What does it mean to test theory?

Abstract

Our field has seen so much emphasis on theoretical innovation and novelty that theories have sprouted around us like weeds… and are threatening to overgrow the few tried-and-tested theo-ries…. to keep our research garden ordered, happy, and healthy, we need to engage in systematic theory pruning, which consists of testing and weeding out those theories that do not really hold up under sound methodological scrutiny. (Köhler & Cortina, 2021, pp. 510-511) All other academic fields…attach significant value to straightforward tests of previously proposed theories, ideas, and operating mechanisms. We in management, however, are so riveted on new and revised theories, and so dismissive of simple generation of facts and evidence, that our revealed ethos is that we care much more about what's fresh and novel, than about what's right. (Hambrick, 2007, p. 1350) As the above quotes illustrate, for the past 15 years, organizational/management scholars have lamented the concern that management research and researchers have increasingly emphasized novel theoretical contributions at the expense of validating existing theories. Journal of Management Scientific Reports (JOMSR) was launched to directly address this imbalance by having the following mission "to move management science forward by publishing research aimed at theory testing and refinement." The aim of this editorial is to provide guidelines for authors on the different types of empirical papers that would be consistent with this mission. We first begin with a brief discussion on the role of theory at JOMSR, followed by descriptions of the three general types of papers we seek to publish.