Editorial

Citation

Warren, C. (2012), "Editorial", Property Management, Vol. 30 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/pm.2012.11330daa.001

Editorial

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Property Management, Volume 30, Issue 4.

Recently there has been an interesting debate on the Construction and Building Research CNBR Yahoo forum surrounding the pros and cons of “open access” journals vs traditional print journals. It will be no surprise that as editor of Property Management, a traditional print journal, that I favour this form of publication. The debate on open access has centred on the mechanism for charging for publication. Under this model the journal is made freely available online and authors are generally charged for submitting the paper for review. Supporters of open access cite the wider distribution of the journal, particularly to regions which might not be able to afford the costs of subscription to traditional journals. There has also been a case made that open access papers spend much less time in review due to the use of technology in the review process.

The counter argument has been one centred on quality. Traditional journals have established peer review processes in place and are not directly reliant on funding received from the authors to sustain the publication of the journal; rather it is the readership who funds the process. There is a perceived bias that open access journals benefit from less stringent review processes in order to make profit and a number of cases of this occurring have been highlighted. The proliferation of these journals in recent times has further increased the question about quality in the review processes followed as these journals compete for contributions. This supply of papers seems to be ever increasing as the “publish or perish” mentality prevails fuelled by academic administrators measuring performance based on publication numbers rather than publication quality.

I think the arguments centred around speed of review and the uses of technology are largely misleading. Most journals have engaged with technology. Property Management, like all emerald built environment journals, utilises the ScholarOne online submission and tracking system which certainly helps both authors and reviewers keep track of papers as they progress through the system. Technology will not address the quality of the review as this is a factor of the nature of the editorial board who review papers and the effort that reviewers put into the process. Property Management is fortunate in having an editorial board drawn from leading academics and practitioners from around the world, all of whom take very seriously their responsibility in reviewing papers and giving sound unbiased advice on the paper's content. What is aimed for is a quality publication, even if this means that some papers may take time to be reviewed and have to be rewritten to meet the expected standard. Also by embracing technology, once a paper is accepted, the speed of publication is little different between the traditional and open access formats. With Emerald's EarlyCite facility papers accepted for publication in Property Management are made available via the journal web page as soon as the journal issue is ready, rather than waiting for the publication date of the next volume of the hard copy format.

The online debate has caused considerable attention with many contributions highlighting the pros and cons. The consensus to date, however, seems to strongly favour the retention of the traditional journal approach as it ensures a rigorous, unbiased evaluation of research papers and promotes continuous improvement in the quality of the journal. Perhaps this debate could be continued via the Property Management LinkedIn forum as I would welcome any views on how this journal might develop in coming years.

This edition of Property Management, as always, has a wide range of research contributions from around the world, with a good balance between office property research and that focused on the housing sector. The first paper in this edition tackles the issue of outsourcing property management services, a subject which has been debated for many years. This paper, however, presents a different aspect by focusing on the economic factors relating to outsourcing and revealing the importance of fee levels in the decision process. The paper is based on research undertaken in the Hong Kong residential sector.

Paper 2 investigates office workplaces in respect of occupancy costs and the relationship between costs and user-centric vs property-centric designs. Based on a survey conducted in the UK office market, the paper highlights opportunities for savings in occupancy costs associated with the operational model adopted. In a time of economic uncertainty and constrained operating costs any research which assists in optimising operating costs of buildings will be particularly welcomed by property managers.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the residential sector is the topic of the third paper. Based on a comparison of two large housing estates in Stockholm, the paper finds that there is a significant benefit in adopting CSR principles in the approach taken to property management. While this paper is restricted to a study of just two housing estates it has very obvious implications on a much wider scale and it would be nice to see future research on this topic extending to other regions of the world.

In the fourth paper we return to the office sector for a study on Generation “Y” perceptions of open-plan office design. The paper contains a very useful literature review which highlights many of the attributes of open-plan design and past research relating to the pros and cons of these attributes. The author, Heidi Rasila, then conducted interviews with Gen Y participants to evaluate their attitudes to the office attributes identified. It provides a very interesting insight into the perceptions held on the office environment by young office workers.

The USA is the destination for our final research which looks at the title insurance industry and issues related to the transfer of property title. The paper investigates the risk management process and the benefits of title risk insurance with the effect this can have on value. The paper raises some challenging risk management scenarios which can arise in the process of title transfer and presents a timely warning for property managers involved in the purchase of property.

Once again I hope that you enjoy this issue of Property Management and find the research presented interesting. I thank you for your support and urge you to provide feedback on the content by joining in the discussion forum on LinkedIn. If you are not already a member of this group, I encourage you to join us by simply searching for “Property Management – Emerald Publishing Group” at www.linkedIn.com. You are also able to tweet at @EmeraldBuiltEnv or @CliveMJWarren.

I look forward to discussing this and future issues with you online.

Clive Warren