About this journal
Aims and scope
Business History is an international journal concerned with how businesses, organizations, and their environment develop over time, and how this influences contemporary organizations. It publishes interdisciplinary articles that contribute new insights into the past activities of organizations and their major stakeholders. Research in business history makes (1) empirical contributions by presenting new historical sources, which may be archival, visual or material, as well as oral history; (2) historiographic contributions, by engaging with research controversies in the field of business history, building new conceptual frameworks for understanding business or organizational activity in the past; or challenge existing conceptual frameworks that have shaped our understanding of the past; (3) theoretical contributions by using historical research to contribute to relevant social science and organizational theories by drawing on the past as an empirical setting. Business History continues to widen and deepen its international scope by promoting research on under-researched regions, time periods and topics.
Peer Review Policy
All research articles in this journal are rigorously peer reviewed, based on initial editor screening and anonymized reviewing by at least two referees.
Authors can choose to publish gold open access in this journal.
Journal metrics
Usage
- 227K annual downloads/views
Citation metrics
- 1.0 (2023) Impact Factor
- Q2 Impact Factor Best Quartile
- 1.1 (2023) 5 year IF
- 2.3 (2023) CiteScore (Scopus)
- Q1 CiteScore Best Quartile
- 1.008 (2023) SNIP
- 0.477 (2023) SJR
Speed/acceptance
- 9 days avg. from submission to first decision
- 90 days avg. from submission to first post-review decision
- 26 days avg. from acceptance to online publication
- 22% acceptance rate
Understanding and using journal metrics
Journal metrics can be a useful tool for readers, as well as for authors who are deciding where to submit their next manuscript for publication. However, any one metric only tells a part of the story of a journal’s quality and impact. Each metric has its limitations which means that it should never be considered in isolation, and metrics should be used to support and not replace qualitative review.
We strongly recommend that you always use a number of metrics, alongside other qualitative factors such as a journal’s aims & scope, its readership, and a review of past content published in the journal. In addition, a single article should always be assessed on its own merits and never based on the metrics of the journal it was published in.
For more details, please read the Author Services guide to understanding journal metrics.
Journal metrics in brief
Usage and acceptance rate data above are for the last full calendar year and are updated annually in February. Speed data is updated every six months, based on the prior six months. Citation metrics are updated annually mid-year. Please note that some journals do not display all of the following metrics (find out why).
- Usage: the total number of times articles in the journal were viewed by users of Taylor & Francis Online in the previous calendar year, rounded to the nearest thousand.
Citation Metrics
- Impact Factor*: the average number of citations received by articles published in the journal within a two-year window. Only journals in the Clarivate Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) and the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) have an Impact Factor.
- Impact Factor Best Quartile*: the journal’s highest subject category ranking in the Journal Citation Reports. Q1 = 25% of journals with the highest Impact Factors.
- 5 Year Impact Factor*: the average number of citations received by articles in the journal within a five-year window.
- CiteScore (Scopus)†: the average number of citations received by articles in the journal over a four-year period.
- CiteScore Best Quartile†: the journal’s highest CiteScore ranking in a Scopus subject category. Q1 = 25% of journals with the highest CiteScores.
- SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper): the number of citations per paper in the journal, divided by citation potential in the field.
- SJR (Scimago Journal Rank): Average number of (weighted) citations in one year, divided by the number of articles published in the journal in the previous three years.
Speed/acceptance
- From submission to first decision: the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the journal to receive a first decision. Based on manuscripts receiving a first decision in the last six months.
- From submission to first post-review decision: the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the journal to receive a first decision if it is sent out for peer review. Based on manuscripts receiving a post-review first decision in the last six months.
- From acceptance to online publication: the average (median) number of days from acceptance of a manuscript to online publication of the Version of Record. Based on articles published in the last six months.
- Acceptance rate: articles accepted for publication by the journal in the previous calendar year as percentage of all papers receiving a final decision.
For more details on the data above, please read the Author Services guide to understanding journal metrics.
