About the Journal

Focus and Scope

The vision of the Journal of Business Models is to constitute a rigorous international journal devoted to establishing the discipline of business models as a separately recognised core discipline in academia - as is already the case in practice.

Our business mission is to create an open source journal that is free of the ties that come along with a publisher. In turn we wish to develop a new type of profitable business model for an academic journal.

The field of business models is one the fields of research within business that has gained the greatest momentum in recent years. Furthermore, it looks set to retain this momentum in the coming years and yet until now, there has not been a dedicated academic journal to support it. Despite numerous special issues on business models in highly ranked journals such as Long Range Planning, Harvard Business Review and Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, a dedicated journal needs a dedicated platform of researchers and a research environment with critical mass to lift such a duty.

Peer Review Process

The Journal of Business Models adopts a double-blind peer review model. All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial screening by the Editors to assess fit and quality. If deemed suitable, they are sent to two independent reviewers for double-blind peer review. The Editors oversee the peer review process, ensuring decisions are based on reviewers’ reports and aligned with the journal’s scientific standards. Based on the reviewers' recommendation, as well as consultation between relevant members of the EAB, the Editors decide whether the papers should be accepted as are, require a minor revision, require a major revision or are to be rejected. 

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Articles published in Journal of Business Models follow the license Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License: Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivs (by-nc-nd). Further information about Creative Commons

Topicality

The array of perspectives presented above leads to the identification of 11 key theme areas for which the Journal of Business Models intends to have a special focus:

  1. Theoretical Foundations and Boundaries of Business Model Research: positioning business model thinking within and across strategy, organisation, entrepreneurship, and planning.

  2. Business Model Archetypes and Components: exploring typologies, building blocks, and integrative frameworks for analyzing and comparing business models.

  3. Business Model Design: designing, rethinking, rejuvenating, innovating and facilitating business models across industries and life cycles.

  4. Implementing and Operationalizing Business Models: managing the transition from design to execution, including alignment with structures, processes, and resources.

  5. Commercializing and Exploiting Ideas through Business Models: enabling entrepreneurial processes, testing value propositions, and scaling innovations.

  6. Internationalization and Cross-Border Dynamics: understanding how global expansion, localization, and institutional diversity shape business model configurations.

  7. Ecosystems and Strategic Partnerships: examining roles, interdependencies, and collaborative arrangements within and across business models.

  8. Business Models for Innovation-Intensive, Digital, and Technology-Driven Contexts: addressing high-tech ventures, platform-based logics, AI-enabled ecosystems, and the transformation of business models in digitally driven environments.

  9. Business Model Performance: investigating metrics, value creation logics, and the paradoxes and tensions in measuring business model outcomes.

  10. Methods, Tools, and Visual Representations: developing and evaluating practical instruments for business model analysis, innovation, and communication.

  11. Sustainable and Impact-Oriented Business Models: analyzing models aimed at social value creation, environmental sustainability, and long-term systemic transformation.

Key Audience

The key audience of this journal is academics and dedicated consultants. As this journal aims at pushing the knowledge of the field to a higher level, and to becoming a core discipline in due course, the rigorousness of the review process and the quality of the published papers naturally lend themselves to an expert audience.

However, policy-makers, politicians, entrepreneurs and students with high academic aspirations will also benefit substantially from the mix of articles in this journal. For audiences with lower academic aspirations in academic terms but wanting to get a feel for the newest insights, models and application techniques, we refer to the bookboon.com textbook Business Models: Networking, Innovating and Globalizing.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

Journal of Business Models Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The Journal of Business Models is committed to publishing and widely disseminating high-quality content. The editorial operations of the journal are governed by transparent, fair and rigorous ethical standards. The journal recognizes that the scholarly publishing includes many stakeholders such as editors, authors, reviewers, and publishers. All involved stakeholders have a shared understanding and acceptance of policies on publication ethics and malpractice.

