LOSSES AND GAINS: RESEARCH IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES DURING THE PANDEMIC

We began the year immersed in the successive COVID-19 waves, though now with the hope of vaccines and the certainty that the world of organizations has undergone profound changes which will continue after the pandemic. Likewise, countless adaptions were necessary in research in administrative sciences during this period, particularly in the field’s empirical modalities, such as ethnography, action research, participant observation, design science, nethnography, among other qualitative research strategies. However, RAE’s special issue, “The Impact of COVID-19 on Organizations” (Costa, Paiva, Gomes & Brei, 2020), showed that the Brazilian scientific community in Administration, despite this period’s difficulties, remains productive, with relevant insights about the current reality.

Despite the sad numbers of deaths and illness cases (^*), the balance we present in this editorial also brings good news, with two unexpected phenomena. Firstly, the number of submissions in the period grew substantially - 27% more in 2020 (1,072) than in 2019 (841), and RAE received contributions from all continents. Secondly, article evaluation time decreased significantly - over 25%: from 262 days in 2019 to 196 in 2020 - a milestone for RAE, considering all the efforts that have for some time been put in such decrease. Reviewers both from Brazil and abroad have, despite the circumstances, collaborated with RAE for this achievement. We are deeply grateful to all who dedicated their time and knowledge to developing the articles published in 2020; their names are listed in the Editorial Information and Collaborators section.

RAE also starts the year with novelties: we have begun to publish articles in a continuous flow, which allows an agile dissemination of the articles already approved. Knowledge dissemination, both nationally and worldwide, is going through numerous transformations towards fully open science. In line with the national debate of publications in Administration, RAE has been adopting processes to preserve blind reviewing, after numerous statements by reviewers who expressed their opposition to having their identities disclosed. This, however, is a pressing issue that the scientific community needs to debate with scientific editors and researchers in the numerous academic congresses due to be held this year in order to mature as quickly as possible the adoption of open science practices. Learn more about the subject at https://blog.scielo.org/en/tag/open-science.

In 2021, we also celebrate the 60th anniversary of RAE, the longest-running journal in the field of Business Administration in Brazil, if we consider its uninterrupted publication throughout these decades. It is a remarkable history that witnessed the post-war industrial development and built the academic field in Administration in the country, in its various areas, with multiple approaches and reflective and critical practices (Tonelli, 2018). For May, the month of the journal’s first issue in 1961, we have prepared activities for the celebration of its 60 years, which, in addition to a Special May/June Issue, will include a webinar and a participation in the Special Week of the SciELO in Perspective/Humanities blog. While the pandemic currently prevents us from holding a face-to-face meeting, one can hope this could be possible in the end of the year. Turning 60 is a milestone in the history of business administration research in the country, and it deserves many celebrations!

This issue also presents the articles selected for the forum “History, Memory and the Past in Management and Organization Studies”, organized by professors Diego M. Coraiola, Amon Barros, Mairi Maclean and William M. Foster, and, in the Essays section, we have the text “Past, Present and Future of (Critical) History of Orga nizations in Brazil”, by professors Alessandra de Sá Mello da Costa and Sergio Eduardo de Pinho Velho Wanderley. Keeping memory is fundamental in a period of social amnesia.

We wish you a happy 2021, and enjoy your reading!

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  Our sympathy to all in our community who suffered illness or loss in this period.

REFERÊNCIAS

• Costa, A. de S. da M., Paiva, E. L., Gomes, M. V. P., & Brei, V. A. (2020, nov./dez.). O impacto da Covid-19 nas organizações. RAE-Revista de Administração de Empresas, 60(6), 385-387. doi: 10.1590/s0034-759020200602
  » https://doi.org/10.1590/s0034-759020200602
• Tonelli, M. J. (2018, out.). Revistas científicas em administração: O papel histórico da Revista de Administração de Empresas (RAE) na construção do campo acadêmico em administração no Brasil. Cadernos EBAPE, 16(Edição Especial).

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  29 Mar 2021
• Date of issue
  Jan-Feb 2021