Strategic Direction

This journal only publishes commissioned content, please do not submit speculative manuscripts.

Emerald’s Policy on AI Usage

Emerald’s overarching principles of AI usage:

1. Authors and peer reviewers are responsible and accountable for the accuracy and integrity of their work.
2. AI tools and technology must be used responsibly and transparently.
3. AI tools and technology should not replace human involvement in the publication process but instead supplement it.

Copywriting (creating, drafting, or writing) any part of a submission using generative AI tools and technology to generate new material is not permitted.

Copy-editing (correcting, editing, formatting, modifying, or refining) all or part of an author’s own original existing work using generative AI tools and technology the content to improve its structure and the clarity of the language and grammar is permitted, ensuring users adhere to the following overarching principles.

Emerald’s full policy, including examples of use cases can be found on our Publishing Ethics page.

Submit to the journal

• Each article should be around 800 - 1,300 words long and should be typed in single-line spacing with standard margins. However, an exceptional article could go up to 1,500 words.
• It is important that the article focuses on an area of strategy, leadership, management, etc.
• Get to the point straight away. You do not need to "introduce" such and such, covering "the following six areas". Let the material speak for itself.
• Please ensure that the article does not sound like an advertorial for a company. Blatantly promotional material will not be published.
• Where possible, avoid technical jargon. Many of the readers are in non-English-speaking countries. Use USA spelling and other conventions e.g. 'organization' not 'organisation'.
• Keep paragraphs short and sentences short and uncomplicated.
• Use bullet point paragraphs for action points. Start each bullet point with lower case, and separate each bullet point with a semi-colon.
• Use subheadings to break up the text.
• Keep references to a minimum – no more than 5 – this is not meant to be a heavy academic journal
• Please indicate a one-line heading with a second line providing a development on the main heading. For example, if the text is about a particular approach and it is used in a specific company this could look as follows:
  
  Developing knowledge workers on the factory floor
  The case of ABB-Alamo
   
• Alternatively, the second line could add a comment to the main heading, for example:
  
  The manager's role in coaching
  Overcoming barriers to success
   
• Please also submit a head and shoulders photograph, and any images you wish to accompany the article.

Submissions to Strategic Direction are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts, the online submission and the peer review system. Registration and access is available at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/strat. If you are unable to find the information you need in the author guidelines or our author resources (http://emeraldgrouppublishing.com/authors/index.htm) section, please email [email protected] for assistance. Please quote the journal name, your contact details and the information you require.

Registering on ScholarOne Manuscripts

If you have not yet registered on ScholarOne Manuscripts, please follow the instructions below:

• Please log on to: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/strat
• Click on Create Account
• Follow the on-screen instructions, filling in the requested details before proceeding
• Your username will be your email address and you have to input a password of at least 8 characters in length and containing two or more numbers
• Click Finish and your account has been created.

Submitting an article to Strategic Direction on ScholarOne Manuscripts

• Please log on to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/strat with your username and password. This will take you through to the Welcome page (To consult the Author Guidelines for this journal, click on the Home Page link in the Resources column)
• Click on the Author Centre button
• Click on the submit a manuscript link which will take you through to the Manuscript Submission page
• Complete all fields and browse to upload your article
• When all required sections are completed, preview your .pdf proof
• Submit your manuscript

The submission process

All manuscripts should be submitted through our editorial system by the corresponding author.

The only way to submit to the journal is through the journal’s ScholarOne site as accessed via the Emerald website, and not by email or through any third-party agent/company, journal representative, or website. Submissions should be done directly by the author(s) through the ScholarOne site and not via a third-party proxy on their behalf.

A separate author account is required for each journal you submit to. If this is your first time submitting to this journal, please choose the Create an account or Register now option in the editorial system. If you already have an Emerald login, you are welcome to reuse the existing username and password here.

Please note, the next time you log into the system, you will be asked for your username. This will be the email address you entered when you set up your account.

Don't forget to add your ORCiD ID during the submission process. It will be embedded in your published article, along with a link to the ORCiD registry allowing others to easily match you with your work.

Don’t have one yet? It only takes a few moments to register for a free ORCiD identifier.

Visit the ScholarOne support centre for further help and guidance.

Review process

Each paper is reviewed by the editor, and if it is judged suitable for this publication, the editor will decide whether the paper should be accepted as is, revised or rejected. Second opinions may be taken from experts in the field and the Editorial Advisory Board. Strategic Direction reserves the right to decide at any point not to publish an article, even after it has been accepted.

Frequently Asked Questions

The only time we will ever ask you for money to publish in an Emerald journal is if you have chosen to publish via the gold open access route. You will be asked to pay an APC (article-processing charge) once your paper has been accepted (unless it is a sponsored open access journal), and never at submission.

Read about our APCs

At no other time will you be asked to contribute financially towards your article’s publication, processing, or review. If you haven’t chosen gold open access and you receive an email that appears to be from Emerald, the journal, or a third party, asking you for payment to publish, please contact our support team via [email protected].