Jom Topic Selection

---
name: jom-topic-selection
description: Use when shaping or screening a research question for the Journal of Operations Management (JOM) — testing whether operations is genuinely at the heart of the question, whether the work can be empirical, and which of JOM's 12 Departments should route it (vs. analytical OM venues like M&SOM / Management Science / Operations Research).
---

# Topic Selection & JOM Fit (jom-topic-selection)

## When to trigger

- You have an OM or supply-chain idea but are unsure it fits JOM rather than an analytical OM journal
- Operations appears only as the *setting* of the study, not the phenomenon under investigation
- You cannot yet name an empirical observation that would anchor the study
- You do not know which JOM Department your paper belongs to

## The JOM fit test

JOM publishes **original, empirical operations management research with academic and practical relevance**, where **operations are at the heart of the research question, not just in the context**. Apply four screens before investing:

1. **Operations-as-heart.** The dependent or focal phenomenon must be an operations or supply-chain phenomenon — production, service delivery, inventory, quality, projects, sourcing, logistics, sustainability/social operations, healthcare delivery. If you could swap operations for any other setting and the question survives, it is context, not heart — fix this first.
2. **Empirical mandate.** JOM does **not** publish purely analytical models or optimization techniques ("these belong in operations research, industrial engineering, or analytical OM journals"). "It is the observation that renders the research empirical." Your design must rest on observed data — survey, archival/secondary, field, case, experiment, or intervention.
3. **Theory contribution.** Empirical strength alone is not enough; the study must engage and advance OM-relevant theory (operational, behavioral, organizational, economic).
4. **Practical relevance.** ASCM is a practitioner body; the question should matter to managers of for-profit or nonprofit operations.

## Department routing (choose early)

JOM routes every submission to one of **12 Departments**, each with its own mission and Department Editors: Healthcare Operations; Innovation and Project Management; Inter-organizational Operations; Intervention Based Research; Operational Systems; Operations Interfaces; Public Policy and Industry Studies; Social Impact; Strategy and Organization; Sustainable Operations; Technology Management; and Empirical Research Methods. Decide early — at submission you must name **two Departments, one preferred** — because the Department frames who evaluates the contribution and which conversation you must join.

## Anti-patterns

- An optimization or pure simulation model with no observation (wrong journal — analytical OM).
- Operations as mere backdrop for a generic management or marketing question.
- A phenomenon-only paper with no theory engagement.
- Choosing a Department after the fact instead of letting it sharpen the question.

## Output format

```
【Operations-as-heart?】yes/no — focal OM phenomenon is ...
【Empirical?】design will observe ... (survey/archival/field/case/experiment/IBR)
【Theory hook】advances ...
【Practical relevance】matters because ...
【Department routing】preferred: ...; alternate: ...
【Verdict】JOM-fit / redirect to analytical OM venue / reframe
【Next step】jom-theory-development
```