Journal of Critical Incidents

The Journal of Critical Incidents focuses on publishing brief cases (aka critical incidents) that describe real situations. Each incident tells an interesting story about an event, an experience, a blunder, or a success. Unlike longer cases, incidents provide essential historical details and limited situation development in a succinct manner. Instead, each incident provides a focal point that stimulates students to discuss and arrive at a course of action or analysis; able to be done in a single session. Most incidents are decision oriented, but well written descriptive incidents are possible. Quantitatively oriented incidents need to include discussion questions that require judgment.

Critical incidents can be based on field work or secondary research. The maximum length of a critical incident is three single-spaced pages. The SCR Manuscript Guidelines for Authors provides layout and submission requirements.

SCR requires submission of a Teaching Note with each critical incident. The quality of a teaching note is a critical factor in the anonymous peer review and acceptance process and has no page limitation. Although teaching notes are not published in the JCI, they are archived by the Society for Case Research and available to adopters of published Critical Incidents. Copies of accepted Teaching Notes are also provided free of charge to the author[s] and members of their personnel, promotion, and tenure committees.

For many authors, the ideal first step in the JCI publication process is to present a draft of their Critical Incident in the Case Research Track at the Annual MBAA International Conference, where Critical Incidents receive feedback from session discussants. One month after the MBAA Conference, all authors (whether they have presented or not) may elect to submit their Critical Incidents to the JCI Editor. Submissions are double-anonymous reviewed as part of the editorial process.

The Journal of Critical Incidents is listed in Cabell’s and is published annually at the end of the calendar year.

Timeline (approximate):

4/10-12 2024: MBAA International Conference
6/14/24: Round 1 submission deadline via Ignited.Global (logon and click on “Peer Review”)
6/30/24: Critical incidents to reviewers
7/24/24: Reviewers return comments to editors (Round 1)
7/31/24: Round 1 reviewer comments sent to authors
8/23/24: Revised Critical Incidents due
8/30/24: Critical Incidents returned to reviewers (Round 2)
9/27/24: Round 2 reviewers return comments
10/4/24: Conditional acceptances, deferrals  and rejections notified
10/4/24 - 12/31/24: Final editing process and publication  

Note to authors - By submitting a case, you are agreeing to serve as a reviewer