The W. Gregor Macfarlan Excellence in Contract Management Research and Writing Program

About the Award

NCMA welcomes submissions of papers for the Third Annual Macfarlan Excellence in Contract Management Research and Writing Program. Theoretical and empirical papers relevant to the practice of contract management  may be submitted for consideration in one of three categories: graduate research, professional research, and undergraduate paper writing. are welcome. The winner in each of the two research categories will be awarded a $5,000 prize, and the papers will be published in the Journal of Contract Management. The winner in the undergraduate writing category will be awarded a $1,000 prize, and will be published in Contract Management magazine. Authors of all first-place papers will be invited to present their papers at a World Congress. All papers must be received by 11:59 pm eastern time on December 31 to be considered.

W. Gregor Macfarlan served the contract management profession for more than 40 years, as a researcher, author, mentor, and teacher. He once served as NCMA’s national president, and held numerous volunteer leader positions with NCMA and the Washington, DC, Chapter. Macfarlan was one of the most respected and beloved people ever to serve the contract management profession. Still active in the profession at the time of his passing in 2005, he was a senior research associate at LMI Consulting, Inc., in McLean, Virginia.

General Information

Papers may be submitted for consideration in one of three categories: graduate research, professional research, and undergraduate paper writing. Theoretical and empirical papers relevant to the practice of contract management are welcome. Papers may be presented from a variety of basic disciplines, such as business, finance, marketing, management, accounting, management information systems (MIS), public administration, economics, business education, and related fields, as long as the research is relevant to the contract management field.

Graduate research papers will be written and submitted by students enrolled in full-time or part-time graduate degree-granting programs, and will advance the body of knowledge of the practice of contract management. Faculty collaboration is allowed.

Professional-level research will be accomplished by organizations, firms, individuals who specialize in business research and consulting, or professionals who work in the field of contract management, and will advance the body of knowledge of the practice of contract management. The research may be sponsored by a third party.

Undergraduate papers will be authored by students enrolled in full-time or part-time undergraduate degree-granting programs. These papers do not need to be research-based, although they may be research-based.

First Place and Honorable Mention

One first-place winner will be selected for each category (papers may be considered in only one category each). The winner in each of the two research categories will be awarded a $5,000 prize, and the papers will be published in the Journal of Contract Management. The winner in the undergraduate writing category will be awarded a $1,000 prize, and will be published in Contract Management magazine. Authors of all first-place papers will be invited to present their papers at a World Congress.

Honorable mention awards will be presented in each category. Honorable mention papers will be considered for presentation at a World Congress or one of NCMA’s other national educational conferences, and/or publication in the Journal of Contract Management, Contract Management magazine, or the CM News e-newsletter.

Submissions are solicited in, but not limited to, the following areas:

• Best practices;
• Ethics and integrity;
• Workforce issues;
• Performance-based acquisition, particularly performance metrics;
• Contract performance incentives;
• Inter-agency contracting (public contracting);
• E-commerce, e-procurement, technology-enabled contract management;
• Outsourcing and privatization; and
• Innovative practices.

Paper Submission Guidelines

1. All papers must be received by 11:59 pm eastern time on December 31 to be considered.
2. Papers must be submitted by e-mail to macfarlan@ncmahq.org. Each submission will be acknowledged by e-mail; if acknowledgement is not received within seven days, contact NCMA.
3. Papers must have been written within the past two years and must incorporate the latest legislative updates.
4. Papers must not have been published elsewhere, in whole or in part, and papers with an outstanding agreement to be published elsewhere should not be submitted.
5. Papers must be submitted in Microsoft Word format. Winning and honorable mention submissions will be edited and designed for publication by NCMA.
6. Papers should be no longer than 6,000 words, exclusive of endnotes.
7. Submissions must indicate which category the paper is being submitted for: graduate research, professional research, or undergraduate writing. Individual papers may be submitted for consideration in only one of these categories.
8. Submissions must include author information, including authors' names, affiliations, and contact information (mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address).
9. Research paper submissions will be subject to rigorous peer review. The program review team will be composed of highly qualified contract management professionals from public agencies, private organizations, and academic institutions.
10. Winners will be notified by February 15 and given instructions for preparing for World Congress presentation.
11. Authors of winning or honorable mention submissions will be required to complete and sign an NCMA publication copyright form.
12. Papers will be published within a year's time, depending upon the publication for which they are selected.