Journal of International Business Studies

Question:

What are the various types of submissions that can be made to JIBS?

Answer:

When an author submits a manuscript to the Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) using the Manuscript Central system the following choices available for submission:

Article
Research Note
Perspective Commentary
Review Article (invited only)
Special Issue

All types of submissions undergo the regular review process; there is no guarantee of acceptance, including for occasionally invited articles.

The first category - Article - is the preferred type of submission. JIBS seeks to publish original manuscripts based on cutting-edge research that breaks new ground, rather than merely making an incremental contribution to international business research. They should address real-world phenomena, problems or puzzles; build on relevant prior research to highlight what is interesting and different; and include a clear statement of their contribution to international business research. Manuscripts with no theoretical contribution to international business or no specific relevance to the domain of international business studies should not be sent to JIBS. Furthermore, manuscripts that pertain solely to international trade theory and arrangements with no implications for multinational firm operations and/or managerial decision making are not suitable. In other words, papers in which international business is in the background, or in which international business issues are secondary or peripheral to the main argument being developed, are not suitable for JIBS.

Manuscripts making strong contributions to the international business literature should be about 10,000 words; those making narrower contributions about 7,000 words. Word count includes everything: abstract, text, endnotes, references, tables, figures and appendices. If a manuscript makes a small contribution, either the contribution should be improved, the manuscript shortened to research note length, or the manuscript submitted to another journal. It is in the author's best interests to be very judicious about manuscript length. Manuscripts considerably longer than these guidelines will be returned immediately without review.

Manuscripts can also be submitted as a Research Note. Research notes should typically be under 4,000 words, including everything in the manuscript. Research notes should have the same rigor, style and tone as full-length articles. Notes should identify relevant prior research, clearly articulate their contribution to international business research, and provide compelling evidence for their arguments. Notes are different from articles in that the contribution either has a narrower audience, is more technical or more limited in its contributions, or comments on previous JIBS articles.

Manuscripts will also occasionally be submitted as a Perspective. These are manuscripts specifically designed to provide different perspectives - ones that are often deliberately controversial or challenging to mainstream views - on international business research. Perspectives should contribute to the advancement of international business research in one of the following ways: (1) commenting broadly and critically on the state of research in a particular area of international business studies, (2) identifying key research frontiers, (3) tracing the intellectual history of the paradigm-building and paradigm-challenging process on a core topic, (4) evaluating commonly used sources of data or research methods on a selected topic, or (5) presenting a debate on both sides of an important issue or topic in international business. Perspectives will undergo the double-blind review process and must have the same rigor, style and tone as articles; should identify relevant prior research; clearly articulate their contribution to international business research; and provide compelling evidence for their arguments.

Authors should select the Commentary submission type if they are submitting a Commentary on an existing article in JIBS. Authors must protect the double-blind review process by removing any self-identifying materials from their paper. Normally, Commentaries should be under 4,000 words, including everything in the manuscript. Full-length submissions (7,000-10,000 words) should be submitted as Articles. There is also the possibility of a Commentary reply. This type of paper should be under 2,000 words and will be single-blind reviewed since it is impossible to protect authors’ anonymity. A Commentary or reply should be clearly identified as such on the front page of the submission. There is no guarantee of publication of either Commentaries or replies.

For a Review Article submission, JIBS has an annual proposal selection process (see Call for Proposals); only authors of accepted proposals should submit through ScholarOne using this manuscript type.

A submission to a specific Special Issue should be indicated by selecting the article type in ScholarOne that indicates “Special Issue – [issue name]”. See the Calls for Papers page for active SI calls.

Occasionally, an article will be Invited for the Journal (for example, a Commentary on the JIBS Decade Award winning paper or the introductory essay by the Guest Editors of a Special Issue). These manuscripts are normally expected to be under 4,000 words. Invited manuscripts go through a single-blind review process rather than the regular double-blind review process. Single-blind review manuscripts are identified as such when published in the journal.

If you are not sure which category to select, please contact Anne Hoekman, Managing Editor, for more assistance.

