Call for papers - Learning from success, near miss and failure - deadline: 31 March 2020

The Centre for Policing Research and Learning has been invited to guest edit a themed issue of the journal: Public Money and Management with papers arising from the recent Centre for Policing Research and Learning Annual Conference where the theme of ' Learning from success, near miss and failure' was explored in: policing, local government, health and other sectors. The editorial team is Centre academics: Jean Hartley, Richard Harding, Nicky Miller and Zoe Walkington, and Director of People at Thames Valley Police, Steven Chase.

Mistakes, errors and failures—whatever language is used - are often treated as problematic in policing - as in other public services - with expectations that blame, investigation and sanction may closely follow. But does that have to be the default position? A number of public organisations and some regulatory bodies are recognising that failure can come from several sources and have different value, so that individual fault and blame is not the only response. Furthermore, academic research shows that failures can be intelligent and even necessary in particular contexts, with a spectrum of failure from ‘blameworthy’ to ‘praiseworthy’. Even learning from success is not as easy as it sounds, with sometimes the wrong conclusions drawn from the right data, or success being hard to handle.

Part of the focus is on learning. How does learning from failure occur? What about near misses? Why are successes so hard to learn from? This PMM theme aims to examine aspects of learning processes, including the new science of learning analytics, the emotional basis of effective learning, making valuable and ‘necessary mistakes’ in innovation and pilot programmes; the advantages and pitfalls of celebrating success; and learning from the experiences and the research evidence from other sectors.

Papers are invited whether or not they were presented at this conference.The guest editors are working as a team and decisions will be made collectively.

Public Money & Management

PMM publishes papers which are of interest both to academics and practitioners. It aims to integrate theory and practice in public management both in the UK and internationally. It is well-established as a journal, having been founded nearly 40 years ago. Its articles tend to be highly cited.

Articles are refereed by academics and practitioners to ensure quality and practical impact.

Types of papers

The editors of the themed issue are seeking three types of paper:

Main papers: Up to 8,000 words (including references). Papers must be suitable for both academic and reflective practitioner readers and will be double-blind refereed by both an academic and a practitioner.

Debate articles: Up to 1,000 words, and offer distinctive, provocative comments and arguments (so long as they are also considered), perhaps from the world of practice.

New development articles:Up to 2,500 words and describe innovations or changes to practice

Debate and new development articles are not sent for review but are subject to guest editorial review.

Enquiries and submissions

Closing date for submissions: 31 March 2020.

Enquiries to Richard Harding or Nicky Miller. The guest editors are working as a team and decisions will be made collectively.

Submissions should be made through the ScholarOne portal used by Public Money & Management, details on the PMM website.