When authors submit a manuscript to the Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) using the Manuscript Central system the following choices available for submission:
Article
Commentary
Perspective
Review Article
Special Issue
All types of submissions undergo the regular review process; there is no guarantee of acceptance, including for occasionally invited articles.
Articles
Manuscripts that are submitted to the journal for consideration as an article must meet the highest standards of academic excellence and must develop a ‘value-added’ theoretical or empirical contribution to our knowledge about international business policy. Hence, the typical JIBP article is sufficiently grounded in extant theory and literature, original and innovative in its analysis, and strong on implications for public policy.
Original articles are typically about 10,000 words but we do occasionally publish articles of about 7,000 words that make narrower contributions. Word count includes everything: abstract, text, endnotes, references, tables, figures and appendices. Manuscripts considerably longer than these guidelines will be returned without review.
Commentaries
Commentaries are short (circa 4000 words) articles that focus on a contemporary issue or phenomenon that have novel implications for policy makers and academics. They aim to catalyze new thinking about a current policy debate, or indeed, a nascent policy challenge.
Commentaries should address issues that are expected to have lasting academic value and not just discuss spur of the moment events. The authors must argue why (if the manuscript is inspired by current events) the theme has broader implications to other economies, situations, or industries.
Prospective authors should submit a 500-word proposal via JIBP’s online submission system for review by the Perspectives Editor. If the initial decision is positive, the editorial team will work with the authors to curate the submission. The final decision to accept Commentaries remains with the Editor-in-Chief. Commentaries will have a quick turnaround, and will generally be single-blind reviewed, by a combination of area editors, consulting editors, and external experts. Single-blind review manuscripts are identified as such when published in the journal.
Authors are welcome to submit a proposal to write a counterpoint on a published commentary, which will go through the same review process as regular commentaries.
Perspectives
Perspectives are standard-length manuscripts (circa 10,000 words) specifically designed to provide different views - ones that are often deliberately controversial or challenging to mainstream views - on international business policy research. Perspectives should contribute to the advancement of international business policy research in one of the following ways: (1) commenting broadly and critically on the state of research in a particular area of international business policy, (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 policy. Perspectives, which will be handled by the Perspectives Editor, will undergo a 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 policy research; and provide compelling evidence for their arguments.
Review Articles
Review Articles are standard-length manuscripts (circa 10,000 words) that provide a compelling summary of the state-of-the-art in a well-researched subject related to international business policy. The development of a research agenda and/or a conceptual framework as a guide to future research is an essential part of such state-of-the-art reviews. In addition, the methodological approach for the review, and the theoretical implications for research should be clearly described.
Prospective authors should submit a 3-page proposal via JIBP’s online submission system, excluding cover letter, references and bios, which can be added in an appendix to the proposal; bios should be limited to 400 words per contributor. If the initial decision is positive, the authors will be invited to submit a full review paper. A JIBP Editor will be actively involved in providing feedback to the authors at an early stage, after proposal acceptance. First drafts of Review Articles will be subjected to a double-blind review process, but the reviewers will be informed that the submitted manuscript results from a Review Article proposal that has been accepted by the Editors.
Special issues
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.
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 JIBP must:
fit within the domain of international business policy research as defined by the JIBP Statement of Editorial Policy; abide by the various policy statements including submission instructions, formatting guidelines, and the Code of Ethics.
