Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration: Scopus, Scope & Submission Guide

Quick Answer: What Is Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration?

Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration is a peer-reviewed business and management journal published by Emerald Publishing. Its official identifiers are ISSN 1757-4323 and eISSN 1757-4331. The supplied Scopus Source ID is 19900191746, and Emerald currently displays a 2025 CiteScore of 12.1 and a 2025 Journal Impact Factor of 4.6.

For authors, the key issue is scope fit. APJBA welcomes work in management, strategy, supply chains, marketing, HRM, organisational behaviour, information systems, sustainability, behavioural finance/economics, business analytics, entrepreneurship, international business and related management areas. It explicitly narrows conventional finance, accounting and economics submissions unless they fall into its behavioural exceptions.

A researcher should consider APJBA when the study contributes to business or management knowledge, can speak to the journal’s readership, and can meet Emerald’s 6,000–10,000-word article length, structured abstract, Harvard-style references and double-anonymous review preparation. Indexing and metrics should be checked against current institutional rules rather than used as the sole journal-selection criterion.

Key Takeaways

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing.
• Identifiers: ISSN 1757-4323; eISSN 1757-4331; Scopus Source ID 19900191746.
• Current focus: business and management, with explicit thematic areas spanning strategy, marketing, HRM, digital business, sustainability, analytics, entrepreneurship and international business.
• 2025 metrics shown by Emerald: CiteScore 12.1; Journal Impact Factor 4.6; five-year Impact Factor 4.5.
• Peer review: double-anonymous.
• Manuscript length: 6,000–10,000 words under the current author guidelines.
• Operational metrics: Emerald reports 44 days to first decision, 35 days from acceptance to publication and an 8.4% acceptance rate for the stated 2024–2025 reporting window.
• Open access: optional gold OA with APC after acceptance, plus green self-archiving; authors should verify the current APC rather than rely on an old price.

Journal Information at a Glance

Freshness note: journal metrics and policy details are time-sensitive. CiteScore and Impact Factor values above are tied to the 2025 reporting year. Operational metrics shown by Emerald use their stated historical reporting windows and should not be treated as a guaranteed turnaround for a new submission.

What This Page Covers

• APJBA aims, scope and research themes
• Scopus identification and current citation metrics
• article types and manuscript requirements
• structured abstract, keywords and Harvard references
• double-anonymous peer review and ScholarOne submission
• publication ethics and AI-use expectations
• gold and green open-access routes and fee verification
• journal-fit, pre-submission and reviewer-response guidance

Table of Contents

1. Aims and scope
2. Who should consider submitting
3. Scopus indexing and metrics
4. Editorial leadership and peer review
5. Article types
6. Manuscript requirements
7. Submission process
8. Publication ethics and AI use
9. Open access and fees
10. Acceptance rate and timeline
11. Journal-fit test
12. Pre-submission checklist
13. Frequently asked questions

Methodology and Sources

This guide was prepared by matching the supplied journal record—title, ISSN, publisher and Scopus Source ID—to the official Emerald journal page and the supplied Scopus source URL. Journal-specific claims are based primarily on Emerald’s current journal page and author guidelines. Where a value such as an exact APC, current SJR, SNIP or category quartile was not verified from an authoritative live source during preparation, this page says to verify it rather than filling the gap with a third-party estimate.

Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration Aims and Scope

APJBA’s current editorial direction is explicitly centred on business and management. Emerald describes the journal as a platform for established and early-career researchers and welcomes quantitative, qualitative and mixed-method approaches from authors worldwide. Its stated aim is not merely regional description; it seeks original research that advances theoretical understanding, informs managerial practice and contributes to business-administration knowledge.

The official scope lists ten prominent areas:

• management, strategy and supply chain management
• marketing, consumer behaviour and digital marketing
• human resource management and organisational behaviour
• management information systems and human-computer interaction
• corporate social responsibility and sustainability
• behavioural finance and behavioural economics
• business analytics and data science
• entrepreneurship and innovation
• international business and cross-cultural management
• small business and family enterprise management

An important exclusion rule matters for journal selection: APJBA states that it does not consider conventional finance, accounting or economics submissions unless they specifically relate to behavioural finance or behavioural economics. Authors with a finance-heavy manuscript should therefore demonstrate the behavioural and management contribution clearly or consider a more directly aligned outlet.

For systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses, the journal states that it exclusively considers submissions that follow the PRISMA protocol. That makes reporting discipline especially important for review-based manuscripts.

