WELCOME
By David Pells
Managing Editor
Addison, Texas, USA
Welcome to the September 2026 edition of the PM World Journal (PMWJ), our 168th monthly edition. This month’s PMWJ is another diverse and interesting edition, with 70 new works by 86 different authors representing 25 different countries. The new additions this month bring our totals to 5,976 works by 2,394 different authors representing 90+ countries published in the PMWJ to date and archived in the PM World Library.
Introduction
It looks like we did it again, set a new record for number of both works published in the PMWJ and authors published this month. Now I mention it not as a great achievement but as a growing challenge. This edition was again two days late due to the increased time it took to edit, format and publish so many articles and papers. It’s become too much work for our small team, and perhaps too long to be easily absorbed by readers. So unfortunately, we have to set some new limits: cutoff for works to be included in the next monthly edition will now be the 15th of each month, and all manuscripts received must be in accordance with our Author Guidelines, including our standard format. The formatting of some manuscripts received have been so complicated that it’s taken hours to reformat them. That has to change. So anything received without proper formatting will be returned to authors for reformatting.
That said, this edition contains some very very good works. I will discuss those contents below, but first, an important new announcement.
New PMWJ Sustainability and Regeneration Initiative
You may have noticed a new byline at the top of the September edition: “Supporting a Sustainable Future”. We are announcing a new Sustainability and Regeneration Initiative for the PMWJ and Library this month. The impact of climate change continues to increase, as demonstrated by the record heat and fires this summer in both Europe and North America (and other parts of the world), along with massive rain storms and flooding. I now think the collapse of the glacier and resulting disaster in Nepal last month was a sample of what may be coming. We are killing ourselves (and future generations) with the impact on the planet of unbridled energy consumption and industrial growth, compounded by continued population growth.
It has now occurred to me and many others that sustainability can no longer simply be considered a separate topic in the project management field, or an add-on for certain industries and types (or sizes) of projects. Sustainability needs to be considered during the planning and management of all projects, just like risk, not just construction or production but also technological, social, economic and political programs. The new initiative will include the following:
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- New Sustainability Policy Statements on both PMWJ and Library websites
- New Honorary Sustainability & Regeneration Advisory Panel
- Call for Papers related to Sustainability and Regeneration
- Sustainability and Regeneration Section of the Monthly PMWJ
- Increased visibility for Sustainability in the PM World Library (features and changes yet to be determined)
The policy statements will be added in coming days. The new Hon Sustainability and Regeneration Advisor Panel is in the process of being created, with Dr. Hugo Minney and Dr. Karen Thompson in the UK as first participants. The Call for Papers will be published in a few days; we have already created a Sustainability category for featured papers in the PMWJ. Enhancements to the PM World Library will follow soon. The new initiative will be officially announced in a news release later this week.
I recognize that others have long recognized the need for more focus on sustainability, including the APM, IPMA, PMI and other PM organizations. It was time for the PMWJ to take up the challenge as well. So, while all of this may change with new ownership of the PMWJ and Library, until then we are committed to pointing the PMWJ towards a cleaner and greener future.
This month in the Journal
This is a real blockbuster edition, with many articles and papers worth reading. We start with another short editorial note from Dr. Miles Shepherd in his 3rd From the Executive Editor’s Desk. In these short pieces, Miles offers some useful advice to authors, and especially to authors of papers seeking peer review. But all current and aspiring authors should read his short messages, now a feature of each edition.
Seven Letters to the Editor are included in this edition on new topics, feedback on recent PMWJ articles and papers, PMWJ’s new sustainability initiative and one announcement (in the form of a thank you.). Letters to the editor can often be some of the most interesting things we publish and few take long to read. So please do so.
More…
To read entire welcome article, click here
Visit the latest edition of the PMWJ at www.pmworldjournal.com
How to cite this work: Pells, D.L. (2026). Welcome to the September 2026 PMWJ; PM World Journal, Vol. XV, Issue VIX, September. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pmwj168-Sep2026-Pells-Welcome-to-the-September-2026-pmwj-3.pdf
About the Author
David L. Pells
Managing Editor, PMWJ
Managing Director, PMWL
David L. Pells, PMI Fellow, HonFAPM, ISIPM, PMA is Managing Editor and publisher of the PM World Journal (www.pmworldjournal.com) and Managing Director of the PM World Library (www.pmworldlibrary.net). David is an internationally recognized leader in the field of professional project management with nearly 50 years of experience on a variety of programs and projects, including engineering, construction, energy, defense, transit, technology and nuclear security, and project sizes ranging from thousands to billions of dollars. He recently acted as a program management advisor for two major U.S. national nuclear security programs.
David Pells has been an active professional leader in the United States since the 1980s, as founder and president of several PMI chapters, founder of PMI’s first SIG (Project Earth), and member of the PMI board of directors twice. He was founder and chair of the Global Project Management Forum (1995-2000), an annual meeting of leaders of PM associations from around the world. David was awarded PMI’s Person of the Year award in 1998 and Fellow Award, PMI’s highest honor, in 1999. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Association for Project Management (APM) in the UK; the Instituto Italiano di Project Management (ISIMP) in Italy; and Project Management Associates (PMA) in India.
Former managing editor of PM World Today, he is the creator, editor and publisher of the PM World Journal (ISSN: 2330-4880) and creator and curator of the PM World Library. David has a BA in Business Administration from the University of Washington and an MBA from Idaho State University in the USA. He has published widely and spoken at conferences and events worldwide. David lives near Dallas, Texas and can be contacted at editor@pmworldjournal.com.
To see other works by David Pells, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at http://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/david-l-pells/
