Center for Public Administrators
A civil society organization that strengthens democratic checks and balances .
My website on how to get published in peer reviewed journals is at https://publishpeerreview.org/ It has the information I wish I knew when I started as a practitioner with no academic connections, and eventually became an author, peer reviewer and Associate Editor for peer reviewed journals.
Peer reviewed journals are making some efforts to increase the involvement of practitioners, adjunct faculty, and students. I described the strategies they are using in my presentation at the American Society for Public Administration conference on March 29. The slides are here: https://publishpeerreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/practitioners-in-peer-reviewed-journals-for-aspa-conference-2025.pdf
David Reed is the 2024 recipient of the Larkin Dudley award from the American Society for Public Administration, The award recognizes accomplishments in practitioner engagement.
Public Administration practitioners can and should publish in peer reviewed journals. It increases the credibility of their first-hand knowledge, it increases the credibility of the practitioner as an expert, and it adds their experience to the permanent, searchable body of knowledge. It also strengthens the journals by making them more credible and relevant. A webinar on March 5 from the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) will demystify the process of getting published in peer reviewed journals, and show how to avoid the pitfalls that often confront practitioners as authors. We will also discuss a new initiative by Public Administration Review to involve practitioners. Our speakers are:
* Dr. Annette N. Brown, Chief Strategy and Evidence Officer at FHI 360. Author of “Why should practitioners publish their research in journals?”
* Dr. Ronald Sanders, President and CEO at Publica Virtu LLC. Associate Editor for the Practically Speaking section in the journal Public Administration Review.
* David S. Reed, Founder at Center for Public Administrators. Associate Editor for the journal Public Integrity.
Register for free at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5826071759418963549
My review of The Ethics of Dissent by Rosemary O’Leary shows that this classic about guerrilla government is not just for ethics courses.
(If you hit a paywall, use this free link for friends of Center for Public Administrators https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/TEXWXUR9UYAWMVET5XGH/full?target=10.1080/15236803.2023.2182170 )
UPDATE: The friends link has been used up, so if you hit a paywall you can send me your email address and I’ll send you a pdf.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15236803.2023.2182170
I’m pleased my work was cited in this very interesting article by Stephen Osborne, Tie Cui, Katharine Aulton and Joanne Macfarlane published in Administrative Theory and Praxis. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10841806.2022.2158638
If you’re a Public Administration practitioner, consider presenting at NECOPA 2022. Have a case from your work that others could learn from? Technique you developed or tried out? I’m available to bounce ideas off. I’ve presented at NECOPA. The call for proposals is at https://northeastpublicadmin.org/
The gap between academic research and practice in public administration is discussed often, but practitioners are rarely included in the discussion. My new paper in Administrative Theory & Praxis says that for the public administration research community to engage with practitioners, it should:
The paper is available for free download at https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/7SSKBPY7ZEZA5MMRRQ6X/full?target=10.1080/10841806.2021.1910412
The public administration research community is obsessed with serving an imaginary image of public administration practitioners, according to Professor Muhammad Azfar Nisar writing in Administrative Theory & Praxis. He suggests that researchers should stop trying to serve the imaginary practitioner, and instead engage directly with the public. I have a different suggestion; that researchers should engage with real practitioners, rather than imaginary ones. See how and why in my paper at https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/db7pt/
My how-to on Public Administration Practitioners at Academic Conferences hit SSRN’s top 10 download list for PSN Educator: Public Administration. I hope it encourages more of us practitioners to engage with research. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2765800
Center for Public Administrators 