Human Resource Development Review
Human Resource Development Review (HRDR) is an international journal focusing on theory development for scholars and practitioners in human resource development and related disciplines. HRDR publishes high-quality conceptual work using non-empirical research methods. The journal is committed to advancing HRD by providing fresh theoretical insights, new conceptual models, critical examination of literature, and multi-paradigm approaches to theory building.
The journal provides new theoretical insights that can advance our understanding of human resource development, including:
- Syntheses of existing bodies of theory
- New substantive theories
- Exploratory conceptual models
- Taxonomies and typologies developed as foundations for theory
- Treatises in formal theory construction
- Papers on the history of theory
- Critique of theory that includes alternative research propositions
- Metatheory
- Integrative literature reviews with strong theoretical implications
The journal also addresses philosophies of HRD, historical foundations, definitions of the field, conceptual organization of the field, and ethical foundations. Human Resource Development Review takes a multi-paradigmatic view of theory building.
This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
As described elsewhere, Human Resource Development Review is a theory development journal for scholars of human resource development and related disciplines. Human Resource Development Review publishes articles that make theoretical contributions on theory development, foundations of HRD, theory building methods, and integrative reviews of the relevant literature. Papers whose central focus is empirical findings, including empirical method and design are not considered for publication in Human Resource Development Review.
This journal encourages submissions that provide new theoretical insights to advance our understanding of human resource development and related disciplines. Such papers may include syntheses of existing bodies of theory, new substantive theories, exploratory conceptual models, taxonomies and typology developed as foundations for theory, treatises in formal theory construction, papers on the history of theory, critique of theory that includes alternative research propositions, metatheory, and integrative literature reviews with strong theoretical implications. Papers addressing foundations of HRD might address philosophies of HRD, historical foundations, definitions of the field, conceptual organization of the field, and ethical foundations. Human Resource Development Review takes a multi-paradigm view of theory building so submissions from different paradigms are encouraged.
| Thomas Garavan | University College Cork, Ireland |
| Michael Gaffney | Positive Career Options, Ireland |
| Oliver Crocco | Louisiana State University, USA |
| Soo Jeoung Han | Yonsei University, South Korea |
| Roziah Mohd Rasdi | Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia |
| Ciaran McFadden-Young | Sterling University, UK |
| Syed Abbas | Aliz Educational Institutions, Pakistan |
| Hiyam Abdulrahim | Princess Nourah Bint Abdulraham University, Saudi Arabia |
| Mesut Akdere | Purdue University, USA |
| Lulwa Al-Mutlaq | Golden Trust Training & Consultancy - (Bahrain) |
| Meera Alagaraja | University of Louisville, USA |
| Seyyed Babak Alavi | Sharif University of Technology, Iran |
| Faiza Ali | Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Pakistan |
| Valerie Anderson | University of Portsmouth, UK |
| Alexandre Ardichvili | University of Minnesota, USA |
| Nana Arthur-Mensah | Northern Kentucky University, USA |
| Justice N. Bawole | University of Ghana Business School, Ghana |
| Mina Beigi | University of Southampton, UK |
| Laura Lee Bierema | University of Georgia, USA |
| Stephen Billett | Griffith University, Australia |
| Jeremy W. Bohonos | Texas State University, USA |
| Marilyn Byrd | The University of Oklahoma, USA |
| Jamie Callahan | Durham University, UK |
| Silvia Pereira de Castro Casa Nova | University of São Paulo, Brazil |
| Sanghamitra Chaudhuri | Metropolitan State University, USA |
| Yonjoo Cho | University of Texas at Tyler, USA |
| Joshua Collins | University of Minnesota, USA |
| Oliver S. Crocco | Louisiana State University, USA |
| Maria Cseh | George Washington University, USA |
| Julie Davies | University College London, UK |
| John Dirk | Michigan State University, USA |
| Toby Egan | University of Maryland, USA |
| Carole Elliott | Sheffield University, UK |
| Per-Erik Ellström | Linköping University, Sweden |
| Karen M. Evans | University College London, UK |
| Barbara A. W. Eversole | Indiana State University, USA |
| Julie A. Gedro | SUNY Empire State College, USA |
| Rajashi Ghosh | Drexel University, USA |
| Tomika W. Greer | University of Houston |
| Robin S. Grenier | University of Connecticut, USA |
| Irena Grugulis | University of Leeds, UK |
| Marcia Hagen | Metropolitan State University, USA |
| Robert Gordon Hamlin | University of Wolverhampton, UK |
| Heeyoung Han | Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, USA |
| Soo Jeoung Han | Yonsei University, South Korea |
| Holly Hutchins | The University of North Texas, USA |
| Ronald L. Jacobs | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA |
| Baek-Kyoo (Brian) Joo | Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, USA |
| T. J. Kamalanabhan | Indian Institute of Technology, India |
| Namhee Kim | Ewha Womans University, South Korea |
| Sehoon Kim | University of Minnesota, USA |
| Taesung Kim | Incheon National University- (South Korea) |
| Michael Kroth | University of Idaho, USA |
| K. Peter Kuchinke | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA |
| Chang-Kyu Kwon | Oakland University, USA |
| Jin Lee | Texas State University (USA) |
| Jessica Li | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA |
| Manuel London | State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA |
| Henriette Lundgren | George Washington University, USA |
| Yasmeen Makarem | American University of Beirut, Lebanon |
| Victoria J. Marsick | Columbia University, Teachers College, USA |
| Kim McDonald | Purdue Fort Wayne (Emeritus), USA |
| David McGuire | Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland, UK |
| Patricia A. McLagan | McLagan International, Inc., USA |
| Gary N. McLean | Assumption University, Thailand |
| Zachary Mosoti | United States International University Africa (Kenya) |
| Yoshie Tomozumi Nakamura | The George Washington University, USA |
| Paul Nesbit | Macquarie University, Australia |
| Kim Nimon | University of Texas at Tyler, USA |
| Paula O’Kane | University of Otago, New Zealand |
| Satish Chandra Pandey | Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, India |
| Sunyoung Park | Louisiana State University, USA |
| Woongbae Park | Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morrocco |
| Linda Perriton | University of Sterling (Scotland) |
| D. M. Pestonjee | PDPU, India |
| Tam T. Phoung | Foreign Trade University - (Vietnam) |
| Rob Poell | University of Tilburg, Netherlands |
| Priya Nair Rajeev | Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, India |
| Roziah Mohd Rasdi | Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia |
| Thomas G. Reio, Jr. | Florida International University, USA |
| Corina Riantoputra | Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia |
| Tonette S. Rocco | Florida International University, USA |
| Kevin Rose | Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, USA |
| Wendy Ruona | University of Georgia, USA |
| Darlene Russ-Eft | Polytechnic Institute, Purdue University, USA |
| Alan Saks | University of Toronto (Canada) |
| Eduardo Salas | Rice University, USA |
| Melika Shirmohammadi | University of Houston (USA) |
| Brad Shuck | University of Louisville, USA |
| Julia Storberg-Walker | George Washington University, USA |
| Oleksandr Tkachenko | University of New Mexico (USA) |
| Greg Wang | The University of Texas at Tyler, USA |
| Jia Wang | Texas A&M University, USA |
| Karen E. Carncross Watkins | University of Georgia, USA |
| Jon M. Werner | University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, USA |
| Ida (A.A.M) Wognum | Independent Researcher, Netherlands |
| Robert Yawson | Quinnipiac University, USA |
| Hyung Joon Yoon | Pennsylvania State University, USA |
| Seung Won Yoon | Texas A&M University, Commerce, USA |
| Lyle Yorks | Columbia University, Teachers College, USA |
| Ivan Zadori | University of Pécs, Hungary |
| Jill Zarestky | Colorado State University, USA |
Human Resource Development Review
This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics
Please read the guidelines below then visit Human Resource Development Review’s submission site http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/hrdr to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines will be returned. Remember you can log in to the submission site at any time to check on the progress of your paper through the peer review process.
Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Human Resource Development Review will be reviewed.
Before submitting your manuscript, we strongly recommend you consult the following resources:
- Why Do We Desk-Reject?
- Current APA Style and Grammar Guidelines
- HRDR’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines
Additionally, we strongly recommend you review the following list of articles, which are great examples of the types of work Human Resource Development Review looks for in submissions:
- Example of systematic literature review by Bailey et al. (2019): A Review of the Empirical Literature on Meaningful Work: Progress and Research Agenda
- Example of theoretical/conceptual article by Wiggins-Romesburg & Githens (2019): The Psychology of Diversity Resistance and Integration
- Example of historical HRD article by Bohonos & James-Gallaway (2022): Enslavement and the Foundations of Human Resource Development: Covert Learning, Consciousness Raising, and Resisting antiBlack Organizational Goals
- Example of research methods for theory building article by Hitchcock (2022): Applying Mixed Methods Research to Conduct Human Resources Development Inquiry: An Update
- Example of integrative literature review by Rose et al. (2015): Skunked: An Integrative Review Exploring the Consequences of the Dysfunctional Leader and Implications for Those Employees Who Work for Them
- On the comparison of integrative and systematic literature by Cho (2021): Comparing Integrative and Systematic Literature Reviews
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.