Regardless of the category, all submissions to JIBS must:

fit within the domain of international business studies as defined by the JIBS Statement of Editorial Policy;
abide by the various JIBS policy statements including submission instructions, formatting guidelines, and the Code of Ethics;
and meet the test for publication in JIBS: JIBS is dedicated to publishing insightful and influential articles on international business that are widely read and cited by business and management scholars.

At JIBS, our goal is to disseminate the findings of our papers to researchers and decision makers who are interested in the latest theories/developments in international business. Improving the readability of our papers to a broader audience represents a step in that direction. In reading your paper for submission, we encourage you to keep this objective in mind.

Question:

My paper is longer than the suggested word limit. Can I still submit?

Answer:

JIBS does allow some flexibility in word limit when warranted, so you are welcome to submit if you feel the paper aligns with the JIBS Statement of Editorial Policy and that the length is in keeping with the paper’s contribution to the literature. The Reviewing Editor does have the right to desk reject if length is deemed excessive for the paper’s contribution.

Note that there is an option to publish online-only appendixes for papers that are eventually accepted; these appendixes would not be part of the word count. At the time of submission, you can include a section of supporting materials (tables, figures, expanded methods section, etc.) marked as “online appendixes” in order to reduce your paper’s overall wordcount.

Question:

I am interested in submitting a paper to JIBS. Can an Editor tell me whether my paper is appropriate for JIBS or suggest some possible revisions?

Answer:

Thank you for your interest in submitting to JIBS. Unfortunately, we cannot provide editorial comments on papers in the pre-submission stage. Upon submission, every article is evaluated by a Reviewing Editor based on quality and on fit with the journal; if they find the submission is not suitable for JIBS, they will notify the author within a week.

As general advice during the pre-submission stage, the JIBS Editors recommend that all authors read carefully the JIBS policy documents, including the Statement of Editorial Policy, Information for Contributors, Code of Ethics, etc., prior to finalizing and submitting your manuscript to JIBS. Author should especially make sure their submission fits into one of the 8 sub-domains of international business studies as described in the Statement of Editorial Policy.

It may also be useful, for comparison purposes, to read some papers posted on the Online First section of the JIBS website; these papers have all been recently accepted for publication in the journal.

At JIBS, our goal is to disseminate the findings of our papers to researchers and decision makers who are interested in the latest theories/developments in international business. Improving the readability of our papers to a broader audience represents a step in that direction. In reading your paper for submission, we encourage you to keep this objective in mind.

When your paper is ready for submission through the JIBS formal review process, please submit it online at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jibs.

Question:

Does JIBS have any submission or publication fees?

Answer:

We do not have any submission fees. For accepted articles, there is no publication fee unless authors choose to publish with Open Access. Please see the publisher’s Open Access page for further details.

Question:

What is JIBS’ policy on data access & research transparency?

Answer:

JIBS encourages authors to share the data supporting the results in their study by archiving them in a stable and public data repository. An overview of stable and permanent repositories can be found in the JIBS editorial on DART. For reasons explained in the editorial, personal websites and most departmental websites do not qualify as repositories.

Authors will be asked upon submission to fill out a data sharing “comply or explain” statement. Please see the DART page on the JIBS website for further details.

Question:

Can I submit a paper to JIBS that uses a dataset that has been used in previous publications, or in a concurrent submission to another journal?

Answer:

All submissions to JIBS are sent through the iThenticate plagiarism-checking software to monitor for direct textual overlap with previously published papers, but JIBS also expects “originality” of submissions, as outlined in our Code of Ethics, to include novelty of contribution vis-à-vis other publications.

If your submission re-uses a dataset, please fill out an originality matrix to explain the relationship between your current JIBS submission and your previously published/currently under review submissions that use the same. Please include this with your submission’s cover letter, to explain the use of the same dataset in other publications, and why and how your JIBS submission differs from what you have done in other closely related projects/publications.

Question:

What qualifies as “human subjects research”, and what are the JIBS policies for it?

Answer:

Human subjects research is empirical research – either qualitative or quantitative – that involves private, identifiable information about living individuals. Examples of human subject research would include personal information obtained through interviews or surveys, through observation, through the collection of private data obtained through archival records. The primary concern regarding such research is that participants may be exploited or harmed if they do not knowingly consent to participation or there is an expectation of confidentiality that is not appropriately safeguarded.

