Special Issue Call for Papers for Work, Aging and Retirement:
“Generations, Age, and the Space Between”
SPECIAL ISSUE GUEST CO-EDITORS:
 David Costanza – The George Washington University
 Lisa Finkelstein – Northern Illinois University
SCOPE OF THE SPECIAL ISSUE
In organizations, and among practitioners, consultants, and researchers, interest in
generations and the impact that these socially constructed groupings may have on a
variety of outcomes is growing. However, as with many organizational phenomena,
perception and practice have preceded the science. While organizations try to figure
out how to manage what they perceive to be generationally-based differences in
their workplaces, and consultants and practitioners offer services and interventions
to help organizations do so, research has not kept up. Specifically, researchers have
generally not proposed or identified a sufficient explanation for why generations exist
or why they should have an impact, have struggled to find empirical evidence
actually supporting generationally-based differences, have offered numerous and
viable alternate explanations for differences that have been observed, and, similar to
their practitioner colleagues, have not conducted systemic assessments on the
effectiveness of interventions designed to address any differences.
While it is clear that there are widely held perceptions that there are generationallybased differences among workers, the science so far has failed to convincingly back
up these beliefs. That is, the problem may not be just with the generational labels
and associated perceptions. Rather, many practitioners, consultants, and popular
press journalists, and an increasing number of researchers, are suggesting that
there is something unique about a socially constructed generation that not only
differentiates it from other generations, but also is the cause of various phenomena
and outcomes, work-related and otherwise. These social-history constructions of
generations may be useful for descriptive purposes, but drawing the conclusion that
they actually affect workplace outcomes in meaningful ways and why they might do
so has not been supported conceptually or empirically.
Thus, the purpose of this special issue is to advance our scientific knowledge of the
generations concept. Suitable manuscripts may focus on conceptual, theoretical,
empirical, methodological, analytical, and/or evaluation issues including but not
limited to:
 Theory building on generational impact on work vs. age, life stage, or other related factors.
 Methodological advancements in disentangling generations from other concepts.
 Sophisticated empirical work that goes beyond simply comparing generational groups to test
underlying theoretical process models.
 Alternatives to generational concepts and boundaries that explain the same phenomena.
 Exploration of reasons for pervasive beliefs about generational characteristics.
 Scientific evaluation of generational interventions in the workplace.
TIMELINE AND SUBMISSION PROCESS
July 31, 2015 Initial manuscript proposals due
September 15, 2015 Proposals evaluated, invitations for full manuscript
submission sent to authors
February 1, 2016 Full manuscript submission deadline
PROPOSAL PROCESS
Manuscript Proposals
Interested authors should submit a proposal (1000 words maximum) that describes
the paper they intend to write. Proposals are due by July 31, 2015. Proposals will be
reviewed by the co-editors and evaluated using the following criteria: (a)
responsiveness to the call, (b) degree of potential to enhance our understanding of
generations, (c) scientific merit, (d) likelihood of successful completion within
timeline, (e) fit with other submissions, and (f) applicability to journal mission.
Please send manuscript proposals directly to both co-editors: David Costanza
(dcostanz@gwu.edu) and Lisa Finkelstein (lisaf@niu.edu).
Full Manuscripts
Full manuscripts will be limited to 60 standard manuscript pages (including all
figures, tables, and references; authors can ask for editorial approval of a longer
paper if commensurate to its contribution) and will be due by February 1, 2016.
Manuscripts will undergo a regular double-blind peer-review process.
All full-manuscript submissions should be prepared in accordance with Work, Aging
and Retirement’s author guidelines and be submitted through the journal’s
submission portal. Contributors should indicate in their cover letter that they would
like to have the paper considered for the Special Issue on Generations.
-Donald M. Truxillo, Ph.D.
Professor
Industrial/Organizational Psychology Doctoral Program
Occupational Health Psychology Program
Portland State University
Department of Psychology
PO Box 751
1721 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97207-0751
503 725 3969
fax: 503 725 3904
Associate Editor, Work, Aging and Retirement
Oregon Healthy Workforce Center: www.ohsu.edu/ohwc