Call For Papers >> International Business Review Special Issue Proposal
Publication
International Business ReviewTitle
International Business Review Special Issue ProposalType
Journal Special IssueDeadline
February 6, 2026Description
Application Process
The process for the selection of successful proposals for Special Issues involves two stages as follows:
Stage 1: The Guest Editors should prepare a concise (4-6 pages) proposal, which should include the following elements
1. The proposed title of the Special Issue (SI).
2. Information about each of the Guest Editors (names, titles, affiliations and email addresses) and their current involvement in Special Issues at other journals. The proposal should provide the definitive list of Guest Editors, and additions or deletions from the list will only be permitted in exceptional circumstances once the proposal has been accepted.
3. Short biographical notes (approx. 150 words) about each of the Guest Editors.
4. The aims, and academic and policy significance, of the Special Issue.
5. Key themes and research questions for the Special Issue. This should include a short summary of the relevant literature in IBR and other international business journals.
6. List of key references.
Stage 2: The Guest Editors of the successful SI proposals are required to submit a full Perspective paper(approx. 12000 words) including references and any supplementary material) by the end of mid-July 2026. This Perspective paper will be reviewed, revised, and published. The paper should provide thought leadership to advance the research field, summarise and critique the extant literature on the SI topic, highlight current debates and limitations, and suggest an agenda for future research. The Perspective should not be simply a review of the extant literature, but should provide a significant contribution to the topic and offer a framework to which submissions to the SI can refer. The Perspective paper should thus include the following elements:
1. A review and critical assessment of the relevant literature in international business journals and cognate disciplines.
2. Identification of current debates on the topic, limitations, and a future research agenda.
3. Full list of references.
In addition, the Guest Editors should submit a draft Call for Papers for the Special Issue to be published at the same time as the Perspective paper. The Call for Papers should suggest a deadline for the submission of papers for the Special Issue.\
Important Information
- International Business Review publishes papers on “international business”. All proposals must be positioned in the relevant literature in IBR and other international business journals.
- In preparing your proposal, please take note of any Special Issues in progress and/or recently published in International Business Review: see the IBR website for details: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/international-business-review. Proposals should not replicate and/or overlap any recent/ongoing Special Issues published in IBR or other journals.
- There should be no more than FOUR Guest Editors for each Special Issue. We encourage guest teams to embrace diversity, equality and inclusion when forming the team. In the interests of promoting diverse voices and creating opportunities in an equitable manner, we will not approve proposals where any of the editors have guest-edited Special Issues that have appeared in International Business Review since 2022 (volume 31).
- Elsevier check to see whether the Guest Editors are currently involved in Special Issues at other journals, and approval will not be granted if any of the Guest Editors is involved in three (or more) other Special Issues. Please indicate any such current involvement in the proposal.
- All proposals submitted in Stage 1 will be reviewed by the IBR Senior Editorial Team in terms of their quality and alignment with IBR’s vision and scope. Two or three proposals will normally be selected to go forward to the next stage. The proposers will be informed of the Editorial Team’s decision approximately 3 weeks after the submission deadline.
- The Perspective papers submitted in Stage 2 will be reviewed by the IBR Senior Editorial Team. Accepted papers will be published on-line at the earliest opportunity.
Timetable
- Friday 6 February 2026: Deadline for submission of SI proposals.
- Friday 27 February 2026: Notification of decisions on SI proposals.
- Friday 17 July 2026: Deadline for submission of draft Perspective papers.
- September/October 2026: Publication on-line of final Perspective papers.
- Mid-2027: Deadlines for submission of papers to the Special Issues.
All documentation should be submitted to the Editors-in-Chief of IBR, Professor Roger Strange [R.N.Strange@sussex.ac.uk] and Professor Fang Lee Cooke [fang.cooke@monash.edu]. When submitting documentation, please include in the email submission line: ‘IBR Special Issue’.