Many universities and research institutions have established protocols for protecting human subjects involved in research and require that research projects supported by the institution comply with such protocols. Typically, compliance is confirmed or maintained through a certification process completed prior to beginning the research, often by what is known as an “institutional review board.” In this process, a researcher demonstrates that human subjects participating in the research will do so knowingly, voluntarily and aware of the risks, if any, involved in the research. They further demonstrate that confidentiality will be maintained and the data will be secured in such a way that researchers cannot know the identities of the respondents.

Section 3.7 of AIB Journals Code of Ethics specifically addresses human subjects research.

JIBS policy requires that authors engaged in human subjects confirm that their research conforms with the submitting author’s institutional requirements for such research.

The following decision tree is provided to help authors identify whether or not their research involves human subjects: Decision Tree PDF

Question:

How can I nominate a particular Editor to handle the review process for my submission?

Answer:

The Editor-in-Chief assigns submissions to editors based on fit and workload, but you may nominate the individual you feel is best suited to handle your submission, provided this editor does not have any conflict of interest in relationship to any of the submission’s co-authors. Normally you should select from the list of Area Editors that is available in the drop-down menu in the editor selection step in Manuscript Central (note that this field is optional in the submission process); you can read more about each Area Editor’s area scope on the JIBS website.

If you have a conflict of interest with the best suited Area Editor, or there is not a good fit, you may nominate a Consulting Editor. In this case please leave the editor selection drop-down blank during the submission process and instead include the Consulting Editor name and reasons for your nomination in your cover letter.

Question:

I would like to nominate a reviewer who has the research background needed to evaluate my paper. Can I nominate someone who is not currently on a JIBS board to review my paper?

Answer:

Yes, if you feel it is necessary to nominate someone other than those currently listed on the JIBS board, you may do so. However, you must follow the JIBS Code of Ethics when making any reviewer recommendations: do not nominate reviewers who violate the conflict of interest guidelines (e.g., they have a close personal relationship with you, they have read your paper, are at your institution, are co-authors on another paper).

An additional possibility provided in the JIBS submission system is to nominate an advanced empirical methods reviewer, in case you use a methodology that is relatively unknown or little used in the international business field.

Question:

I would like to propose a special issue. How can I do this?

Answer:

JIBS normally publishes 1–2 special issues per year, based on proposals submitted to the editors of the journal. Proposals are normally evaluated by the JIBS editorial team once per year, with a deadline of June 1.

Any proposals for JIBS special issues should be submitted by email to JIBS Managing Editor Anne Hoekman; see the Call for Proposals section on the JIBS website for further details. Special issue proposals are normally discussed around the time of the yearly AIB Conference.

In the case of a successful proposal, these submissions are intended to be the first step along the way to arriving at a finalized special issue topic and guest editorial team through a further process of discussion with the JIBS editors.

The full process for submitting and approving a proposal is:

Guest Editor(s) submit a proposal to the JIBS Managing Editor, outlining their Guest Editor team and their credentials, the topic for the special issue, the importance of the topic and reasons for having a special issue in JIBS, a brief summary of the literature, and a list of previous special issues that closely relate to the topic (whether in JIBS or in another relevant journal), or any sequential series of articles on a connected theme that have appeared in recent years in these journals. The proposal should be no more than 3 pages long; the bibliography and maximum 250-word bios for each proposed editor can be appended separately. All proposals are to be submitted by June 1.

The Managing Editor will circulate proposals to the full editorial team for evaluation. Those that have submitted proposals will be notified of the outcome of the evaluation process after the AIB annual conference. The Editors will not provide comments on proposals that are not selected for further consideration in the current round, although potential Guest Editors are welcome to resubmit in a subsequent year revised versions of proposals that do not go forward. If the JIBS Editors are interested in proceeding with a special issue, then the Editors will work with the Guest Editors by providing comments upon, and helping to further develop the proposal and the Call for Papers, and to agree upon a consolidated editorial team for the special issue, which normally include at least one established Area Editor. The representation of the permanent editorial team in the eventual group of Guest Editors is determined at the time of approving the proposal.

Every special issue that has been approved will have a deadline for submission of papers and a tentative publication date, to be determined through consultation among the special issue editors, the EIC, and the Managing Editor.