*Copyright: Journal Citation Reports®, Clarivate Analytics
†Copyright: CiteScore™, Scopus
Editorial board
Editors-in-Chief
Stephanie Decker - University of Birmingham, UK and University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Christina Lubinski - Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
Niall MacKenzie - University of Glasgow, UK
Co-Editors
Adoración Alvaro-Moya - CUNEF, Spain
Victoria Barnes - Queen's University Belfast, UK
Pierre-Yves Donzé - Osaka University, Japan
Xavier Duran - Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
Susanna Fellman - University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Lucy Newton - University of Reading, UK
Book Review Editors
Adam Nix - University of Birmingham, UK
Managing Editors
Nicola Felton
Social Media Editor
Paula de la Cruz-Fernández - University of Florida, USA
Editorial Board
Neveen Abdelrehim - Newcastle University, UK
Carlo Altamura - Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland
Amon Barros - FGV EAESP, Brazil
Bernardo Bátiz-Lazo - Northumbria University, UK
Manuel Bautista-Gonzalez - Columbia University, USA
Hartmut Berghoff - Georg-August-Universität Gottingen, Germany
Mark Billings - Exeter University (RETIRED), UK
Veronica Binda - Università Bocconi, Italy
Emily Buchnea - Northumbria University, UK
Youssef Cassis - European University Institute, Italy
Mark Casson - University of Reading, UK
Valerio Cerretano - University of Glasgow, UK
Eugene Choi - Doshisha Business School, Doshisha University, Japan
Andrea Colli - Università Bocconi, Italy
Chris Colvin - Queen's University Belfast, UK
Teresa Da Silva Lopes - University of York, UK
Thomas David - University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Antonie Dolezalova - Charles University, Czech Republic and University of Cambridge, UK
Giovanni Favero - Universita Ca'Foscari Venezia, Italy
Bill Foster - University of Alberta, Canada
José Luis García Ruiz - Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
Sheryllyne Haggerty - University of Hull, UK
Leslie Hannah - London School of Economics, UK
Jan-Otmar Hesse - University of Bayreuth, Germany
David Higgins - University of Newcastle, UK
Matthew Hollow - The York Management School, UK
Geoffrey Jones - Harvard Business School, USA
Elisabeth Köll - University of Notre Dame, USA
Takafumi Kurosawa - Kyoto University, Japan
Mats Larsson - Uppsala University, Sweden
Andrea Lluch - Universidad de San Andrés, Argentina
Mads Mordhorst - Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
Robin Pearson - U niversity of Hull, UK
Ioanna Pepelasis - Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece
Simone Phipps - Middle Georgia State University, USA
Andrew Popp - Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
Leon Prieto - Clayton State University, USA
Alberto Rinaldi - University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
Neil Rollings - University of Glasgow, UK
Michael Rowlinson - University of Exeter, UK
Martin Shanahan - University of South Australia, Australia
Andrew Smith - University of Liverpool, UK
Jeannette Strickland - Archive & Heritage Consultant and University of Liverpool, UK
Nicolaas Strydom - University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Kevin Tennent - University of York, UK
Chibuike Uche - Leiden University, The Netherlands
Maki Umemura - Cardiff University, UK
Grietjie Verhoef - University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Simon Ville - University of Wollongong, Australia
Natalya Vinokurova - University of Pennsylvania, USA
Despina Vlami - Academy of Athens, Greece
Mira Wilkins - Florida International University, USA
John Wong - Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities & Social Sciences, Hong Kong
Shakila Yacob - Sunway University, Malaysia
Updated 15-01-2024
Abstracting and indexing
Business History is abstracted and indexed in:
ABI/Inform; Bibliography of Asian Studies; Book Review Digest Plus; British Humanities Index; Business Periodicals Index; EBSCOhost; EconLit; Geographical Abstracts; Human Geography and GEOBASE; Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life; Humanities International Index; IBSS; Information Access products; International Bibliography of Book Reviews; International Bibliography of Periodical Literature; OCLC; PAIS International; Periodicals Index Online; Policy & Development Abstracts; Scopus; Sociological Abstracts; Social Planning; Swets Information Services; Thomson ISI (Social Sciences Citation Index; ISI Alerting Services; Social SciSearch); Thomson Gale; University Microfilms products; and Wilson Business Abstracts.
Open access
Business History is a hybrid open access journal that is part of our Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research.
Why choose open access?
