JIBS welcomes submissions from across all business disciplines

The Journal of International Business Studies is the top-ranked journal in the field of international business, publishing insightful, innovative and impactful research.
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Thank you for considering JIBS as a scholarly outlet for your best work in international business.

When received, manuscripts are first evaluated in terms of quality and fit with the JIBS Statement of Editorial Policy. Manuscripts are also evaluated in terms of contribution-to-length ratio. Articles 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.

Research notes should in principle 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.

While contributions must be in English, we welcome manuscripts from authors whose first language is not English. Manuscripts must be formatted according to the JIBS Style Guide. Authors of poorly worded manuscripts are encouraged to seek professional editing assistance prior to submission, the absence of which may lead to the paper being desk rejected.

Please read the JIBS Code of Ethics, prior to submitting your manuscript.

When authors submit their manuscripts to JIBS for publication consideration, the authors agree to abide by the Journal's publication requirements.

The manuscript:

  • must not have been previously published in whole (including book chapters) or in part (this includes paragraphs of text and exhibits).
  • must not be accepted for publication elsewhere.
  • must not be under review for publication elsewhere and will not be submitted to another publication entity during the JIBS review process.
  • must report new theoretical and/or empirical results that have not been published previously. Authors whose manuscripts utilize data that are reported in another manuscript must inform the Editor of these reports at the time of submission.
  • must not have been previously submitted to JIBS for review. If the manuscript, or an earlier version of it, was previously rejected by JIBS, and the author wishes to submit it for review, this fact and the justification for resubmission must be clearly communicated by the corresponding author to the JIBS Managing Editor at the time of submission.

The only exception to the "previous publication" rule is a paper included in a conference proceedings, where the paper is work in progress toward the manuscript submitted to JIBS. In this case, the Editor-in-Chief will need to know where the paper was presented and the title of the conference proceedings publication. JIBS will have the copyright to all published articles.

JIBS follows a double-blind review process, whereby authors do not know reviewers and vice versa. Authors should respect the confidentiality of the review process and should not reveal themselves to reviewers. For example, the manuscript should not include any self-revealing information. Authors should also not post their submitted manuscript (including working papers and prior drafts) on websites where it could be easily discovered by potential reviewers. Authors should also be aware that artificially inflating the number of citations to JIBS in the reference section will typically create a negative perception by reviewers. Cumulative knowledge development through the journal is welcomed, but every reference to an earlier article published in JIBS must have a substantive basis.

Manuscripts involving human subjects (surveys, simulations, interviews) should comply with the relevant Human Subject Protocol requirements at the corresponding author's university.

Check your manuscript for possible breaches of copyright law (e.g., where permissions are needed for quotations, artwork or tables taken from other publications) and secure the necessary permissions before submission. Avoid anything in the text that might be actionable, such as defamation. Avoid using sexist and biased language that could be interpreted as denigrating to ethnic or other groups; for example, use plural rather than single pronouns ("they" rather than "he").

Submissions must be submitted online at the link below. If you have any questions, please contact the Managing Editor, Anne Hoekman, at managing-editor@jibs.net.


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If you have any questions, please contact the Managing Editor:
Anne Hoekman


If you want to submit your manuscript online please use our submission tool:
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