Guest Editors make revisions to the call for papers as needed before a final version is posted to various listservs and websites by the Managing Editor.

Question:

An earlier version of my manuscript is (or will be) published in a conference proceedings (or conference best paper proceedings). Can I still submit the paper to JIBS for publication consideration?

Answer:

Yes, you may still submit your paper to JIBS. As outlined in the JIBS Code of Ethics, submissions to JIBS cannot be submitted or published elsewhere, with the exception of conference proceedings where the paper represents work in progress toward the manuscript submitted to JIBS. Note that the author must inform the JIBS Office of the conference proceedings paper at the time of submission (there is space for this in screen 5 of the JIBS ScholarOne submission process).

The JIBS Code of Ethics also states that authors should not post their submitted manuscripts (including working papers and prior drafts) on publically searchable websites where they could be easily discovered by potential reviewers. If the conference proceedings paper is posted online, the author should request that it be taken down for the duration of the JIBS review process. If the paper cannot be removed, the author should also inform the JIBS Office, when asked during the online submission process.

For additional clarification please contact the JIBS Managing Editor or view the JIBS submission instructions or Code of Ethics.

Question:

How do I write a good abstract for my JIBS submission?

Answer:

The key objective of writing a good abstract is to summarize the entire article - not just the conclusions - so that the abstract could stand alone and still be understood. JIBS allows authors up to 200 words for the abstract.

As outlined in our Statement of Editorial Policy, JIBS publishes manuscripts that offer “insightful and innovative research on international business”. We would like you to convey the insightfulness and innovativeness of your article in a clear statement so that the reader understands the key points of your article and is motivated to read further.

As you write your abstract, please keep in mind the following questions:

(1) What “insightful and innovative research on international business” does your manuscript contain? What is the central takeaway of your article? What important, useful, new or counterintuitive idea does it communicate?

(2) Why should a reader spend time to read your article, especially one with a different background and/or one who will have to invest time in understanding a methodology with which they may not be familiar? Remember that JIBS readers come from a wide variety of intellectual disciplines, countries and cultures, brought together by a common interest in international business.

(3) Can your insights be applied in business today, and what value added will they provide? Is there a “real world” takeaway from your article?

The abstract should then concisely - but clearly - outline the paper’s:

(1) Purpose or primary objectives

(2) Theory and key hypotheses

(3) Research design/methodology/dataset/time period

(4) Key findings

(5) Implications for theory and practice

The following are examples of good abstracts:

The growing internationalization of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) raises issues for traditional theories of why firms go abroad. In these explanations (e.g., the OLI paradigm, the resource-based view) strong firm specific advantages are needed to overcome the costs of doing business abroad, including the liability of foreignness. SMEs, however, suffer from liabilities of newness and smallness, lacking the firm specific resources (financial, tangible and intangible) needed to compete in foreign markets. In our paper, we provide an alternative explanation for this conundrum. We argue that successful internationalizing SMEs have developed a different kind of resource - an international business competence (IBC) - that explains their success at internationalization. This IBC is based on intangible capabilities in four areas: international orientation, international marketing skills, international innovativeness and international market orientation. These four skills emerged from exploratory case studies with interviews of senior managers at 16 internationalized SMEs, and a follow-up survey of 354 managers and CEOs of successful SMEs. (157 words)

Little has been written about consumer perceptions of foreign products during an international crisis. Our paper investigates the concept of consumer animosity as applied to brands from a particular country; that is, products that suffer from a negative country-of-origin effect. We argue that consumer animosity has two characteristics: situational (episodic) and enduring (stable) animosity. External control and external attribution are psychological antecedents that strengthen situational animosity. To test these arguments, adult consumers from five Asian countries were surveyed during the Asian currency crisis about their animosity to Japanese and US products. The survey results provide evidence that both situational and enduring animosity can significantly and negatively affect brands from particular countries, making it difficult to sell these products in local markets. We conclude that firms may need to lessen country of origin impacts by localizing their brands (moving production onshore) or disassociating themselves from home country policies. (147 words)

Question:

Does JIBS accept submission of commentaries on or responses to recently published articles?

