Journal of International Business Studies

Journal of International Business Studies
Title	Journal of International Business Studies
Discipline	International business
Abbreviation	JIBS
Publisher	Palgrave Macmillan/Springer Nature
Country	United Kingdom/United States
History	1970–present
Frequency	Bimonthly
Impact	12.5
Impact-year	2024

Journal of International Business Studies is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on multinational enterprises, cross-border trade, and global strategy. It publishes empirical and theoretical work that connects firm-level behavior to international institutions and markets, attracting submissions from scholars affiliated with Harvard Business School, Stanford University, London Business School, INSEAD, and University of Chicago. The journal is associated with professional organizations such as the Academy of International Business and is distributed by major academic publishers including Springer Nature and Palgrave Macmillan.

History

The journal was founded in 1970 amid debates about multinational corporations that involved scholars from Columbia Business School, Wharton School, Yale School of Management, and MIT Sloan School of Management. Early editorial leadership drew on networks linking United Nations Conference on Trade and Development discussions and policy work at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Through the 1980s and 1990s the journal expanded alongside scholarly interest generated by events such as the Plaza Accord, the European Union Single Market programme, and the rise of Toyota and General Electric as global firms. In the 21st century the journal evolved to reflect research influenced by the World Trade Organization, the Asian Financial Crisis, the Global Financial Crisis (2007–2008), and the integration of scholars from Tsinghua University and National University of Singapore.

Scope and focus

The journal emphasizes topics including multinational enterprise strategy as debated in works tied to Michael Porter-influenced frameworks, internationalization processes examined in studies involving Uppsala University affiliates, foreign direct investment analyses relevant to World Bank datasets, global value chain research associated with Dani Rodrik-inspired policy debates, and cross-border knowledge transfer issues linked to scholars at Imperial College London. It publishes studies using data from sources such as International Monetary Fund statistics, UN Comtrade records, and firm-level datasets from Compustat and Orbis. The scope covers empirical, theoretical, and methodological contributions connecting to institutions like European Commission, Federal Reserve System, Bank of England, and regulatory regimes shaped by cases like Microsoft antitrust case and Apple v. Samsung litigation.

Editorial policies and peer review

Editorial policies reflect standards promoted by organizations including the Committee on Publication Ethics, the Academy of Management, and professional norms practiced at American Economic Association journals. The peer review process is double-blind or single-blind depending on editorial cycle and follows practices similar to those at Journal of International Economics and Strategic Management Journal. The journal requires disclosure of conflicts of interest consistent with guidelines from International Committee of Medical Journal Editors-style statements adapted for business scholarship, and enforces data availability akin to policies at Nature and Science. Submission triage and editorial decisions involve editorial board members with affiliations at institutions such as Columbia University, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Oxford.

Abstracting and indexing

The journal is indexed in major databases including Web of Science, Scopus, and EBSCOhost, and appears in bibliographic services like ProQuest, JSTOR, and EconLit. It is listed in citation reports produced by Clarivate Analytics and included in rankings compiled by CNRS and the Financial Times for academic assessment. Library services at institutions such as the British Library, the Library of Congress, and university consortia like JSTOR provide archival access.

Impact and rankings

The journal has high citation metrics reflected in impact factors reported by Clarivate Analytics and h-index measures tracked by Google Scholar and Scopus. It routinely ranks among top outlets alongside Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, and Strategic Management Journal in lists used by Financial Times and national research assessments like the REF in the United Kingdom. Its articles influence policy debates at institutions including the World Bank, the International Labour Organization, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Notable articles and contributions

Published papers have shaped debates on internationalization theories linked to the work of scholars from Uppsala University and INSEAD, on ownership-location-internalization frameworks associated with John Dunning-inspired research, and on institutional theory drawing on insights from Douglass North. Seminal empirical contributions have used datasets from Compustat and Orbis to study multinational strategies of firms like Siemens, Samsung, and Siemens AG (case literature), and to analyze trade patterns relevant to NAFTA renegotiations and Trans-Pacific Partnership discussions. Methodological innovations include multi-level modeling and instrumental variable approaches also prominent in research at National Bureau of Economic Research and Centre for Economic Policy Research.

Editors-in-chief and editorial board

Editors-in-chief have been scholars affiliated with Columbia Business School, London Business School, INSEAD, Wharton School, and University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. The editorial board comprises members drawn from universities such as Harvard University, Stanford University, University of Oxford, Yale University, University of Toronto, HEC Paris, University of Melbourne, Seoul National University, and Peking University, and includes experts who have held leadership roles in organizations like the Academy of Management, the European International Business Academy, and the Academy of International Business.

Category:Business journals Category:Academic journals established in 1970