LETTER TO THE EDITOR
By Yamanta Niroula
21 July 2026
Ref: Reflections on the July 2026 PM World Journal
Dear David,
After spending several evenings with the July 2026 edition of the PMWJ, I found myself thinking less about the individual papers than about the publication itself and the place it has gradually come to occupy within our profession.
Like many readers, I began with the subjects closest to my own interests. That was my intention, at least. Before long I had drifted into healthcare supply chains, post-war peacebuilding in Syria, educational reform, sustainability, governance, artificial intelligence, and several topics that, on the surface, seemed to have little connection with the projects I manage. Somewhere along that journey, the journal stopped feeling like a collection of independent articles and began to resemble an extended conversation. Authors writing from different countries, industries, and intellectual traditions appeared to be approaching the same underlying questions from different directions.
That realization encouraged me to write, not simply to congratulate you on another successful issue, but to thank you, the editorial team, reviewers, correspondents, and every contributor whose work collectively made that conversation possible.
As both a contributor and an International Correspondent for the PMWJ, I experience the publication from two very different perspectives. I know the discipline required to prepare a manuscript for publication, the revisions, the self-doubt, and the effort to make an argument clearer than it first appeared. Yet I also experience the journal as an ordinary reader who opens each monthly edition wondering what unfamiliar ideas, experiences, or perspectives colleagues around the world will bring into view.
Those two experiences reinforce one another. Writing encourages me to examine my own assumptions more carefully. Reading reminds me how incomplete my own understanding remains.
One aspect of the July edition that stayed with me was the way apparently unrelated papers gradually revealed common concerns. Governance appeared repeatedly, whether through discussions of gateway reviews, program stewardship, organizational maturity, or the institutional conditions that influence project success and failure. Artificial intelligence also surfaced throughout the issue, but what struck me was the restraint with which it was treated. Rather than presenting AI as a destination in itself, contributors explored its relationship with judgement, leadership, governance, standards, and professional responsibility.
More…
To read entire Letter to the Editor, click here
How to cite this work: Niroula, Y. R. (2026). When a Journal Becomes a Conversation, Letter to the Editor, PM World Journal, Vol. XV, Issue VIII, August. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/pmwj167-Aug2026-Niroula-When-a-Journal-Becomes-a-Conversation.pdf
