Author Guidelines

Public Management and Public Value (PMPV) publishes scholarly work that contributes to the advancement of public management and public value within the broader field of public administration. Authors are expected to submit manuscripts that demonstrate a clear research problem, rigorous analytical or methodological procedures, engagement with relevant scholarly literature, and a meaningful contribution to public management and/or public value. All submissions must follow the official PMPV article template and the guidelines below.

1. General Guidelines

a. Language
Manuscripts must be written in clear and academically appropriate English. Authors are responsible for ensuring grammatical accuracy, clarity, coherence, and consistency of terminology before submission.

b. Originality and Research Integrity
Submitted manuscripts must represent original scholarly work, must not have been previously published, and must not be simultaneously under consideration by another journal. Manuscripts are subject to originality and similarity screening in accordance with the journal's Plagiarism Screening and Publication Ethics policies.

c. Article Types
PMPV accepts manuscripts that are relevant to its focus and scope, including:

  1. Quantitative research articles;

  2. Qualitative research articles;

  3. Mixed-methods research articles;

  4. Systematic or scoping review articles;

  5. Bibliometric studies; and

  6. Conceptual research articles.

The methodological structure must correspond to the type and design of the study.

d. Article Template
Authors must prepare their manuscripts using the official PMPV Article Template. All instructional text, brackets, examples, and placeholders contained in the template must be removed or replaced before submission.

2. Manuscript Structure

Manuscripts should follow the structure provided in the official PMPV template.

a. Article Title
The title must be clear, concise, informative, and written in sentence case. It should accurately represent the principal issue, relationship, process, or phenomenon investigated in the study.

b. Author Information
Provide the full name of each author, institutional affiliation, city, country, and corresponding author's email address. ORCID iDs should be provided through the submission metadata where available.

c. Abstract
The abstract must contain 150–200 words and provide a self-contained summary of the study's purpose, context, method, principal findings, and contribution to public management and/or public value. The abstract must not contain citations, tables, figures, undefined abbreviations, or promotional statements.

d. Keywords
Provide a maximum of three keywords representing the central concepts or topics of the manuscript. Authors should avoid unnecessarily repeating terms already used in the article title.

e. Introduction
The Introduction should develop a coherent argument that incorporates the empirical foundation of the problem, relevant previous studies, similarities and differences from previous studies, research gap and study positioning, research urgency, research contribution and added value, and research objective. Authors should use recent, high-quality, scientifically reputable, and relevant sources and clearly connect the research problem with the contribution expected from the study.

f. Literature Review and Theoretical Framework
This section should synthesize rather than merely list previous literature. Authors should define the central concepts, establish relevant theoretical foundations, explain relationships among concepts or variables where applicable, and develop the analytical or conceptual framework guiding the study.

g. Methods
The Methods section must provide sufficient information to allow readers to evaluate the rigor and reproducibility of the research. Authors should retain only the methodological subsection relevant to their study and remove unused methodological instructions from the template.

For quantitative research, authors should describe the population, sampling frame, sampling technique, sample size and justification, variables or constructs, operational definitions, research instruments, data-collection procedures, validity and reliability assessment, model specification, statistical analysis, software, and relevant diagnostic or robustness procedures.

For qualitative research, authors should explain the qualitative design or tradition, research setting, participants or cases, selection strategy, access procedures, data-collection methods, researcher positioning or reflexivity, coding and analysis, saturation or information-power considerations, trustworthiness procedures, and ethical considerations.

For mixed-methods research, authors should identify and justify the mixed-methods design, explain the timing and priority of quantitative and qualitative components, describe sampling and analysis within each component, identify points of integration, address divergent findings where relevant, and explain the resulting meta-inferences.

For systematic reviews, scoping reviews, bibliometric studies, or conceptual research, authors should report the procedures appropriate to the selected design, including literature-selection strategy, databases, search procedures, eligibility criteria, screening, quality assessment, data extraction, synthesis, bibliometric indicators, analytical software, construct development, or framework-development procedures where applicable.

h. Results
Present the findings systematically in accordance with the research questions, objectives, or hypotheses. Report relevant evidence accurately and avoid unnecessarily duplicating information already presented in tables or figures.

i. Discussion
Interpret the findings in relation to the theoretical framework and relevant previous research. Authors should explain what the results mean, identify agreements or differences with previous evidence, discuss possible explanatory mechanisms, and demonstrate the contribution of the findings to public management and/or public value scholarship.

j. Theoretical and Practical Implications
Explain the implications of the findings for scholarly understanding and for relevant actors such as public managers, policymakers, government institutions, public-service organizations, or other stakeholders. Claims should remain proportionate to the research design and evidence.

k. Limitations and Future Research
Identify material limitations of the study transparently and explain focused opportunities for subsequent research.

l. Conclusion
The conclusion should directly answer the research objective or question, synthesize the principal findings and contribution, and explain their broader significance for public management and/or public value. Authors should avoid introducing substantial new evidence or unnecessary new citations in this section.

m. Declarations and End Matter
Where applicable, manuscripts should include:

  • Acknowledgements

  • Author Contributions

  • Disclosure Statement

  • Funding

  • Data Availability Statement

  • References

Author contributions may be reported using appropriate CRediT contributor roles. Authors must accurately disclose competing interests, research funding, data accessibility, and other relevant research information.

