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114 April 2009 Volume 46 Number 4

Work Psychology White Papers Series: A New

International Collaboration to Produce Evidence-Based

Papers on Current Policy Topics

Virginia E. Schein

I want to introduce SIOP members to the Work Psychology White Papers

Series (WPWP), a new and exciting international collaboration designed to

produce evidence-based papers on current policy topics. The two primary

goals of the papers are (a) to influence policy-making bodies on topics of

broad societal importance by promoting the I-O and work psychology field

as one that has relevant inputs to public and private organizations; and (b) to

translate our research findings from academic and applied settings into a form

decision makers can use thereby rendering a service to society. In his letter tothen President-Elect Obama, Gary Latham stated, Our members are com-

mitted to finding ways to use their research to benefit society. The Work

Psychology White Papers support this commitment.

The WPWP Series is a collaboration of three psychology associations:

SIOP, the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology

(EAWOP), and the Work and Organizational Psychology Division of the

International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP). The effort seeks to

foster interaction between several different I-O and work psychology associ-

ations, as well as promote the use of scientific evidence in management and

policy making.

The topics for the papers will be of broad interest internationally and have

the potential for sufficient evidence-based contributions. They also will be

high on the political agenda so that we can influence policy decisions in a vis-

ible way, as well as have influence on specific organizational concerns.

The papers will be short, about 520 pages is the current estimate, and

written for policy makers and managers. The titles will be couched in ques-

tions relevant to policy makers (e.g., rather than The Aging Workforce, wethink of titles like Employing the Workers As They Age, Working Past

Retirement, or What Should the Retirement Age Be for Air Traffic Con-

trollers?). Inputs from policy makers will be obtained early in the process.

There may be several different short papers on different aspects of the issue

or one longer paper with separate chapters. If so, the chapters will be on a

common theme and integrated together. The papers will be written by both

academics and practitioners.

The white papers will be endorsed by and published as a joint effort of thethree organizations. The members of a newly formed steering committee will

serve as action editors, one from each of the three organizations. The current

members of the Steering Committee/action editors are Nik Chmiel

(EAWOP), Robert Roe (IAAP Division 1), and myself as interim chair, rep-

resenting SIOP. Robert Pritchard served as the initiating chair of the

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The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 115

WPWP Series. The action editors will select a writing team for each topic and

serve as reviewers of their efforts. The writing team will do the actual writ-

ing, and there will be members from each of the three organizations repre-

sented. The writing team members will be knowledgeable about the area,

willing to translate research to practice, willing to be inclusive of many points

of view, and committed to the evidence-based approach. The writing teamwill be listed as authors, the order determined by the team members, and

these names used when the article is referenced.

The topic selected for the first Work Psychology White Paper is Employ-

ing Workers as They Age. Nik Chmiel will serve as the action editor for that

topic. The committees goal is to have a draft of the first paper and approval

by the three organizations by the end of 2009. The paper will be published

and distributed in 2010 and plans for one or two more white paper topics put

in place, with publications in 2011. Some suggested future topics include cre-ating inclusive organizations, health and stress, safety, and decent work.

SIOP will host a WPWP Series panel discussionEvidence-Based

White Papers: The Aging Workforce: An International Collaboration

Between EAWOP, IAAP, and SIOPat its annual conference in New

Orleans in April. EAWOP will also sponsor a roundtable on the WPWP

Series at its annual meeting in Santiago de Compostela, Spain in May. Anoth-

er roundtable will be held at the International Congress of Applied Psychol-

ogy in Melbourne in 2010. We welcome your comments and input on theWork Psychology White Papers Series mission and process, as well as on

future topics.

Prepare and print a schedule with

the SIOP Conference Planner

www.siop.org/conferenceplanner/login.aspx