Journal of Business Research Submission Guide

Source: JBR on Elsevier, Clarivate JCR 2024, accessed April 2026.

This is the JBR-specific structural detail authors most often miss:

JBR operates a high-volume special-issue model: typically 50+ themed calls each year across the journal's broad business-research scope. The model includes:

• Standard submissions (general queue, year-round)

• Special-issue submissions (matched to a current call, streamlined timeline)

• Frequent calls across marketing, management, strategy, entrepreneurship, sustainability, technology

The strategic implication: authors should track special-issue calls; matched submissions can have streamlined review aligned with the issue timeline. Authors with manuscripts that fit a current call should consider that route.

Three operational signals govern editorial assessment:

1. Business-research substance. JBR requires substantive business contribution. Pure-economics or pure-CS work without business framing faces redirection.

2. Methodological rigor. Empirical, theoretical, or qualitative work must be top-tier.

3. Special-issue fit (if applicable). Submissions to special issues must align with the issue's call.

Recent JBR issues span:

• AI and business (across functions)

• Sustainability and ESG in business

• Customer experience and journey

• Family business and succession

• Entrepreneurship and new-venture finance

• B2B and industrial marketing

• Digital platforms and platform business models

• Crisis management and organizational resilience

For specific recent papers and DOIs, see JBR on Elsevier. Representative recent papers:

• 10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114567

• 10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.115234

• 10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.115489

• Initial decision: typically 4-8 weeks

• First decision after review: typically 8-14 weeks

• Special-issue timelines: aligned with issue publication schedule

• Time to publication after acceptance: weeks to a few months (online first available)

This page handles the public submission rules; the draft still needs a journal-specific fit check. The review tells you whether your paper clears the Journal of Business Research fit check before upload, especially around business framing thin, wrong special-issue routing, and wrong business venue chosen. Paid Manusights reviews include a 60-day money-back guarantee, and we do not train models on submitted manuscripts.

Three patterns generate the most consistent rejections.

Business framing thin

Pure-economics or pure-CS work without business framing faces redirection. The fix is to articulate the business contribution.

Check business framing thin before submitting to Journal of Business Research →

Wrong special-issue routing

Submissions to special issues must align with the issue's call. The fix is to read the call carefully before submitting.

Check wrong special issue routing before submitting to Journal of Business Research →

Wrong business venue chosen

JBR competes with IMM (B2B), IJRM (marketing), LRP (strategy), and broader top-management journals. The fix is informed routing. A JBR manuscript readiness check can identify whether business framing, special-issue alignment, and venue choice align before submission.

Check wrong business venue chosen before submitting to Journal of Business Research →

JBR requires these at first submission:

• main manuscript file fully anonymized for double-anonymized peer review (max 45 double-spaced pages with 1-inch margins and 12-pt font, not counting title and abstract pages; final accepted manuscripts target less than 8,000 words all-inclusive)

• title and abstract pages with author names; manuscript page 3 must repeat the title WITHOUT author names for anonymity

• abstract of 150 words or less

• 4-6 keywords following the title page

• separate title page with author names, affiliations, ORCID iDs, and contact information

• cover letter establishing the business-research contribution; if responding to a special-issue call, the call ID and special-issue-fit framing must be in the cover letter

• single Corresponding Author designation

• author CRediT contribution statement (uploaded with the title page, not the anonymized manuscript)

• definitive author list and order locked at submission (authorship changes after submission generally NOT considered)

• competing-interests declaration

• ethics statement for human-subjects research (experimental, qualitative, survey, archival-with-identifiers)

• tables and references on separate pages at the end of the manuscript

• data and code availability statements

• suggested reviewers with institutional affiliations

• $3,690 USD APC for the Elsevier gold open-access option (2026; subscription publication has no APC; many institutional Elsevier transformative agreements cover the fee)

• declaration of generative AI use in the writing process per Elsevier policy

• for revised submissions, point-by-point reviewer response and marked-up manuscript

For JBR submissions, the most common artifact-related issue is special-issue submissions that do not cite the specific call in the cover letter. JBR's 50+ active special issues route through dedicated guest-editor pipelines with streamlined review; submissions intended for a special issue but submitted to the general queue face routine routing delays of 2-4 weeks before reaching the correct guest editor. Authors should always confirm the special-issue ID in the cover letter and select the corresponding Editorial Manager article-type tag at submission.

Run a Journal of Business Research pre-submission readiness check before clicking submit to verify the package meets the journal's substantive-business-research bar and full anonymization standard.

JBR manuscripts move through a four-stage editorial timeline shaped by the high submission volume and active special-issue program. The editorial triage pattern at Elsevier broad-business journals favors submissions where the cover letter names a failure pattern in current business research or practice that the manuscript addresses. Editors routinely reject submissions that miss the special-issue routing where applicable and consistently screen for cover letters that demonstrate awareness of the journal's recent editorial culture around contribution clarity and special-issue fit.

Day 0 to 5: Editorial Manager intake and editorial-office technical check

The platform performs format and anonymization checks (45-page limit, double-spacing, separate title page, 150-word abstract, 4-6 keywords, definitive author list, declarations). Editorial staff verify the cover letter and the special-issue routing if applicable.

Day 5 to 28: Editor-in-Chief or Guest Editor desk-screen

For general queue submissions, an Associate Editor reviews scope fit and the substantive-contribution bar. For special-issue submissions, the Guest Editor of the specific call performs the desk-screen against the call's theme. Out-of-scope submissions are returned without peer review.

Week 4 to 12: External peer review (double-anonymized)

Manuscripts that pass desk-screen go to a minimum of 2 reviewers under double-anonymized peer review. Reviewers should adhere to a 25-day deadline for completing reviews.

Week 12 to 24: Decision and revision rounds

First decisions arrive at the 2-3 month median, typically as major or minor revision. Revision cycles add 4-12 weeks. JBR's high-volume editorial model means revision queues can extend longer than top-tier business journals.

• Is Journal of Business Research a good journal?

• International Journal of Research in Marketing Submission Guide

• Long Range Planning Submission Guide

Before the reviewer-invitation stage, read the Journal of Business Research package against the same risks this guide flags in the Manusights section. The practical question is whether the abstract, cover letter, figures or tables, methods, reporting statements, supplementary files, and references all make the journal choice obvious.

• If the abstract still points toward business framing thin, revise the central claim before upload.

• If the evidence package leaves wrong special-issue routing, strengthen the methods, controls, figures, or supplementary material rather than expecting reviewers to infer it.

• If the cover letter cannot resolve wrong business venue chosen, compare the target journal against the adjacent venues named above before submitting.

Last verified: April 2026 against JBR editorial pages.