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
Each paper is reviewed by one of the editors and, if it is judged suitable for this publication, it is then sent to two independent referees for double blind peer review. Based on their recommendation, as well as consultation between relevant members of the Editorial Advisory Board the Editors then decide whether the paper should be accepted as is, requires a minor revision, requires a major revision or is 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 lead to the identification of 10 key theme areas for which the Journal of Business Models intends to have a special focus:
1. Business Model Design: designing, rejuvenating, innovating and facilitating
2. Implementing business models: the execution process
3. Commercialization and exploitation of ideas through business models: challenging entrepreneurial processes
4. Seeking the true benefits of a globalised world: how internationalization of activities affects business models
5. Business model archetypes and key components: integrating building blocks and typologies
6. The strategic partnerships of business models: Roles and relationships within and among business models
7. Business models and high-tech ventures
8. The performance of business models: Dilemmas and paradoxes of performance measurement consequences
9. Defining what business models are about: The epistemological and conceptual roots of business models and their differences with strategy, strategic management, organisation and business planning
10. Tools and techniques
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
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.
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
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.
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, plagiarism, and acknowledgment of sources
Authors will submit only entirely original works and will appropriately cite or quote the work and/or words of others. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work should also be cited.
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
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper. If the editor or the publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper or to provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original paper.
Please send questions, concerns or comments to christian.nielsen@unibo.it