3. Formatting Guidelines

Authors must follow the formatting specifications established in the PMPV Article Template:

a. Page Format: A4 (210 × 297 mm), portrait orientation.
b. Typeface: Bahnschrift throughout the manuscript.
c. Line Spacing: 1.5 spacing throughout all manuscript elements.
d. Article Title: 18 pt, bold, sentence case.
e. Author Names and Affiliations: 12 pt; author names in bold.
f. Abstract: 12 pt.
g. Keywords and Article History: 12 pt.
h. Main Headings: 12 pt, bold, sentence case.
i. Subheadings: 12 pt, bold italic, sentence case.
j. Body Text: 12 pt, single-column format, justified.
k. Tables: Titles, cells, and notes in 12 pt.
l. Figures: Captions and labels in 12 pt.
m. References: 12 pt with hanging indentation.
n. Headers and Footers: 12 pt, including page numbers.

Manuscripts should be submitted in an editable Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format based on the official journal template.

4. Tables and Figures

Tables and figures must be numbered consecutively and referred to explicitly in the manuscript text. Table and figure titles should be concise, descriptive, and written in sentence case.

Figures should preferably be submitted in editable form or as high-quality images of approximately 300 dpi. All labels must remain legible, including when reproduced in grayscale, and authors should provide appropriate source information, notes, abbreviations, and alt text where required.

Authors should use tables and figures selectively and should not duplicate identical information in both graphical and narrative form.

5. Citation and Reference Style

PMPV follows the American Psychological Association (APA), 7th edition for both in-text citations and the reference list.

Common in-text citation formats include:

  • Narrative citation: Author (2026)

  • Parenthetical citation: (Author, 2026)

  • Two authors: (Author & Author, 2026)

  • Three or more authors: (Author et al., 2026)

  • Direct quotation: (Author, 2026, p. 10)

Examples of reference entries:

Journal Article
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (2026). Title of article in sentence case. Journal Title, 12(3), 123–145. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx

Book
Author, A. A. (2026). Title of book in sentence case. Publisher.

Book Chapter
Author, A. A. (2026). Title of chapter. In B. B. Editor & C. C. Editor (Eds.), Title of edited book (pp. 00–00). Publisher.

Institutional Report
Organization Name. (2026). Title of report. URL

Authors must ensure complete correspondence between in-text citations and the reference list. References should be arranged alphabetically, formatted with a hanging indent, and DOI links should be retained in https://doi.org/ format whenever available.

6. Submission and Editorial Process

a. Online Submission
Manuscripts must be submitted through the Public Management and Public Value online submission system. Authors should complete all required submission metadata accurately and upload the manuscript using the official PMPV template.

b. Initial Editorial Screening
The editorial team reviews submissions for compatibility with the journal's focus and scope, manuscript structure, formatting, originality, ethical requirements, and general scholarly quality. Manuscripts that do not comply with the journal's requirements may be returned to authors before entering peer review.

c. Peer Review
Manuscripts that successfully pass editorial screening proceed to scholarly peer review in accordance with the journal's current Publication Process and peer-review policy. Authors may be asked to provide an anonymized manuscript when required by the review procedure.

d. Revision
Authors receiving a revision decision should address reviewer and editor comments systematically and provide a response explaining the changes made to the manuscript. Revised manuscripts must remain consistent with the PMPV template.

e. Acceptance and Publication
Acceptance is based on scholarly quality, relevance, methodological or analytical rigor, ethical compliance, and satisfactory completion of the editorial and peer-review process. Accepted manuscripts proceed to editorial preparation, copyediting, typesetting, and proof review before publication.

7. Pre-Submission Requirements

Before submitting a manuscript, authors should ensure that:

  1. The manuscript uses the official PMPV template.

  2. The document is formatted in A4 portrait, Bahnschrift, and 1.5 line spacing.

  3. The article title is formatted in 18 pt and all other elements follow the 12 pt formatting requirements.

  4. The abstract contains 150–200 words and contains no citations.

  5. No more than three keywords are provided.

  6. The manuscript clearly demonstrates its contribution to public management and/or public value.

  7. All template instructions, brackets, and placeholders have been removed.

  8. All tables and figures are numbered, titled, cited in the text, and accompanied by appropriate notes or source information.

  9. All citations and references comply with APA 7th edition.

  10. Author information, affiliations, ORCID iDs where available, corresponding-author information, funding, competing interests, research ethics, and data availability are reported accurately.

  11. The manuscript has been proofread and checked for originality before submission.

  12. An anonymized manuscript is prepared when required by the journal's peer-review procedure.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts comply with these guidelines before submission. Manuscripts that substantially depart from the journal's formatting, ethical, or scholarly requirements may be returned for correction before further editorial processing.