Review of Public Personnel Administration 2018-2020 Editor in Chief Request for Proposals

The American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), and the Section on Personnel and Labor Relations (SPALR), requests proposals from institutions and individuals interested in assuming the responsibility of Editor In Chief for the Review of Public Personnel Administration (ROPPA).

ROPPA is one of the leading professional journals for public administrators, with more than 8,484 institutional and individual subscribers. Issues are published quarterly, each approximately 128 pages for a total of 512 pages per volume. As a leading professional journal, ROPPA is unique in its dual appeal to both the scholarly and practitioner audiences; it is committed to blending both to advance the field of public human resource management.

The past several years have seen significant growth in ROPPA in terms of its readership, impact and contributions to the field. Since January 2013, ROPPA has continued to be a top journal in the public administration field. The most recent Journal Citation Report® (2015) ranked ROPPA 18 out of 47 among public administration journals with an impact factor score of 1.222. ROPPA’s five-year impact factor (1.708) keeps it in the top 20 among public administration journals.

Ideally, the Editor will have robust institutional support to perform the roles and responsibilities of the position.  The roles and responsibilities of the editor include:
  • Processing of manuscript submissions (approximately 100 annually)
  • Identification of reviewers
  • Production and Table of Contents for four issues per year.
  • Annual report to the ROPPA Editorial Board
  • Attendance at the annual SPALR symposium, held during the annual meeting of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA)
The increase in submissions over the last few years has made the Editor’s job much more labor intensive.  That being said, proposals may be from individual institutions or multiple institutions working collaboratively.  A proposing institution(s) is encouraged to include the following areas of support in its proposal:
  • Release time for the editor and managing editor, if one is named.
  • Support for graduate students and/or other personnel to assist with ROPPA’s management and production.
  • Travel funds for the editor and/or staff to attend meetings of such professional organizations as ASPA (especially its annual conference).  Note:  SAGE provides a stipend for the journal’s editorial office, which is typically matched by the host institution.
  • Given the increased use of social media platforms to project journal activity, proposals are encouraged to consider support for ROPPA’s social media presence in cooperation with SAGE technological management.
To Submit a Proposal
Proposals should include the following information:
  • A description by the candidate that addresses their qualifications for the role of editor, including, but not limited to:
    • Evidence of established, well-respected scholarship and leadership in public human resource management.
    • Examples (if any) of how the candidate has successfully fulfilled roles similar to that of editor.
    • Evidence of active recent membership in ASPA and prior leadership within ASPA.
  • Statement of editorial philosophy, goals, and approach.
  • Statement of how outreach to the practitioner community will be achieved.
  • The curriculum vitae for the proposed editor, managing editor and any other editorial team members.
  • A description of the proposed supporting institution(s).
  • A proposed approach for providing the financial, editorial and administrative support required to continue ROPPA’s successful management and publication.
  • Letters of commitment from appropriate officials from the supporting institution(s).
Inquiries on the nature and amount of this support may be directed to the current editor Paul Battaglio, ([email protected]) or SPALR Executive Board Member Doug Goodman ([email protected]) at UT Dallas, or to Patrick McGinty at SAGE Publications at [email protected].

Applications due  June 1, 2017