200 submissions to approx. 600, thus requiring an increasing amount of work to manage and maintain the required standards. In 2022 JMG has had the largest number of submissions in its history: it is encouraging to see that submissions grew up as we are hopefully transitioning out of the pandemic years.

Considering our common goals, at the Journal of Management and Governance we seek to attract, contribute to develop and, eventually, select and publish articles that are both rigorous and relevant, i.e. scholarly work that is theoretical and methodological rigorous, but also examines relevant research questions that can inform corporate practice and improve our understanding of corporate governance issues. At the same time, we strive to provide a timely and constructive feedback to those manuscripts that were unable to meet the publication criteria. Not an easy or trivial task, indeed, that also in the last Editorship mandate has been pursued with great dedication and commitment by all the scholars (e.g., editors, reviewers) involved in the activities of the Journal.

At the Journal of Management and Governance we see the review process as a dialogue between authors and reviewers, under the coordination of an Editor. For this reason, we do not expect that reviewers become ‘ghost’ authors of a submitted manuscript, taking the role of the authors in the strategic choices of their research. Authors do not necessarily have to revise their manuscript in accord to each single concern raised or recommendation made by reviewers, but we do expect that they will provide an explanation when they decide not to do so. We expect that this approach allows the dialogue to be constructive, with mutual benefit for all parties involved.

To help assure that we continue to address these goals, we need to rely heavily on the collective expertise of our team of Co-Editors even more. To better address the increasing volume of submissions, we have decided to significantly expand and restructure the group of Editors. While many of the existing Co-Editors will continue in their role, twelve new Co-Editors have joined the Editors’ team, increasing not only its scholarly thickness but also the diversity of scholarly backgrounds, experiences and expertise across disciplines, topics, and methodological approaches, allowing, at the same time, a balance in terms of geographical and gender variety. This expansion is also aimed to allow us to improve the effectiveness of communication about the Journal’s activities, including the single articles that are eventually accepted after the review process, to the widest audience interested in a timely way. One of the Co-Editors will supervise the development of JMG in social media, particularly by a renewed and proactive use of LinkedIn and the Journal websites.

A redesign of the submitted manuscripts workflow has been also made: within this team, a committee of Co-Editors will advise the Editor-in-Chief in the identification of those manuscripts that address a research question that meets the Aim and Scope of the Journal of Management and Governance and has the potential to meet its high standards of publications, in terms of relevance of the contribution to the field and the validity and reliability of the research design adopted. The screening editors work in close collaboration, and have continuous feedbacks and interactions, with the Editor-in-chief. Since we believe that the conceptual and methodological underpinnings of the field are still evolving, our screening editors are not asked to serve as gatekeepers of a particular paradigm, theoretical perspective, or research methodology (or method). Each manuscript will go through a timely yet careful screening process at the end of which the Editor-in-chief will be advised on whether the manuscript should continue through the reviewing process or should be desk-rejected. At this stage, the authors whose manuscript is desk-rejected will receive a timely and constructive feedback aimed to explain them the reasons why their manuscript did not meet either the Aim and Scope of the Journal or its publication standards and, when possible, some suggestions on how to improve it. At the same time, this screening process will allow our team of Editors to focus their time and attention on the development of those manuscripts that address research questions that are relevant for the Journal of Management and Governance and adopt a research design that has the potential to provide a substantial original and valid contribution to the field.

A key support to the management of submitted manuscripts workflow will be provided by our editorial review board as well. Thanks to the entry of more than twenty internationally recognised experts in their field, we have strengthened the width and depth of JMG’s editorial review board. These review board members represent a geographically and gender diverse, inclusive community of scholars, with a demonstrated research interest in the field and proven skills reviewing for this journal (or with other well-regarded scholarly journals). This increase in scholarly thickness and variety is expected to help the Editors in the selection of the most appropriate reviewers and speed up the reviewing process as these scholars have committed to provide constructive and timely feedback to authors. This will enhance the overall support to the Editors in the selection and improvement of those manuscripts that have the potential to meet the publication standards of Journal of Management and Governance.

After this restructuring started together with the change in the Editorship and still ongoing, there will be a total of 20 Co-Editors, the Editorial and Review Board will have an increase of 26 members, the Advisory Board will include the past Editors-in-chief.

Last but not least, we plan to continue our tradition of organizing and sponsoring international workshops as a way to further develop the JMG’s academic community, provide an opportunity to interact in presence, and help progress papers that may eventually be submitted to the Journal of Management and Governance. Presentation and discussion of papers presented at seminars and conferences remain a precious way to develop our research and knowledge.

This is the definitive outcome we pursue, through which strengthening the positioning of the Journal in the international arena and increasing the capability to continue to address relevant topics to the community of researchers. Along this journey, we are confident in the constant support of the Italian academy AIDEA and Springer, our publisher, as there has always been in the past and in the making of the current transition.

PS by Andrea Melis: As incoming Editor-in-chief I feel fortunate to assume this role in a healthy journal and privileged to be chosen by the Italian academy AIDEA to serve for this role. Thanks to the hard work of my immediate predecessor, Lino Cinquini, this journal enjoys a reputation for publishing articles that advance our knowledge in the field. I am very pleased that Lino and the previous Editor-in-chief of this journal (Roberto Di Pietra) will join our Editorial Advisory Board. As such, I look forward to obtaining their insights, counsel, and perspective for the development of the Journal.