Twelve-ish years ago, we formulated the idea to ourselves: to commemorate the very influential 1995 Special Issue on Temporary Organizations in the Scandinavian Journal of Management (SJM) with an anniversary Special Issue. While our initial proposal for the 20th anniversary wasn’t accepted, we didn’t give up. A decade later, with the support of then Editor-in-Chief John Parm Ulhøi, we (Joana Geraldi, Sofia Pemsel, and yours truly) got our chance. Thanks, John, for believing in us and giving us the chance!

Now, after a long and rewarding editorial journey, we are thrilled to announce that our Special Issue, consisting of nine very good papers, is finally published. This issue marks the 30th anniversary of the original SJM Special Issue, which redefined projects as time-bound, socially embedded organizations and sparked a wave of academic inquiry that gave rise to the field of temporary organization research.

In our new editorial, we “take stock to move on” by reflecting on this intellectual journey and asking: Do the foundational ideas from 1995 still resonate today? How should the field adapt to contemporary organizational challenges? What responsibilities do scholars have in shaping the future of this domain?

We also explore what it means to create and nurture “the soul” of an academic field, offering thoughts on pursuing soulful and responsible scholarship in studying temporary organizations. Read the full editorial here.