Answer:

Yes, we allow submissions of commentary/response papers on articles recently published in JIBS. However, when preparing this type of submission, authors should note that there is no promise of publication, and the commentaries should be kept short in order to be considered (Research Note length or shorter, i.e., 4,000 words or less). Upon submission, the commentary will be double-blind reviewed, where possible.

Question:

Does JIBS accept submission of Review Articles?

Answer:

JIBS does not allow submission of unsolicited Review Articles. Instead, we have a proposal submission process for Review Articles, with an annual deadline of July 1. Proposals that are accepted are then developed for full paper submission/review. You can see more details, including an FAQ sheet on our Call for Papers and Proposals page.

Question:

As an author, may I post my JIBS submission to my personal website or a repository like SSRN?

Answer:

During the review process, authors must not post articles in publicly accessible/searchable places as this could compromise the double-blind review process.

Once a manuscript has been accepted, there are several conditions for permission to post the article or abstract online. Please see the below FAQ on “Can I post my published JIBS article to my website or a repository?” for details about posting accepted/published articles.

Question:

How does the review process work once I have submitted my paper to JIBS?

Answer:

After submissions are submitted for a plagiarism check using iThenticate, they are processed by the Managing Editor and then are reviewed by three different "sets of eyes": (1) the Reviewing Editor, (2) the Editor-in-Chief, and (3) the assigned Area or Consulting Editor.

Each of these three editors is tasked with ensuring that the submission meets minimum JIBS norms for fit, quality and contribution to IB (as outlined in the Statement of Editorial Policy). If any of these editors finds the paper is not appropriate for JIBS in terms of basic fit and/or quality issues, he or she may desk reject the paper. Thus, papers that are sent out for review are already assumed to meet these minimal criteria for publication in JIBS.

Appropriate papers are then sent out for double-blind review to a set of 2-3 reviewers selected by the Area Editor. After receiving the reviews, the Area Editor makes a decision either to reject the paper or to invite a revision, based on reviewer evaluations and his/her own reading of the paper.

All types of submissions undergo the regular review process; there is no guarantee of acceptance, including for occasionally invited articles.

Question:

How do I join the JIBS Editorial Review Board or Consulting Editors Board?

Answer:

The EIC and Area Editors elect two boards - a Consulting Editors Board and an Editorial Review Board - for their term in editorial office.

The best way to qualify for one of these boards is to (1) publish in JIBS and in other top-tier journals and (2) actively review for JIBS. (3) Another useful step is to email the Area Editor or Editors who are closest to your own research interests, attach your curriculum vitae, and tell them you would like to review for JIBS and are interested in joining a future board.

JIBS welcomes ad hoc reviewers. Please see the question on ad hoc reviewing to learn how to sign up.

Question:

What is the difference between the JIBS Editorial Review Board and the JIBS Consulting Editors Board?

Answer:

The Editorial Review Board (ERB) consists of approximately 250 active authors and reviewers for JIBS. Individuals are nominated by both the outgoing and incoming JIBS Editors, based on their scholarly publications and the number and quality of their previous reviews for JIBS.

Decisions are made by the incoming Editors based primarily on scholarly productivity and research interests, but geographic location, nationality and gender are also considered. ERB members are expected to: (1) Complete up to 10 reviews annually for the Journal. This includes both first-round and subsequent rounds of reviews. (2) Follow the JIBS Guidelines for Reviewers. (3) Complete these reviews in a timely fashion (within 30 days of receipt of the manuscript). (4) Attend a JIBS Board meeting at the annual meetings of the Academy of International Business (AIB), where possible.

The Consulting Editors Board (CEB) consists of approximately 30-50 senior scholars in the field of international business studies. These individuals have agreed to provide a variety of supportive editorial roles for the Editor-in-Chief and the Editors. The roles will vary across the Consulting Editors, but can include, for example: being a Guest Editor for an individual manuscript that cannot be handled by one of the Editors; participating in the JIBS Paper Development Workshop; acting as a "tie-breaker" reviewer in a case where the decision is not clear cut; and providing a second opinion in cases where an author complains about an Editor's decision. The responsibilities of CEB members fall into three categories:

General Responsibilities: (1) Provide advice to the Editor-in-Chief and act as a general ambassador for the Journal. (2) Assist the Editor-in-Chief with ad hoc tasks associated with editing the Journal. (3) Where possible, attend and participate in a JIBS Editors meeting at the annual meetings of the AIB. (4) Be a member in good standing of the AIB.

