Call For Papers - Special Issue 2027
Human Factor and Project Management
Special Edition Editorial Team
Marcirio Silveira Chaves1 
; Luciano Ferreira da Silva2 ; Nelson José Rosamilha3 ; Fabricio Martins Lacerda4
Doutores
mschaves@gmail.com1; prof.lfs7725@gmail.com2; rosamilha@uni9.edu.br3; fabriciomlacerda@gmail.com4
Universidade Nove de Julho (UNINOVE), São Paulo, SP, Brazil
IMPORTANT DATES
- 15/08/2026 – Deadline for receipt of manuscripts.
- 15/10/2026 – Deadline for sending a communication to the authors of accepted manuscripts and requesting necessary adjustments and corrections.
- 15/11/2026 – Deadline for submission of full papers completed by the authors.
- 15/12/2026 – Communication to the authors of the articles that will make up the special issue.
- Expected publication date: first issue in 2027
Purpose of the Special Issue
The project environment is inherently characterised by uncertainty and complexity. Owing to their temporary and unique nature, projects pose persistent challenges related to resource allocation, risk mitigation, and the development of individual and collective competencies (Yao et al., 2023; Rosamilha et al., 2024). Consequently, project-based and projectized organizations face distinctive structural and managerial complexities that require context-specific interventions, such as reconfiguring staffing norms, governance arrangements, and integrated delivery models, to mitigate chronic workload pressures and professional overload among project practitioners. The project environment may be shaped mainly by upfront planning, or it may evolve as a context of continuous adaptation and learning through iterative processes (Malik et al., 2021). Even when adopting predominantly predictive approaches, project participants must cope with persistent conditions of uncertainty, ambiguity, and interpersonal conflict (Fernandes et al., 2023). Conversely, adaptive approaches, such as Agile, demand ongoing interaction, experimentation, and learning from those involved. Within this spectrum of project approaches, the human factor emerges as a critical success factor, as people are the primary drivers of problem-solving, innovation, and knowledge creation (Edmondson & Bransby, 2023; López-Lemus et al., 2024). Research on the human factor in organizations has been relevant over time. Several aspects have been addressed, such as psychological safety (Edmondson, 1999; Edmondson & Bransby, 2023; Pereira & Chaves, 2024) and well-being at work (Zheng et al., 2015), among others. Issues regarding mental health in organizational environments involving anxiety, burnout, and depression have also been valued, given the increasing number of workers' medical certificates (Casemiro & Moura, 2025). Mental health problems such as anxiety, burnout, and depression have led to various risks (WHO, 2024), such as decreased productivity, absenteeism, and presenteeism (Ducas et al., 2025). Additionally, Regulatory Standard No. 1 (NR-1), which establishes the general provisions on occupational safety and health (OSH) in Brazil, will come into effect in 2026 and will require adaptation by companies and project management (NR-1, 2025). Among the main points of NR-1 are psychosocial risks, such as stress, harassment, and mental overload, which can affect the mental health of workers. Organizations also implement occupational risk management through processes to identify, assess, and control risks in all work environments. In the same vein, the overuse of technology by project workers has brought the phenomenon of technostress (Tarafdar et al., 2007) into project studies. Technostress is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon of stress experienced by individuals due to their inability to cope with technological demands (Tarafdar et al., 2019). It is a common issue in modern work environments (Kumar, 2024), as organizations increasingly integrate complex technological systems, employees face stressors such as techno-overload (being overwhelmed by the number of technological tasks), techno-invasion (the blurring of work-life boundaries due to technology), and techno-complexity (difficulty in mastering new tools and systems) (Tarafdar et al., 2007). While literature provides empirical studies using a small set of technostressors (Tarafdar et al., 2007; Ragu-Nathan et al., 2008; Shadbad & Biros, 2022), it is necessary to understand that not every technostressor may be relevant in every work setting. Therefore, studies should aim to pre-assess the relevance of specific technostressors rather than trying to uncritically replicate the technostress model (Borle et al., 2021). There is a need for further research to investigate new or potentially omitted technostressors (Pflügner et al., 2024). This call for papers aims to bring together the fields of Organizational Psychology and Project Management by improving our understanding of the effects of mental health issues on project workers.
Potential Topics
This special issue seeks papers that discuss how the human factor affects and is affected by the project management environment. The studies can address environmental aspects and the relationships between people in the projects. The environment can provide opportunities for work on psychological safety, culture and climate, for example. Studies on relational aspects include articles on conflict, well-being, leadership, sense of belonging, engagement, and related topics.
Papers that contemplate a theoretical and/or practical discussion on the aforementioned topics corresponding to the adoption of emerging technologies, sustainability, and methodological approaches to project management, among others, are desired. Papers accepted for this special issue may focus on the following subjects (but are not restricted to these):
- Prevalence, forms and predictors of stress, burnout and mental ill-health among project managers and project teams;
- Organizational design, governance and workload allocation practices that protect or harm mental health in project settings;
- Team-level factors (psychological safety, leadership, emotional intelligence, communication norms) that foster resilience and well-being;
- Ergonomic, technological and meeting-design factors (videoconferencing practices, scheduling, camera use) and their links to fatigue and cognitive load;
- Evaluation of organizational interventions (workload redistribution, staffing policies, mental health training, childcare support) tailored to project contexts;
- Measurement, methodological and multi-level modelling approaches appropriate for studying well-being in dynamic projects;
- How the mental health of project workers affects the success of project management;
- How the mental health of project workers affects the success of the project;
- How the leadership style of project managers affects the psychological safety of the team;
- How technostress is related to project activities;
- What technostressors affect project managers and team members?
