Technological Articles
Author Guidelines · 2026
How to submit to Retail Management Review
A complete guide to preparing technical papers, technological papers and experience reports in retail management — from conceptual framing to manuscript structure and formatting.
APA style · 7th editionCIMO protocole-ISSN 2763-9495
Section 01↑ Top
What is a technical or technological article?
Before writing, it is essential to understand the genre. A technological article — also called a technical report or an applied article — is a piece of work focused on solving a practical management problem without giving up scientific rigor (Biancolino et al., 2012; Martens et al., 2021).
The central difference lies in purpose. A scientific article seeks to describe, explain or predict a phenomenon; a technological article seeks to solve a problem or seize an improvement opportunity in a real professional context (Motta, 2017). Both require method and grounding — what changes is the goal and the expected contribution.
Scientific article
Emphasis on knowledge
Goal
Describe, explain or predict a phenomenon.
Typical questionWhy does this happen?
ContributionTheoretical advance / gap in the literature.
Technical/technological article
Emphasis on the solution
Goal
Solve a practical problem or generate improvement.
Typical questionHow can we solve this in the organization?
ContributionAn applicable, transferable intervention.
Golden rule. If the text ends with “we found that X is related to Y”, it is scientific. If it ends with “we implemented X and problem Y was solved, with these results”, it is technological. RMR welcomes both.
Section 02↑ Top
Technological article and experience report
The two applied genres most common in RMR deserve their own detail. Although they share an emphasis on practice, they differ in starting point and in the author’s role.
Technological article
A solution built with method
A technological article is, first and foremost, a scientific article: it starts from a clear problem question, draws on pertinent theory and describes how the solution was conceived, applied and evaluated (Motta, 2017). What sets it apart is its professional emphasis — the value lies in the solution, not only in the knowledge generated about it.
It accepts participatory or action-based approaches as well as the ex post facto systematization of solutions already implemented. Demonstrating statistical significance is not mandatory: if the results offer valuable, verifiable information to the manager-reader, the work fulfills its role — although quantitative data and evidence, when available, are welcome. Retail examples: deploying a dynamic pricing system, redesigning a replenishment process, building a store performance dashboard.
Experience report
Practice organized through the lens of theory
An experience report describes a real experience in a retail organization — an intervention, project or process led by the author. It goes beyond narrating the case: it presents the practical results of an intervention with the same methodological rigor as academic research, reflecting the author’s critical thinking (Biancolino et al., 2012).
The theoretical framework should be brief and targeted, serving to frame the experience and allow a comparison between what theory predicted and what actually happened. The greatest contribution lies in the solution given to the problem situation and in how it can guide organizations facing similar challenges. It is the ideal genre for professionals who want to turn a work deliverable into shareable knowledge.
Where reports fail. The most closely assessed section — and the one that fails most often — is the presentation of the solution/intervention. Describe the product concretely: what it is, how it works and why it solves the problem. Do not replace it with method or context.
Section 03↑ Top
Types of contribution
Choose the section that best describes your work at submission. Word counts exclude title, abstract, references, tables and figures.
Technical article
Applied research
An empirical study that addresses a retail management problem with explicit method and verifiable results.
6,000–8,000 wordsTechnological article
Solution & innovation
Development and validation of a product, system, algorithm or process applied to retail, with an evaluation of results.
5,000–7,000 wordsExperience report
Professional practice
An analytical description of a real intervention in a retail organization, linking practice, theory and lessons learned.
3,500–6,000 wordsSection 04↑ Top
Reference frameworks
RMR anchors its guidance in four established references on technical production in Management. Together, they form the theoretical and technical basis for these guidelines.
Biancolino et al. (2012)
CIMO protocol
A reasoning structure for technical production reports in four linked moves, ensuring the text goes beyond describing a case and makes the logic of the solution explicit.
Martens, Pedron & Oliveira (2021)
IPTEC guidelines
Editorial guidance that consolidates the terms “technological article / applied article / technical report” and details the expected structure of each manuscript section.
Motta (2017)
Quality criteria — RAC
Defines the technological article by its professional emphasis on solving a problem and sets out what separates a good applied manuscript from a merely descriptive report.