Guest Editor Responsibilities: Act as a Guest Editor for up to three new manuscripts annually for the Journal (approximately one every four months). As a Guest Editor, the CEB member handles all stages of the manuscript process, from selection of reviewers to writing editorial decision letters, through the JIBS Manuscript Central system. Guest Editors also comply with the normal responsibilities of being a guest editor of a major academic journal (e.g., completing editorial responsibilities in a timely fashion, respecting the double blind review process, complying with ethical guidelines).

Reviewer Responsibilities: (1) Complete up to three reviews of new manuscripts annually for the Journal (approximately one every four months). (2) Handle all subsequent reviews associated with the revise-and-resubmit process on these manuscripts through the new JIBS Manuscript Central system. (3) Complete your reviews in a timely fashion (normally within 30 days of receipt of the manuscript). (4) Comply with the JIBS Guidelines for Reviewers.

Question:

How do I become an ad hoc reviewer for JIBS?

Answer:

Thank you for your willingness to review for JIBS. If you already have an author account in the JIBS Manuscript Central system, you are already set up with a Reviewer Center; if you do not yet have an account, you can create it at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jibs.

To express interest in reviewing, please (1) make sure your JIBS account accurately reflects your keywords with areas of expertise and (2) send your CV and the name(s) of Area Editor(s) most relevant to your areas of expertise to the JIBS Managing Editor, who will then pass along your information.

Question:

I am a JIBS reviewer and am going to be unavailable to review for a period of time. Is there a way I can tell the JIBS Office not to send me new manuscripts during that time frame?

Answer:

Log into your account at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jibs. Click on your name in the upper right hand corner of your screen and select “User ID and Password” from the drop-down. On this page, scroll to the “Unavailable Dates” section, select your dates and input your reason for unavailability, and click "Finish" at the bottom of the page.

Alternatively, you can email the start and end dates of your unavailability to the Managing Editor.

Question:

What are the expectations of JIBS reviewers? What should I include in my review?

Answer:

Please see the Review Process page of our website for more information on this, including a copy of the scalar evaluation criteria on the JIBS Reviewer Form.

Question:

My paper was rejected, but I feel that some important aspects were missed and that it does make a strong contribution to IB research and fits within the JIBS Statement of Editorial Policy. How can I appeal this decision?

Answer:

To appeal a decision, please send a detailed letter to the editor on the file, with a copy to the Managing Editor, explaining why you think the editor's decision should be reversed. The editor will review the appeal and respond with a decision letter. If the editor decides to reverse his or her original decision, the Managing Editor will contact you with further instructions, and you will have four months to resubmit, as with any other revisions. If the editor rejects the appeal, you may choose to appeal this decision to the JIBS Editor-in-Chief. Note that the Editor-in-Chief will only overturn editors' decisions in exceptional cases.

Question:

My paper was rejected after review by JIBS, but I have substantially revised it. Can I resubmit?

Answer:

When an author receives a rejection letter from a JIBS Area Editor, the reviewers' comments and editor's letter normally contain many suggestions for revision of the manuscript. There are cases when the author agrees with and makes these revisions, and then wants to resubmit the revised manuscript to JIBS. However, JIBS does not allow manuscripts that have been previously rejected after review to be resubmitted for second consideration. This is the practice at most scholarly business journals, and JIBS is no exception.

Even if the paper has been substantially revised (e.g., the authors reframe the paper, reanalyze the data and increase the paper's theoretical contribution), if the empirical work is still based on the same or substantially the same dataset, it is still effectively the same paper and cannot come back in for a second round of reviews and should be submitted elsewhere. The purpose of this rule is to protect the scarce time of reviewers.

While the rule is "if rejected after review, then no resubmission", in practice, resubmission is possible, but only in four specific situations:

(1) If the revised manuscript becomes a new manuscript through significant revision in terms of theory development, empirical work and discussion, and also uses a substantially different dataset. (Note that addition of one or two new variables to an old dataset does not make a new dataset.)

