To enhance the likelihood of having a proposal accepted as part of the program, authors should ensure that their proposal exhibits the following characteristics. Reviewers should evaluate the proposal based on how well it aligns with each of these criteria.
| Criterion | More detail | |
| a) | The proposal directly concerns itself with strategic management literature and matches broadly with the track to which it is submitted | Is this actually a strategy paper, and is it in the right track? A well-done study from another field (e.g. Marketing), or one sent to the wrong track, scores low here even if it is good in itself. |
| b) | The proposal addresses an original and interesting research question | Is the question worth asking? Is it fresh, or something the field has already answered? You are judging the question, not the answer. |
| c) | The proposal is clearly articulated, with logically sequenced and well-structured sentences and paragraphs | Is it well written and easy to follow? Clear structure, ideas in a sensible order, and no struggling to work out what the authors mean. |
| d) | The proposal includes a concise survey of the available literature related to the research question | Do the authors show they know the relevant prior research? Not an exhaustive review, but enough to prove they are building on what is already known rather than reinventing it. |
| e) | The proposal is methodologically strong | Is the way they plan to study the question sound? The right approach, sensible data, and a credible plan of analysis. This is about the test of the proposal idea. |
| f) | The proposal has good theoretical rigour in the arguments | Does the reasoning hold together? Are the arguments logical and grounded in established theory rather than merely asserted? This is about the thinking; (e) is about the testing. |
| g) | The proposal would make a significant contribution to strategic management literature or practice | If this work were completed, would it matter? Would the field learn something important? Are managers likely to view this as new and useful? |