- Increase the discoverability and readership of your article
- Make an impact and reach new readers, not just those with easy access to a research library
- Freely share your work with anyone, anywhere
- Comply with funding mandates and meet the requirements of your institution, employer or funder
- Rigorous peer review for every open access article
Article Publishing Charges (APC)
If you choose to publish open access in this journal you may be asked to pay an Article Publishing Charge (APC). You may be able to publish your article at no cost to yourself or with a reduced APC if your institution or research funder has an open access agreement or membership with Taylor & Francis.
Use our APC finder to calculate your article publishing charge
News, offers and calls for papers
News and offers
- Follow Business History on LinkedIn
- Read the Editorial on how to write 'Perspectives' pieces for Business History
- Special rate of £55/ US$83/ €66 for ABH, EBHA and BHC members. Contact +44 2070175543 or [email protected] to subscribe, quoting XC20301W
Calls for papers
- Special Issue: Where Have All the Business Women Gone? Female Entrepreneurship in the long 20th Century
- Special Issue: In the Absence of Archives: Lessons from Less Developed Countries
- Special Issue: Chandler Redux? Looking Back to Move Forward
- Special Issue: Globalisation, varieties of economic nationalism and big business, 1870-2022
Society information
Individual members of the following societies can subscribe to Business History at the special rate of £55/US$83/€66.
- Association of Business Historians
- European Business History Association
- Business History Conference
Contact +44 (0)207 017 5543 or [email protected] to subscribe, quoting XC20301W when ordering.
8 issues per year
Proposals for special issues are considered by the editorial team once a year to allow for a more systematic decision-making process. The yearly deadline for submitting a special issue proposal is 1 September. Only proposals submitted by that deadline will be assessed.
Proposals should be submitted to the Managing Editor ( [email protected]). Guest editors will receive a decision shortly after the deadline. The expectation is that one or two special issues will be approved each year, assuming that they are regarded as of suitable appeal.
Submitted proposals must be fully worked out in advance of submission. Editors remain happy to advise on proposed SIs in advance of any submission but revisions requested by the editorial team after submission are expected to be minor.
To this end it is important that potential guest editors acquaint themselves closely with the requirements for a SI proposal. The guidance below is a slightly amended and abridged version of the 2016 editorial on Special Issues. That editorial still forms the basis of our approach to Special Issues but the guidance below reflects our experience since 2016 on the way the process has worked. Rejected proposals can be resubmitted to the next SI competition but only if invited to do so and after significant and substantial revision in line with any feedback offered.
Special Issue Proposal Guidance
Presentation of the topic and the questions to be addressed.
• Justification and relevance of the topic. It is important to explain why the proposed Special Issue fits within the remit of Business History, its contribution to business history as a field and why business historians would be interested in the proposed theme.
• One to two pages providing a short synthesis of existing debates and the state of literature in the field, research gaps in that field and how the special issue will contribute to fill these gaps. This part should include references.
• An outline of the mechanisms to be used to attract high quality articles. This should include an open Call for Papers but in addition can also include an indication of invited contributions emerging from specialised workshops or sessions in conferences or congresses. It is important to show how this process has endeavoured to be inclusive.
• Acknowledgment that all the articles proposed for the special issue, including the introductory essay, have not previously been published and are not under consideration elsewhere. Guest editors are responsible for writing the introduction but should not themselves publish articles in the Special Issue to avoid conflicts of interest.
• Acknowledgement that all articles will be submitted through the ScholarOne electronic platform for the journal in order to be peer-reviewed before acceptance for publication.
• A proposed timetable with deadlines for completion of key milestones, which is to be monitored by the Guest Editors in close coordination with the member of the editorial team assigned to oversee progress on the special issue. The timetable should generally include: the date when a Call for Papers (if relevant) will be published or the dates of a workshop or session in the case of invited articles; the deadline for authors to submit the first version of their article to the ScholarOne website for peer-review evaluation (including the introductory article, which will be handled by the Associate Editor in charge of the special issue); the expected deadline for completion of the peer review process; and a suggested date for final publication. Please note that the final decision on this publication date will be in the hands of the editorial team, who need to take into account other articles accepted for publication in the journal and other special issues.
• Guest Editor details, including names, academic affiliation, address and email, accompanied by a short biography with indication of most important research conducted by guest editors, and citations for the last two or three relevant publications related to the topic of the proposed Special Issue. Guest editor teams should make a case for their motivation and ability to complete the special issue, e.g. by highlighting prior editorial or other relevant experiences.
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