File Format

The required electronic format is Microsoft Word. For questions about using other formats, please contact the editors. All tables and figures should be included in Word file and should be in gif, jpeg, PowerPoint, or Illustrator format. Tables and figures should use the Arial font (or Helvetica if you don't have Arial). To ensure the best possible reproduction of figures in the published article, the editors will require the original graphics files.

Total Length and Style

• When writing for an executive audience, being direct and to the point is extremely valuable. Submitted articles to MIS Quarterly Executive should strive for a succinct writing style that packs a lot of meaning in a limited number of words. Thus, articles should not exceed 7,500 words (including abstract and references).
• The abstract itself should be about 75 and certainly no more than 85 words.
• Manuscripts should run to approximately 15 to 30 pages, double-spaced with 12-point font (more exactly, 5,000 to 7,500 words). Please inquire with the editor before submitting articles of greater or shorter length.
• All manuscripts should be double spaced (not 1 1/2 spaced).
• If the article has been presented previously at a conference or other professional meeting, this fact, the date, and the sponsoring organization should be given in a footnote on the first page.
• Funding sources should also be acknowledged in a footnote on the first page.
• Permissions for reprinted material are the sole responsibility of the author(s) and must be obtained in writing prior to publication.
• The first section of the main text should have a descriptive heading. It is never labeled “Introduction.”
• All figures and tables are numbered sequentially and must be explicitly mentioned in the text. Captions take the form “Figure/Table 2: Descriptive Title” using capitalization as for subheadings. Figures and tables must be explicitly mentioned in the text.
• Any Appendixes must be explicitly mentioned in the text.
• MISQE style is not to use the so-called “Oxford comma” (a comma before the “and” at the end of a list).
• MISQE style is to treat “data” as a singular noun – so “data is” not “data are.”
• Concluding Comments. The final section of all MISQE articles is always “Concluding Comments.” Typically, this three or four paragraphs summarizing the main points in the article. It should not include any new material.

The following information should also be included:

Page 1:

• Paper Title (6-12 words). Capitalize each word, except for words like a, the, etc. MISQE style is not to use a colon in the title of articles, so please do not submit articles with a colon in the title.
• Author Name(s): Do not include author(s) name anywhere else in article except in footnote references as appropriate and in the “About the Authors” section at the end of the article.
• Address(es)
• Phone numbers
• E-mail addresses

Page 2:

• Articles title
• Abstract. The length of the summary paragraph should be about 75 words with an absolute maximum of 85 words. The first footnote, positioned at the end of this paragraph, states who the accepting senior editor is for the article. An “acknowledgments” footnote should also be included here.
• Keywords: Select 5-10 words or phrases to be used for indexing. These might include important terms from the title, their synonyms, or related words. Do not use prepositions.

Page 3:

• Article title
• Beginning of article

Subheadings

Subheadings should be clearly delineated. MISQE articles have the following three levels of subheadings:

Heading 1

Separate line centered over text; 16 point bold, initial caps for each word, apart from words like on, to, a, the, etc.;

Heading 2

Separate line flushed left over text; 12 point bold, initial caps for each word, apart from words like on, to, a, the, etc.;

Heading 3. First line of text...

Separate line, flush left; 12 point bold, initial caps for each word, apart from words like on, to, a, the, etc., followed by a full stop. Positioned on the first line of the subsection text.

Author Biographies

Maximum of 100 words; include author’s email address at the front: e.g., Joe Blogs (j.blogs@university.edu) is …. Any publications or conferences mentioned must be spelled out in full; don’t use abbreviations.

Citations and Footnotes

Citations to prior work should be done in a footnote style, with the footnote appearing on the same page as they are used. Citations can simply be a reference to the prior work in the format used by traditional academic journals (e.g., MISQE articles). However, we strongly prefer that citations serve as explanations of references to our practitioner readers who will be less familiar than academics with the role of citations. References must be complete, and should include as appropriate, last name and initials of all authors, title, journal or web page, volume, number, month and year, publisher, city and state (for small publishers), editors, article page numbers, etc. A few examples are:

• One of the classic--and still relevant--articles that examines the problems introduced by information systems is Ackoff, R.L. "Management Misinformation Systems," Management Science (14:4), December 1961, pp. 147-156.
• For a good primer that explains the current wireless technologies and their business implications, see: Bates, R. J. Wireless Broadband Handbook, McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing, 2001.
• A related article that explores these issues in the Australia economy is Chenhall, R.H., and Romano, C.A. "Formal Planning and Control Presence and Impact on the Growth of Small Manufacturing Firms," in Job Generation by the Small Business Sector in Australia, Dunlop, W. C. and Williams, A. J. (eds.), Institute of Industrial Economics, Newcastle, 1989, pp. 71-89.

Some other examples of footnotes are:

• Cavaye, A. L. M. “User participation in system development revisited,” Information and Management (28:5), May 1995, pp. 311-323.
• Carroll, N. and Maher, M. “How Shell Fueled a Digital Transformation by Establishing DIY Software Development,” MIS Quarterly Executive (22:2), June 2023, pp. 99-127.
• For more on the critical role of IT in obtaining both efficiencies and strategic success, see Sambamurthy, V., Bharadwaj, A. and Grover, V. “Shaping agility through digital options: Reconceptualizing the role of information technology in contemporary firms,” MIS Quarterly (27:2), 2003, pp. 237-263.
• Nadella, S. and Iansiti, M. Want a More Equitable Future? Empower Citizen Developers, Wired, December 9, 2020, available at https://www.wired.com/story/want-a-more-equitable-future-empower-citizen-developers/.
• Matvitskyy, O., Iijima, K., West, M., Davis, K., Jain, A. and Vincent, P. Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms, October 17, 2023, Gartner, Inc., available at https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/4843031?ref=null.

Note that, in footnotes, authors are listed first. Author names take the form: surname first, followed by initials, with a full stop after each initial and a space between initials. Use “and” (not &) before the last name of multiple authors. Papers and articles from a publication are written in plain text included in double quotes e.g., “Paper Title,” with a comma before the closing quote. The publication name itself is in italics. Ensure that capitalization of the title exactly matches that used in the published paper or article. The volume and issue number are written in the form (23:3) (for Volume 23, Issue 3). If the footnote references a standalone article or paper, the title is written in italics, with the publisher (which might be a website) in plain text. Include the publication date (month and year for a reference to a volume and issue, and full date in the form month day, year for a standalone article or paper). Also include the from and to page numbers in the form pp. 10-21 for journal articles. Where a web link is included, it is prefaced by “available at”.

For repeated footnote references, use:

• op. cit. = same as earlier reference (include authors and date). e.g., Novales, A. and Mancha, R., op. cit., September 2023.
• Ibid. = same as last reference