Call for Proposals
10th Public Management Research Association Conference
The Ohio State University, Columbus
October 1-3, 2009
We are excited to open the call for proposals for the 10th Research Conference of the Public Management Research Association. The conference will be hosted by the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at the Ohio State University.
The Public Management Research Association (PMRA) is a nonprofit academic membership association that furthers research on public organizations. PMRA grew out of a bi-annual series of public management research conferences and has substantially grown its membership base over time (to learn more about PMRA, visit www.pmranet.org). In addition, PMRA now publishes the Journal of Public Administration, Research and Theory (JPART), one of the premier journals in the field. Both PMRA and JPART emphasize the links between the study of public institutions and their management and the study of public policy. One of the goals of PMRA and JPART is to foster multidisciplinary research from a variety of fields on government and governance. The organization supports the development of empirical and normative inquiry, theory building and systematic testing of theory consistent with the canons of social science, using the full range of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Since 1991 the Public Management Research Association Conference has become the foremost gathering of leading public management scholars in both the US and around the world. Each conference has been more popular than the last, and the competition for participation has become more intense. Given this increased demand, the 2009 conference will have facilities which can accommodate an increase in the number of panels and papers.
In the multi-disciplinary and multi-method spirit of PMRA and JPART, the program committee for the 10th bi-annual conference welcomes proposals that feature high-quality qualitative or quantitative empirical research. These proposals will be evaluated based on the significance and quality of the research question, research design, methods, data and findings. The program committee also welcomes conceptual proposals without qualitative or quantitative empirical components. Specifically, the committee welcomes conceptual pieces that develop a theory or theoretical framework that provides insight into a compelling research question or subject of study in public management. Strong conceptual papers should identify foundational assumptions and key concepts, develop an internally consistent logic or model of causation, and result in specific propositions or testable hypotheses. The program committee welcomes proposals for either empirical or conceptual papers that focus on new areas of research or evaluations of existing streams of research. Proposals from individuals at all stages of their careers are welcome.
In addition to individual paper proposals, the program committee encourages the submission of complete panels consisting of no more than four papers. Panel submissions should bring together complementary papers that tackle compelling research questions or subjects of study in public management. Panel proposals should provide information on the overall theme of the panel and indicate how each of the proposed papers connects to the panel’s theme. Each of the papers in the panel will be evaluated separately on whether it meets the criteria for individual paper submissions. The program committee may drop or add papers to proposed panels.
All paper proposals should be no more than one page, single-spaced, and should include the following information:
(1) Author name, title, and institutional affiliation;
(2) Ph.D. or terminal degree granted (field, date, institution);
(3) Paper title; and
(4) Research question, relevant literature, research design and methods, data, and findings (if available).
A person may submit no more than two proposals (including both single-authored and co-authored papers). Individuals will be limited to two acceptances (at least one of which must be multi-authored) and only one opportunity to present research at the conference.
Panel proposals should include one single-spaced page on the panel, contact information for the panel organizer, and one-page, single-spaced proposals for each of the individual papers within the panel.
Proposals should be submitted to pmrcsubmission@jgippm.ohio-state.edu <mailto:pmrcsubmission@jgippm.ohio-state.edu> as either a PDF or Word attachment no later than March 31, 2009. Review of proposals will commence immediately on April 1. Notifications of proposal acceptance or denial will be sent by June 1, 2009. If a proposal is accepted, the presenter must register for the conference in order to participate.
Requests to be panel chairs also may be submitted to pmrcsubmission@jgippm.ohio-state.edu <mailto:pmrcsubmission@jgippm.ohio-state.edu> . Include information about your title, institutional affiliation, Ph.D. granted (date, field, and institution), and general research interests.
Any questions regarding the conference or proposal submissions may be sent to either Trevor Brown (brown.2296@osu.edu <mailto:brown.2296@osu.edu> ) or Beryl Radin (radin@american.edu <mailto:radin@american.edu> ), the co-chairs of the committee.
We look forward to receiving your proposal!
Best regards,
The 2009 Research Conference Program Committee:
Robert Agranoff, Indiana University
Frances Berry, Florida State University
Trevor Brown, The Ohio State University, Co-Chair
Beryl A. Radin, American University, Co-Chair
Richard Walker, University of Hong Kong and Cardiff University
Voir Dire 