(2) After a desk reject where the first submission did not go out for review and the Reviewing

Editor or Editor-in-Chief advised the author that they can revise and resubmit. (JIBS does this quite regularly, particularly where we feel the paper has merit but is poorly written or its theoretical contribution is unclear or the paper is not well linked to international business studies).

(3) After a successful appeal by the author(s) to the Editor-in-Chief on procedural or substantive grounds of the original rejection decision (this is very rare).

(4) If the Editor-in-Chief recommends a resubmission on some exceptional grounds (this, too, is very rare).

Question:

My submission to a Special Issue was rejected after review. Can I resubmit to the regular review process?

Answer:

No, we do not allow resubmission of reviewed Special Issue papers to the regular review process; a rejection from a SI is a rejection from the JIBS process. Please see the above FAQ regarding submission after rejection for the limited exceptions to this rule.

Question:

My paper was rejected because it did not fit within the JIBS Statement of Editorial Policy. I submitted it to JIBS because I felt like it was a perfect match. Can you provide me with more details?

Answer:

Unfortunately, because of the number of manuscripts we receive, it is difficult to answer each enquiry about which part of the editorial policy was not met. However, there are many details to consider, such as if your paper is more for practitioners, not academics. The more general question is whether your paper will be of interest to JIBS readers. For example, do you cite JIBS articles in your manuscript? Is your issue one that has been discussed in JIBS over the past few years? Is your topic of interest to a broader audience of international business professors?

It may be helpful to keep in mind the following "fit" and "quality" criteria, which the Reviewing Editor and Editor-in-Chief use to evaluate a paper's suitability for JIBS.

Fit:

Does the paper address an international business problem?
Is the research likely to be interesting to international business scholars?
Does the manuscript have the potential to advance our knowledge of international business theory, research or practice?
Is JIBS the most appropriate journal for publication of this manuscript?

Quality:

Does the manuscript conform to generally accepted standards of scholarship in style and content?
Does the manuscript have intellectual depth?
Does the manuscript address a novel topic, namely one that has not received sufficient research attention in the recent past?
Are the methods/analysis in the manuscript appropriate to the research question being asked? Do they appear to be reasonably rigorous?
Is the manuscript reasonably clearly written?

Question:

How long does it usually take for authors to receive an editorial decision after submitting a manuscript to JIBS?

Answer:

We try to complete all editorial decisions within three months of receiving a manuscript for review. Our average turnaround time is currently about 70 days.

Question:

I noticed an error in my published article. Can it be fixed?

Answer:

Unfortunately we are not able to make changes to articles once they have been published online; all corrections must be requested by authors at the time they receive the proofs for review from the publisher. Once authors have returned their corrections, no further changes can be made. This pertains to any changes with author affiliations, typos, formatting, etc. In the case of a publisher error that was not present in the proofs, please contact the Managing Editor, who will initiate the process with the publisher’s production department to issue a correction page.

Question:

What is the fee for publishing my article with Open Access?

Answer:

The publisher handles Open Access fees and billing for JIBS. Please see the Article Processing Charges section of this page to see the current fee for JIBS.

Question:

Can I post my published JIBS article to my website or a repository?

Answer:

Once a manuscript has been accepted, there are several conditions for permission to post the article or abstract online. For papers that are under regular copyright (not Open Access), the publisher policy is that authors may post the pre-review version (author’s version from before peer-review) with an acknowledgment of where it is forthcoming, at any time. One year after online publication, the author may post the accepted version (author’s own version of the accepted paper, not the typeset version).

Please see Palgrave’s policy on author self-archiving for more information.

JIBS’ publisher also provides the SharedIt service, which is a link that allows users to open a view-only PDF version of the published paper. Authors are allowed to post the SharedIt link wherever they like. This is an excellent option for sharing with colleagues, including on an author’s personal or university web page, sharing on social media, and placing in institutional repositories.

Question:

Can I get permission to reuse part of a JIBS article (table, figure, etc.) in another publication?

Answer:

Unless the paper has been published Open Access, you will indeed need permission from our publisher. At the bottom of the individual article’s page on SpringerLink, you will find a link for “reprints and permissions”; please follow this link to request the permission via the publisher’s system.