About the Journal

The Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods is an open access online journal that publishes articles and papers that contribute to the development of both the theory and practice of research methods employed across the whole field of Business and Management studies. 

All papers submitted to the journal are initially reviewed by the Editors and those selected for consideration are submitted to a double-blind peer review by at least two members of the Review Board. On the basis of these reviews, the Editors will then either:

  1. Accept the paper for publication with no changes
  2. Accept the paper for publication with only minor, editorial changes
  3. Accept the paper for publication provided it is amended in line with the reviewers comments
  4. Recommend a more major re-write and offer the chance to resubmit 
  5. Reject the paper as unsuitable for publication
  6. In all instances, reviewers' comments are passed to the authors.
The journal also periodically publishes book and conference reviews and these are welcomed at any time.
 

In accordance with the practice in the open access community authors are asked to pay a nominal sum to publish in EJBRM, which is intended to cover some of the costs of publishing. The current publication charge is GBP250 + VAT. This amount is payable only after the paper has been accepted for publication.

There are no charges to access the journal on screen or to print or download the papers. 

EJBRM now follows a continuous method of publication. This means that once a paper has been finally accepted, an invoice for the publication fee will be sent. On receipt of payment the paper will pass through to typesetting and authors will receive page proofs to check. We will endeavour to provide page proofs within two weeks of the publication fee being received and to publish the paper within two weeks of authors accepting the page proofs. The exception to this process is special issues. In this case authors will be kept informed as to progress of the issue, and where possible all papers will be published together.

Aims and Scope
The Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods (EJBRM) provides perspectives on topics relevant to research methods applied in the field of business and management. Through its publication the journal contributes to the development of theory and practice. The journal accepts academically robust papers that contribute to the area of research methods applied in business and management research.

Papers submitted to the journal are double-blind reviewed by members of the reviewer committee or other suitably qualified readers. The Editor reserves the right to reject papers that, in the view of the editorial board, are either of insufficient quality, or are not relevant enough to the subject area. The editor is happy to discuss contributions before submission. The journal publishes work in the categories described below.

Research Papers
These may be qualitative or quantitative, empirical or theoretical in nature and can discuss completed research findings or work in progress.

Case Studies
Case studies are welcomed illustrating business and management research methods in practise.

View Points
View points are less academically rigorous articles usually in areas of controversy which will fuel some interesting debate.

Conference Reports and Book Reviews
Anyone who attends a conference or reads a book that they feel contributes to the area of Business Research Methods is encouraged to submit a review for publication.

Contribution and Dates
Papers can be submitted at any time. The period from submission to publication varies but as the jouranl operates a conintuous publication model, papers will be published when it has been finally accepted and the publication fee has been received.
 

Ethics Guidelines

Outline of the Ethics Policy of Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited with respects to their e-Journals

Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited is committed to the highest ethics practices. In pursuance of this our prospective authors, our reviewers our editors and administrators are required to adhere to a code of practice. The principles which underpin this code of practice are listed below for each of these groups.

Our Authors’ Responsibilities

Authors will:-

  1. Ensure that all researched work submitted is original, prepared to a high scholarly standard and fully referenced using the prescribed referencing system.
  2. All authors are represented accurately and other appropriate acknowledgements are clearly stated including sources of funding if any.
  3. Open and full disclosure of the source of all data and how it was acquired.
  4. Certify that all the data has been acquired in keeping with recognised ethical research practices.
  5. Read carefully, agree and sign a licence to publish form.
  6. Correspond and comply with the editor and publisher in any requests for source data, proof of authorship or originality in a timely manner.
  7. Co-operate with any consequent investigations if any issues are raised by reviewers, editors or the publisher.
  8. Provide appropriate information for errata if such an event occurs.
  9. Remain in good communication with the editor(s), publisher and any co-authors if the need arises.
  10. Agree to submit only one paper at a time, waiting for the current paper process to be completed before submitting another.
  11. Recognise that the Editorial Board has the final decision to publish.

Our Reviewers’ Responsibilities

Reviewers will:-

  1. Only review papers that are relevant to their own expertise.
  2. Read the papers with appropriate care and attention and use their best efforts to be constructively critical.
  3. Regard the work being reviewed as confidential and will not discuss it with others and will keep their own identity from authors.
  4. Review submitted work in a timely manner.
  5. Report any suspected ethical misconduct which appears in the work.
  6. Avoid any offensive language in their appraisals of the papers.
  7. Agree to review a reasonable number of future versions of the work and provide follow up advice where necessary.
  8. Seek advice from the editor if anything is unclear at any time during the review process or if there is any possible conflict of interest.
  9. Communicate with both the publisher and editor in a timely fashion.
  10. Treat all papers reviewed fairly without any favour of prejudice.

Our Editors’ Responsibilities

Editors will:-

  1. Only authorise for publication content of the highest quality.
  2. Ensure that a thorough, objective and blind peer review is conducted for original article submissions.
  3. Clearly identify articles which will not be peer reviewed (i.e. invited opinion).
  4. Be transparent with regards to the review and publication process with appropriate care that individuals will not be identified when it is inappropriate to so do..
  5. Provide advice to the authors during the submission process when necessary.
  6. Provide the right to appeal any editorial decision.
  7. Be attentive to the possibility of third party material being  included in papers for which there may not be sufficient permission..
  8. Be prepared to publish errata when necessary.
  9. Communicate with both the publisher and the author(s) in a timely manner.
  10. Treat all submissions fairly without any favour of prejudice.

Our Administrators’ Responsibilities:-

Administrators will:-

  1. Log all submissions received in a timely manner.
  2. Acknowledge receipt of submission to the lead author.
  3. Check the title of the paper and the abstract for relevance to the e-Journal and where it is not relevant inform the author.
  4. If the submission form is incomplete, inform the author and hold the paper until a completed form is received.
  5. Request the author to abbreviate the paper if it is over the word limit.
  6. Forward the paper to the Editor.
  7. Obtain clearance from the editor to proceed to review if the paper is below the minimum number of words.
  8. Distribute the paper to appropriate reviewers and remind them periodically about the required review date.
  9. Despatch the reviews to the authors and remain as a conduit between the authors and the reviewers until the paper has been accepted or withdrawn.
  10. Treat all authors and reviewers fairly without favour or prejudice.

 Our procedures when an issue of Ethics is raised

If an issue of Ethics is raised by a reviewer or the Editor or a reader of the e-Journal, then the person raising the issue will be asked to submit the concern in writing to the publisher. On receipt of this the publisher will present the written statement to the Ethics Review Panel, which will give the matter its close attention. The person or persons about whom the concern has been raised will be immediately informed about this matter and invited to reply.

Any report of possible ethics impropriety is a major issue for the e-Journal and will be investigated appropriately. If misconduct has been committed the paper will be withdrawn, an apology will be called for and if not forthcoming the author/s may be excluded from having any future paper reviewed by the e-Journal.

Dan Remenyi PhD
Publisher

Open Access Publishing

The Electronic Journal of eBusiness Research Methods  operates an Open Access Policy. This means that users can read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. The only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for copyright in this domain, is that authors control  the integrity of their work, which should be properly acknowledged and cited.

Creative Commons License

This Journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Publication Fees

In accordance with the practice in the open access community authors are asked to pay a nominal sum to publish in EJBRM, which is intended to cover some of the costs of publishing. The current publication charge is GBP250 (+ 20% VAT) which is recoverable by some authors/universities). This amount is payable only after the paper has been accepted for publication and there is no charge for submissions.