As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in Human Resource Development Review and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that Human Resource Development Review may accept submissions of papers that have been posted on pre-print servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in Human Resource Development Review. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to Human Resource Development Review's author archiving policy.
If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.
- What do we publish?
1.1 Aims & Scope
1.2 Article types
1.3 Writing your paper - Editorial policies
2.1 Peer review policy
2.2 Authorship
2.3 Acknowledgements
2.4 Funding
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
2.6 Research Ethics
2.7 Research Data - Publishing policies
3.1 Publication ethics
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
3.3 Open access and author archiving - Preparing your manuscript
4.1 Formatting
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
4.3 Supplemental Material
4.4 Reference style
4.5 English language editing services - Submitting your manuscript
5.1 ORCID
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
5.3 Permissions - On acceptance and publication
6.1 Sage Production
6.2 Online First publication
6.3 Access to your published article
6.4 Promoting your article - Further information
Before submitting your manuscript to Human Resource Development Review, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope. Discover the most common reasons HRD desk-rejects in an Editorial.
As a theory-based journal, HRDR publishes articles that are devoted to theory development, foundations of HRD, theory-building methods, and integrative/systematic literature reviews. The journal does not consider field-based studies conducted using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. Initial submission should not exceed 40 pages at length (including abstract, keywords, references, tables and figures).
The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.
1.3.1 Make your article discoverable
For information and guidance on how to make your article more discoverable, visit our Gateway page on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online
Human Resource Development Review is committed to delivering high quality, fast peer-review for your article, and as such has partnered with Publons. Publons is a third-party service that seeks to track, verify and give credit for peer review. Reviewers for Human Resource Development Review can opt in to Publons in order to claim their reviews or have them automatically verified and added to their reviewer profile. Reviewers claiming credit for their review will be associated with the relevant journal, but the article name, reviewer’s decision and the content of their review is not published on the site. For more information visit the Publons website.
The Editors or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in Human Resource Development Review. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor/Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.
All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.
Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.
2.3.1 Third party submissions
Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:
- Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
- Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
- Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.
Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.
2.3.2 Writing assistance
Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance. It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.
Human Resource Development Review requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
Human Resource Development Review encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway
For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.
The journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.
Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to:
- share your research data in a relevant public data repository
- include a data availability statement linking to your data. If it is not possible to share your data, we encourage you to consider using the statement to explain why it cannot be shared.
- cite this data in your research
Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway
3.1.1 Plagiarism
Human Resource Development Review and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of Human Resource Development Review against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.
3.1.2 Prior publication
If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway
3.3 Open access and author archiving
Human Resource Development Review offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.
4. Preparing your manuscript for submission
The preferred format for your manuscript is Word.
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines
Figures supplied in color will appear in color online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version. For specifically requested color reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.
This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplemental files
Human Resource Development Review adheres to the APA reference style. View the APA guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.
4.5 English language editing services
Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit Human Resource Development Review’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.
Human Resource Development Review is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/hrdr to login and submit your article online.
IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for Human Resource Development Review in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.
As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.
We encourage all authors and co-authors to link their ORCIDs to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. We collect ORCID IDs during the manuscript submission process and your ORCID ID then becomes part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID ID is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.
If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).
Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway
6. On acceptance and publication
Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit or by email, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.
Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.
6.3 Access to your published article
Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.
Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your article and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.
Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Human Resource Development Review editorial office as follows:
Email: tgaravan@ucc.ie
7.1 Appealing the publication decision
Editors have very broad discretion in determining whether an article is an appropriate fit for their journal. Many manuscripts are declined with a very general statement of the rejection decision. These decisions are not eligible for formal appeal unless the author believes the decision to reject the manuscript was based on an error in the review of the article, in which case the author may appeal the decision by providing the Editor with a detailed written description of the error they believe occurred.
If an author believes the decision regarding their manuscript was affected by a publication ethics breach, the author may contact the publisher with a detailed written description of their concern, and information supporting the concern, at publication_ethics@sagepub.com.