NOFOMA 2026
The supply must go on: Finding new opportunities in logistics and supply chain management.
Calendar
A particular theme of the 38th NOFOMA conference is: “The Supply Must Go On: Finding new Opportunities in Logistics and Supply Chain Management”.
We have been through years of challenges with the Covid-19 pandemic, wars, and various global and local disruptions with great impact on logistics and supply chain management. Through these challenges we have been witness to and reminded that logistics and supply chains are backbones in our societies. “No matter what, the supply must go on.” The preceding NOFOMA conferences have addressed the present times by focusing on global crises, uncertainties, risk and transformations to understand how logistics and supply chains cope when exposed to sudden and radical change. Some supply chains have not survived, others have thrived, and most have had to adapt in some way or another, forcing new ideas and solutions onto the surface.
In many cases the solutions were latent, and the force of change was able to boost innovation that would otherwise have taken years. Digitalization was merely one such opportunity. In this new context of increasingly limited access to resources, the circular economy comes with sourcing opportunities. Sustainability gives the possibility for efficiency, rather than just being an area for compliance and costly adaptations. Aligning technology with humans rather than replacing them as we already see examples of in AI, takes value creation to unseen levels. The list is no doubt longer. For the NOFOMA 2026 conference we propose to explore how the pace of innovation can be maintained in a post disruptive age, and how the force of change is utilized in finding new opportunities in logistics and supply chain management.
Below you will find information on how to submit an abstract and paper.
Important dates
| Submission of abstracts | 22 January 2026 | Submit abstract |
| Acceptance of abstracts | 29 January 2026 | |
| Submission of full papers | 23 March 2026 | |
| Reviewers’ comments out | 27 April 2026 | |
| Submission of revised full & WIP papers | 19 May 2026 |
Paper topics
Papers are invited dealing with, but not limited to, the following topics:
- Methods in logistics and SCM research
- Supply chain analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning
- Pedagogy in supply chain management
- Sustainability in supply chains
- Climate neutral logistics, Scope 3 emissions
- Emission reduction strategies
- Circular economy, reverse/closed-loop logistics
- Sourcing, Procurement and Supply management
- Distribution, Transportation and Packaging
- Logistics services, 3PL/4PL
- City logistics
- Retail Logistics and E-commerce
- Supply Chain Resilience
- Reshoring and localization
- Geopolitical challenges for Supply Chains
- Behavior and humans in supply chains
- Humanitarian logistics
- Healthcare logistics
- Public policy implications
- Defense logistics
Awards
The conference offers three awards:
- The best conference paper involving a senior researcher. The award is given to a paper with excellent academic standards, and a theoretical contribution is necessary.
- The best PhD conference paper where the PhD candidate is the main author and contributor. The award is given to a paper with excellent academic standards.
- The Gøran Persson Award is given to the paper evaluated most relevant for practice. The paper needs to present excellent empirical data and have intriguing managerial implications.
The papers selected for the awards are based on reviewer feedback and scores and a final jury decision involving the scientific committee. Work-in-progress papers are not part of the selection, and awards may be withheld if standards are not met.
Special issue
Selected papers from the NOFOMA 2026 conference will be invited to submit to a special issue of the International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management (IJPDLM), according to their review rankings. To improve the likelihood of receiving an invitation, authors should ensure their papers adhere to IJPDLM's standards.
Submit abstracts for full & work-in-progress papers
- Abstracts can have maximum 250 words, and should cover the purpose, theoretical puzzle, methods to solve this puzzle (e.g., data collection and data analysis), theoretical contributions, managerial and societal implications, and include 3-5 keywords.
- Indicate whether it is a full paper or work-in-progress paper.
Both full papers and work-in-progress papers can be up to 10,000 words (see the template for more details). - Work-in-progress shall have a minimum of 5,000 words (including abstract and references) and present: Introduction/background, purpose, theory, methods (applied or planned), and planned contribution
- Download the NOFOMA template for full & work-in-progress papers (docx)