We encourage submissions that address the human factor, including environmental conditions and people's relationships within projects. The people involved in the projects are influenced by the environment in which they work and by their relationships. Consequently, workplace mental health is an organizational priority with proven implications for performance, retention, and human costs.
Guidelines for Article Preparation
Articles must follow the guidelines for authors available on the journal's website (Submissions). The text must be based on empirical and/or theoretical evidence that allows for understanding how the authors built their arguments and presented their results. References must appear throughout the text and, in the respective section, at the end of the manuscript, according to the APA standard.
The manuscript must contain titles in English and Portuguese, as well as an abstract with a maximum of 250 words composed of: objective, methodological procedures, results and theoretical and practical impacts. It is also necessary to present up to six keywords. The article does not need to follow any initial template, but some formatting and structure rules can be recommended throughout the editorial process. The final text will be published in English and Portuguese. Please inform in the submission that your article is for this special issue.
The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is permitted as long as it ensures the rigor and integrity of the research conducted. The responsibility for the content and formatting lies with the authors who submit the articles. We recommend reading the editorial commentary regarding the use of AI: Editorial Commentary.
We look forward to receiving submissions that deepen conceptual understanding, test interventions, and produce actionable guidance for practitioners and policymakers working to protect and promote mental health in the evolving landscape of project work and flexible work arrangements.
Submit your article in: Submission system
References
Borle, P., Reichel, K., Niebuhr, F., & Voelter-Mahlknecht, S. (2021). How are techno-stressors associated with mental health and work outcomes? A systematic review of occupational exposure to information and communication technologies within the technostress model. Int. Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(16), 8673. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168673
Casemiro, P. & Moura, R. (2025). Crise de saúde mental: Brasil tem maior número de afastamentos por ansiedade e depressão em 10 anos. Available at https://g1.globo.com/trabalho-e-carreira/noticia/2025/03/10/crise-de-saude-mental-brasil-tem-maior-numero-de-afastamentos-por-ansiedade-e-depressao-em-10-anos.ghtml Last access 12/01/2025.
Ducas, J., Daneau, C., Bouqartacha, S., Lecours, A., Abboud, J., Marchand, A. A., & Descarreaux, M. (2025). The impact of telework on absenteeism, presenteeism, and return to work among workers with health conditions: a scoping review. Frontiers in Public Health, 13, 1655200. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1655200
Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999
Edmondson, A. C., & Bransby, D. P. (2023). Psychological safety comes of age: Observed themes in an established literature. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 10(1), 55-78. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-120920-055217
Fernandes, R. G., da Silva, L. F., & Vils, L. (2023). Distributed team cognition and collaborative problem-solving in project management. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 16(6/7), 713-742. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMPB-05-2023-0100
Gimpel, H., Lanzl, J., Regal, C., Urbach, N., Becker, J., & Tegtmeier, P. (2025). Stress from digital work: Toward a unified view of digital hindrance stressors. Information Systems Research, 36(2), 896-915. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2022.0691
Kumar, P. S. (2024). Technostress: A Comprehensive Literature Review on Dimensions, Impacts, and Management Strategies. Computers In Human Behavior Reports, 16, 100475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2024.100475
López-Lemus, J. A., De la Garza Carranza, M. T., Reyes-Berlanga, M. L., & Lopez-Lemus, J. G. (2024). The relationship between the performance of human resources and the success of the business project. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 32(7), 1221-1241. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-03-2023-3662
Malik, M., Sarwar, S., & Orr, S. (2021). Agile practices and performance: Examining the role of psychological empowerment. International Journal of Project Management, 39(1), 10-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2020.09.002
NR-1 (2025). Norma Regulamentadora No. 1 (NR-1). Available at
Pereira, M. T., & Chaves, M.S. (2024). Psychological Safety in Remote Work: Influencing Factors for IT Professionals. Psychology: Organizations and Work - rPOT, 24(contínuo), e25380. https://doi.org/10.5935/rpot/2024.25380
Pflügner, K., Maier, C., Thatcher, J. B., Mattke, J., & Weitzel, T. (2024). Deconstructing Technostress: A Configurational Approach to Explaining Job Burnout and Job Performance. MIS Quarterly, 48(2). https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2023/16978
Ragu-Nathan, T. S., Tarafdar, M., Ragu-Nathan, B. S., & Tu, Q. (2008). The consequences of technostress for end users in organizations: Conceptual development and validation. Information Systems Research, 19(4), 417–433. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.1070.0165
Rosamilha, N. J., Silva, L. F. D., & Penha, R. (2024). Competency diagnosis models according to project typology. International Journal of Project Organisation and Management, 16(4), 491-519. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJPOM.2024.143165
Shadbad, F., & Biros, D. (2022). Technostress and its influence on employee information security policy compliance. Information Technology & People, 35(1), 119-141. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-09-2020-0610
Tarafdar, M., Tu, Q., Ragu-Nathan, T. S., & Ragu-Nathan, B. S. (2007). The impact of technostress on role stress and productivity. Journal of Management Information Systems, 24(1), 301–328.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2753/MIS0742-1222240109
Tarafdar, M., Cooper, C. L., & Stich, J. F. (2019). The technostress trifecta - techno eustress, techno distress and design: Theoretical directions and an agenda for research. Information Systems Journal, 29(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12169
WHO (2024). Mental health at work. Available at https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-at-work . Last access 12/01/2025.
Yao, Y., Zhang, L., & Sun, H. (2023). Enhancing project managers’ strategy commitment by leader-leader exchange: The role of psychological empowerment and organizational identification. International Journal of Project Management, 41(3), 102465. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2023.102465
Zheng, X., Zhu, W., Zhao, H., & Zhang, C. H. I. (2015). Employee well‐being in organizations: Theoretical model, scale development, and cross‐cultural validation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(5), 621-644. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1990
