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Dear IB Scholars,
As you may know, the Financial Times is seeking input for updating its FT50 list of leading academic journals. In this cycle, they are soliciting feedback from
business school leadership as well as the broader scholarly community. The survey can be found in the link below:
https://survey.ft.com/jfe/form/SV_8qBwlr4MLqwwQaV
At present, International Business (IB) journals are under-represented in the FT50 list. The Academy of International Business itself is a community of more than
3000 scholars, and there are many other scholars who teach and research in the broader IB domain. The IB field intersects with many disciplines but also has its unique core. It is a vital pillar in business education and research, especially in today's
globalized economy and amid the prevalence of multinational organizations. However, the Journal of International Business Studies is currently the only IB-focused journal in the FT50 list. Given the importance of IB to business pedagogy, scholarship, and practice,
it is imperative that we support the induction of more IB
journals to the FT50 list.
Toward that end, we are writing to ask for your support
for the addition of the Journal of World Business and other IB journals to the FT50 list. In addition to its rich history as one of the oldest IB journal and
the underrepresentation of the IB field in the list, allow us to explain why we think JWB should be included in the FT50 list:
1. Performance metrics: JWB has consistent and high impact factors (IF) outperforming the median of FT50 journals. In 2019, JWB's
2-year IF was 5.19, and the 5-year IF was 6.77. JWB's cite score – another measure of academic impact – is 11.9, placing it as #8 in the Business and International Management category and #2 in the Finance category.
Only eight FT50 journals had a higher cite score in 2019. In 2020, JWB's acceptance rate has been 6%, similar to the very top journals in IB, Strategy, and Management. We have put together a table with comparative statistics
for leading IB journals at the end of this message.
2. Rigor and relevance: JWB takes pride in publishing articles that address timely topics of relevance to both academics and practitioners without compromising
on scientific rigor. For example, we have recently published articles on Industry 4.0, China's One-Belt-One-Road initiative, environmental sustainability by
multinational corporations, international entrepreneurship and migration, and the impact of COVID-19 on IB activity. JWB's research is particularly relevant to many pressing societal and global issues on the minds of business
school educators, policymakers, and managers.
3. Global journal with a global reach: With a rich history of 55 years, JWB is a global journal in content and readership. We regularly publish articles
in macro and micro areas and encourage submissions on topics such as the role of multinational corporations in achieving the UN's sustainable development goals
and the future of the global workplace. Since 2019, 38% of our submissions have come from Europe, 32% from Asia, 16% from North America, and the rest from Africa and South America. Our readership is similarly global – 24% of article downloads were in the UK,
10% in the USA, 8% each in Australia and China, and the remaining 50% globally dispersed.
Please visit JWB's website to learn more about the journal, our editors, and the interesting special issues that are forthcoming. I have attached a one-page factsheet
on JWB for your ready reference.
Summary data on IB journals:
If you have any questions or need any additional input, please feel free to reach out to us.
Sincerely
Ajai Gaur
Professor, Rutgers University, NJ, USA
Editor, Journal of World Business
PS: FT survey occasionally returns an error message. For suggesting new journals, please use the mouse to slide/drag the journal up or down so the numbers appear
in green (as shown in the picture below); otherwise, you get an error when submitting.
