Editorial

Abstract

There is a wall between the real and academic world in most universities in Brazil. I have heard this statement many times over my years working at a public university when dealing with business men, business owners, small entrepreneurs, among others. Whether this is true, if perception is the truth in the beholder's eyes, we seem not to be connected to the real world. Is it possible to break walls without compromising the academia and being closer to the private and public sector, without forgetting that there is nothing more practical than a good theory? Should I, as an editor worry about practical contribution of our manuscripts? If our readers are on the academy, why should I care about this? I think both theoretical and managerial contributions are relevant, and if we, as researchers could mix them together in an article, I believe this would drive us to build bridges that will help, not only companies and the public sector to be more competitive in Brazil, but also our readers and authors around the world. Actually, building bridges is not enough, I think we should set fire to the academy. I will explain this in the next paragraphs.Recently, participating in a meeting discussing the future of academic publication in the administration field, with editors of top journals in Brazil and from a top tier foreigner journal, it was pointed out by one of the editors that to publish is to dialog. To be competitive, the dialog must be interesting for readers, for editors and reviewers. But sometimes, it seems we are talking to ourselves when trying to disseminate the results of our research, either theoretical and/or empirical ones. The editor of the foreign journal mentioned that we need to tell a story with the following check list: to make it clear the phenomenon one is focusing; to show to readers why it is relevant; also, to indicate what is known and not known about the phenomenon; to present the burning question; how you are going to address the question (theoretically and empirically); what you did, found out, and contributed; and the most important, why other people should care about the story one is telling. Is my story interesting or boring? The start point for an interesting dialog is the research question, which for now on, will be denominated as the burning question, as long as it can burn editors, readers and reviewers' mind.Sometimes, hurrying to publish, according to Bergh (2002) authors prematurely submit papers that can kill a burning question. For instance, reviewers "often conclude that authors have not exercised