Responsibility of the Editor

The editor’s chief responsibility at the Journal of Business Models is to determine which submissions to the journal will be published. He/she, together with the editorial team, must ensure that decisions are made on the basis of the manuscript’s merit and that the author’s race, gender, religious or political beliefs, ethnicity, or citizenship are not considered.

Confidentiality

Information concerning a submitted manuscript to Journal of Business Models should only be revealed to the corresponding author, reviewers, editorial board members, or the publisher as is required or otherwise appropriate.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Editors and editorial advisory board members at Journal of Business Models will not use unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research purposes without the authors’ explicit written consent. Editors will recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships/connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers; instead, they will ask another member of the editorial board to handle the manuscript.

Responsibility of Reviewers

Purpose of peer review

The peer review process st the Journal of Business Models is a crucial component in helping the editor and/or editorial board reach editorial or publishing decisions and may also serve the author in improving the quality of the submission.

Promptness

A potential reviewer should withdraw from the review process at the Journal of Business Models if he/she feels unqualified to assess the contribution or cannot provide an assessment in a timely manner as defined by the editor.

Confidentiality

Manuscripts for review at the Journal of Business Models must be considered confidential documents. Information concerning the manuscripts should not be discussed with others without the approval of the editor.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Reviewers at the Journal of Business Models will not use unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research purposes without the authors’ explicit written consent. Reviewers at Journal of Business Models should recuse themselves from reviewing manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships/connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Objectivity

Reviewers at Journal of Business Models should strive to be objective in their assessments. Reviewers’ comments should be clearly expressed and supported by data or arguments. Personal criticism of the author(s) is not appropriate.

Acknowledgment of sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors to ensure that the work contributes to discussions ongoing in the journal. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor’s attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Responsibility of the Author

Reporting standards

Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Data access and retention

Authors could be asked to provide the raw data of their study together with the paper for editorial review and should be prepared to make the data publicly available if practicable. In any event, authors should ensure accessibility of such data to other competent professionals, provided that the confidentiality of the participants can be protected and legal rights concerning proprietary data do not preclude their release.

Originality and plagiarism

The Journal of Business Models adopts the ethical standards of COPE and actively monitors research integrity. If a submission is suspected of plagiarism, the Editors conduct an initial assessment using plagiarism detection software. If concerns are confirmed, the corresponding author is contacted for explanation. Unsatisfactory responses may lead to rejection or, if already published, retraction with a public notice. In severe cases, the author’s institution may be informed. All cases are documented internally to prevent recurrence. The Editors ensure that allegations are handled confidentially, transparently, and with fairness to all parties involved. The journal promotes transparency and accountability in research, and any concerns are addressed following COPE's best practices.

Multiple, redundant, or concurrent publication

In general, papers describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal. Submitting the same paper to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Manuscripts which have been published as copyrighted material elsewhere cannot be submitted. In addition, manuscripts under review by one journal should not be submitted to other publications while the manuscript is under review. Journals that publish creative works may make exceptions to the previously published rule; please consult the editor.

Acknowledgment of sources

Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services.

Authorship of the paper

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. Examples of potential conflicts of interest which should be disclosed include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed to the editor at the earliest stage possible. Readers should be informed about who has funded research and on the role of the funders in the research.

Fundamental errors in published works

If an author identifies a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is their responsibility to promptly inform the journal’s editor and to cooperate in issuing a correction or retraction, as appropriate. If the editor or publisher becomes aware of a potential issue raised by a third party, the author is expected to either provide evidence supporting the original work or to assist in correcting the publication in a timely and transparent manner.

Minor corrections are published as errata, while substantial issues may lead to article retraction or replacement. All corrections, updates, or retractions are clearly marked and linked to the original article to ensure transparency. These procedures follow COPE guidelines and aim to preserve the integrity of the scientific record.

Please send questions, concerns or comments to christian.nielsen@unibo.it