Mission and Obtaining Feedback before Submission
All papers submitted to MIS Quarterly must relate to the journal’s mission, which is the enhancement and communication of knowledge concerning the development of IT-based services, the management of IT resources, and the use, impact, and economics of IT with managerial, organizational, and societal implications. Professional issues affecting the IS field as a whole are also in the purview of the journal.
The journal has a wide-ranging readership. Thus, papers submitted to MIS Quarterly should seek to communicate their content to as many readers as possible. Specialized terms should be defined clearly and briefly. Wherever possible, technical material should be placed in appendices. Authors should also assist readers in obtaining an intuitive grasp of the meaning of technical material.
MISQ does not formally provide pre-submission feedback to authors. Authors may approach a member of the editorial board personally for feedback, but only in the way that they may approach any scholar for feedback. The member of the editorial board may decline, and any such feedback from the editorial board member would not formally enter any part of the review process. A member of the editorial board who is approached for such feedback on a paper may also subsequently choose to exclude him/herself from serving in the formal review process for the paper. Any papers submitted to MISQ are deemed to have entered the formal review process.
It is absolutely essential that authors read the last several issues of MISQ to help them determine under which category their paper falls. This will also help authors in seeing and understanding the level of quality that is expected. It serves neither authors nor the review team if a manuscript is submitted prematurely. Getting feedback from experienced colleagues is a good way to ensure that a paper has reached a point where scarce journal resources can be effectively employed to refine it.