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Simulation & Gaming:
An Interdisciplinary Journal of Theory, Practice and Research
http://sag.sagepub.com Substance
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Three important aspects regarding content
should be considered. Literature It is important that your ideas be grounded in work that has already been accomplished. This usually entails referring to the relevant literature or already-existing simulation/games. It does not always mean that you must conduct an exhaustive literature review and analysis where such is not the objective of the article. What it does mean is that you must relate your work to the most salient aspects of other work, by means of carefully selected references. This does not mean that any old set of references will do, nor does it mean that you must absolutely have all possible references. Of course, if the primary purpose of your article is to review the literature on a particular topic, then the reference list needs to be fairly complete. For introductory or synthesis papers, think about relative newcomers to the field -- what recent and important references would help them if they wanted to begin to follow up on your work? In some cases, such as in the reporting of focused, in-depth research (e.g., effectiveness of simulation ...), it is essential to cite relevant literature. This does not mean every conceivable reference that might have something to do with the study. Rather, it means a complete, but focused, set of references that are directly related to the topic of research being reported. Remember that the literature is contained in both books and journals, including previous issues of S&G. You will be pleased to know that he entire collection of S&G has now been digitized, enabling you to search on all back issues for nearly 40 years, starting with Vol 1 No 1. You should find a search link at the journal web site or the search page: Be sure to include relevant references to the literature, particularly all relevant articles published in S&G. Reviewers often 'complain' that authors have not referred to the relevant S&G literature. Better to do this at the outset, rather to have to rework a later version of the article. Business, management, marketing, economics, ... All papers that have as their focus business, management, marketing, entrepreneurship, trade, finance, accounting and economics should be sent to the Business Editor. Note that the operative term here is "focus". If your article is called "Learning from Business Games", then you must determine on the main focus – if the article is mostly about business simulation/gaming, then send it to the Business Editor, if it is essentially about learning, then send it to the Editor. A guideline in deciding would be to ask the following question and reply honestly: "If I were to take away the business aspects of the article, would it still retain its main message?" If so, send it to the Editor. If not, send it to the Business Editor. In the last resort, send it to one of those two, who will, if necessary, forward to the other. Guide to the literature & bibliography on debriefing A guide to the literature and a bibliography on debriefing can be found in:
An important resource to draw upon for proper discussion of debriefing is a special issue of S&G (Vol 23, No 2, June 1992). This can be obtained from Sage Publications. You will also find other references to debriefing in the debriefing page of this web site. |