“Beyond the Final Chapter: Unravelling Project Closure Through Termination Practices and Long‑Term Outcomes”

Call for Papers – Special Issue: “Beyond the Final Chapter: Unravelling Project Closure Through Termination Practices and Long‑Term Outcomes”

Journal: International Journal of Managing Projects in Business
Publisher: Emerald Publishing
Submission deadline: 30 June 2026

This special issue shifts attention from the “final chapter” of project life cycles to a deeper examination of how and why projects are terminated (planned or unplanned) and what long‑term organisational, social, and economic effects they leave behind. It challenges the conventional view that project closure is simply handover, sign‑off, and archive and instead treats project termination as a strategic, multi‑stage process with ripple effects that extend far beyond the end date.

Why this issue matters

• Projects are traditionally defined by finite duration and clear closure, yet in practice many are prematurely terminated or restructured, while others leave unintended legacies long after formal completion.

• Existing research gives relatively little attention to the decision logic, implementation practices, and long‑term outcomes of project closure and termination, especially the difference between planned goal‑achievement termination and unplanned, often crisis‑driven closure.

• Understanding these dynamics is crucial for project sponsors, managers, and policymakers seeking to maximise value, minimise waste, and manage the long‑term impacts on teams, communities, environments, and regional economies.

Core themes and research topics

The special issue welcomes empirical, conceptual, and practice‑oriented work on project closure and termination practices. Suggested areas include:

• Determinants of planned and unplanned termination

  • What drives decisions to terminate or shut down projects, and how do these drivers differ by industry, organisational context, and project type?

• Long‑term organisational and economic impacts

  • How do repeated terminations affect trust, innovation culture, resource allocation, and regional economic resilience?

• Team dynamics and careers

  • How does termination (planned vs. unplanned) affect employee morale, skill retention, and career mobility, especially in specialised or geographically concentrated sectors?

• Regional and spatial inequalities

  • How do project terminations influence regional inequalities and community dependence on anchor projects or single‑industry clusters?

• Environmental and infrastructural legacies

  • Long‑term consequences of abandoned sites, half‑completed infrastructure, and sunk investments after premature closure.

• Decision‑makers and practices

  • Variations in motivations, justifications, and procedures used by managers and organisations when terminating projects, and the gap between intended and actual termination practices.

• Knowledge, documentation, and legacies

  • How documentation, knowledge archiving, and stakeholder networks sustain or dissolve the economic, social, and environmental legacies of terminated projects.

Submissions that compare planned versus unplanned termination or adopt longitudinal, multi‑site, or cross‑sectoral designs are particularly encouraged.

Guest editors

• Dr. Rodrigo Juárez, University of Leeds, UK

• Prof. Lynn Crawford, University of Sydney, Australia

• Dr. Francesco Di Maddaloni, University College London, UK

• Prof. Jeffrey Pinto, Pennsylvania State University, USA

Submission details

• Submission platform: ScholarOne Manuscripts for IJMPB:
  https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijmpb

• When submitting, select the special issue title “Beyond the Final Chapter: Unravelling Project Closure Through Termination Practices and Long‑Term Outcomes”.

• Key deadlines:

  • Submissions open: 1 June 2025

  • Full‑paper deadline: 30 June 2026

• Manuscripts must be original and not under review elsewhere, and conform to the journal’s Author Guidelines.

This special issue is ideal for project‑management, organisational‑change, public‑policy, and regional‑development scholars who wish to advance the study of project closure and termination as a strategic, long‑horizon process with enduring organisational and societal consequences.

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