CAPES / GT (2019)
Technical/Technological Products
The official framework for technical production in graduate education, including the technical/technological article as a bibliographic product aimed at the market and at application.
The CIMO protocol in detail
Adopted as the backbone of technological articles and experience reports, CIMO organizes the solution in four stages — Context, Intervention, Mechanisms and Outcomes (the results obtained):
C
Context
The problem situation: where, in which organization and facing which management challenge the intervention took place.
I
Intervention
What was proposed to solve the problem — the action, project, product or solution applied.
M
Mechanisms
How the intervention was operationalized: resources, steps, tools and decisions taken.
O
Outcomes
The results obtained, stated objectively rather than generically, including the situational factors that affected them.
Supporting methodological grounding
Depending on the nature of the intervention, anchor your method in recognized approaches to applied research:
- Action research — when the author took an active part in the intervention (Coughlan & Coghlan, 2002).
- Design Science Research — when the work develops and evaluates an artifact, system or process (Gregor & Hevner, 2013).
- Applied case study — when the intervention in an organization is analyzed in depth.
Section 05↑ Top
Manuscript structure
Organize the text in the sequence below. The development sections map directly onto the four CIMO moves.
Opening elements (all types)
- Title — up to 15 words, informative, in Portuguese, English and Spanish.
- Structured abstract — 150–250 words in the three languages, stating the problem, intervention, results and contribution.
- Keywords — 3 to 5 terms separated by semicolons, in the three languages.
Section 06↑ Top
Formatting guidelines
Blind review. Remove names, acknowledgments and revealing self-citations from the main file. This information goes only in the platform metadata and on a separate title page.
Section 07↑ Top
Citations and references — APA 7th edition
RMR adopts the American Psychological Association (APA), 7th edition style. Use the author-date system in the text and list sources in alphabetical order, with hanging indent and an active DOI whenever one exists.
In the text
- Paraphrase: (Surname, year) — e.g., (Levy & Weitz, 2023).
- Direct quotation: (Surname, year, p. XX) — page number required.
- Three or more authors: “et al.” from the first mention — (Biancolino et al., 2012).
Reference models
Journal article
Surname, A. B., & Surname, C. D. (year). Article title in sentence case. Journal Name in Italics, volume(issue), first–last. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx
Book
Surname, A. B. (year). Book title in italics (edition, if any). Publisher.
Book chapter
Surname, A. B. (year). Chapter title. In C. D. Editor (Ed.), Book title (pp. XX–XX). Publisher.
Online document
Author or Institution. (year, Month day). Document title. Site name. https://www.example.com/page
Conference paper
Surname, A. B. (year). Paper title [Paper presentation]. Name of the Conference, City, Country.
Tip. Validate your DOIs in bulk with Crossref’s Simple Text Query tool before submitting — broken links delay typesetting.
Section 08↑ Top
References for these guidelines
The guidance above is based on the sources below, presented in APA 7th edition.
Biancolino, C. A., Kniess, C. T., Maccari, E. A., & Rabechini Jr., R. (2012). Protocolo para elaboração de relatos de produção técnica [Protocol for preparing technical production reports]. Revista de Gestão e Projetos, 3(2), 294–307. https://doi.org/10.5585/gep.v3i2.121
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior. (2019). Relatório do Grupo de Trabalho de Produtos Técnicos/Tecnológicos [Report of the Working Group on Technical/Technological Products]. CAPES/DAV.
Coughlan, P., & Coghlan, D. (2002). Action research for operations management. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 22(2), 220–240. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443570210417515
Gregor, S., & Hevner, A. R. (2013). Positioning and presenting design science research for maximum impact. MIS Quarterly, 37(2), 337–355. https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2013/37.2.01
Martens, C. D. P., Pedron, C. D., & Oliveira, J. C. (2021). Diretrizes para elaboração de artigos tecnológicos, artigos aplicados ou relatos técnicos de produção com ênfase profissional [Guidelines for preparing technological articles, applied articles or technical production reports with a professional emphasis] [Editorial]. Revista Inovação, Projetos e Tecnologias, 9(2), 143–147.
Motta, G. da S. (2017). Como escrever um bom artigo tecnológico? [How to write a good technological article?] Revista de Administração Contemporânea, 21(5), 4–8. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-7849rac2017170258