Who Should Consider Submitting?

APJBA may suit researchers whose manuscript is fundamentally about managing organisations, markets, people, technologies, strategy or business systems and whose contribution can be understood by an international business and management audience. Academic status alone—PhD scholar, professor or practitioner—is not a fit criterion.

Scopus Indexing, Metrics and Academic Visibility

The supplied source record identifies APJBA as Scopus Source ID 19900191746. Emerald also displays Scopus-derived citation information, including a 2025 CiteScore of 12.1 and a 2026 CiteScore Tracker of 10.7. The tracker is a current-year indicator and should not be confused with the completed 2025 CiteScore.

Emerald further reports a 2025 Journal Impact Factor of 4.6 and a 2025 five-year Impact Factor of 4.5. These are more useful when interpreted with the applicable subject category, year and institutional expectations. A journal can occupy different quartiles across categories and databases, so a single unqualified “Q1” or “Q2” label can be misleading.

For current SJR, SNIP, percentiles and quartiles, use the live Scopus source profile. For current Web of Science collection and JCR category details, use Clarivate’s official Master Journal List/JCR. This is especially important when a university requires a specific index or quartile at the time of submission or publication.

Editorial Leadership and Peer Review

Emerald’s updated scope announcement identifies Dr Saeed Pahlevan Sharif as Editor-in-Chief. Because editorial teams can change, authors should confirm the current team on the journal page when they submit.

APJBA uses double-anonymous peer review. Reviewers do not receive author identity in the manuscript, and authors are instructed to remove identifying material from the review file. Emerald specifically advises keeping biographies and acknowledgements in separate files and checking figures, captions and self-references for information that could reveal identity.

The publisher describes peer review as a process intended to match reviewer expertise to the manuscript and generate constructive, rigorous feedback. A submitted manuscript may still be declined before external review if the editor concludes that the paper falls outside the journal’s aims and scope or does not meet essential editorial requirements.

Article Types Published

During submission, Emerald lists the following paper-type options for APJBA: Research Paper, Discussion Paper, Book Review, Viewpoint and Thesis Review. Authors should choose the closest classification available in ScholarOne and ensure that the manuscript’s purpose and structure match the selected type.

Recent research topics highlighted by Emerald include smart-home adoption, social-media recruitment intentions, leadership and knowledge sharing, Industry 5.0 and sustainability, and digital transformation. These examples suggest broad methodological and topical variety within the journal’s defined management boundaries; they should not be treated as a substitute for reading the newest issues before submission.

Manuscript Preparation Requirements

Current author instructions state that articles should be 6,000–10,000 words. This count includes the structured abstract, references, text in tables and figures, and appendices; Emerald asks authors to allow 250 words for each figure or table. Article files should be supplied in Microsoft Word. A PDF may accompany the Word file but cannot be the only manuscript file. LaTeX can be used when accompanied by a PDF.

Structured abstract and keywords

Every submission requires a structured abstract with four mandatory headings: Purpose, Design/methodology/approach, Findings and Originality. Research limitations/implications, Practical implications and Social implications are optional where applicable. The abstract maximum is 250 words in total, including keywords and article classification. Up to 12 short, appropriate keywords may be supplied.

References

References must use a recognised Harvard style. Emerald permits its own Harvard style and asks authors to check completeness, accuracy and consistency. Where a DOI is available, the author guidelines ask for it at the end of the reference.

Figures, supplementary material and author details

Figures should be submitted electronically at the highest practical quality, with acceptable formats including AI, EPS, JPEG, BMP and TIFF. Supplementary files can include common document, spreadsheet, presentation, image and text formats. Each contributing author should have a ScholarOne account with accurate name, email and affiliation information; ORCID can be added during submission.

How to Submit to APJBA

1. Read the latest aims and scope and confirm that the manuscript is in business/management rather than an excluded field.
2. Prepare the manuscript to the journal’s length, abstract, reference and anonymisation requirements.
3. Separate author biographies and acknowledgements from the anonymous review manuscript.
4. Use the ScholarOne submission link accessed through the official Emerald journal page.
5. The corresponding author submits the paper; Emerald states that submission should be made directly by the author(s), not by a third-party proxy.
6. Add author details and ORCID information, upload the required files and complete declarations.
7. Review the submission proof carefully before final confirmation.
8. Retain the manuscript number sent in the automated confirmation email for later correspondence.

This direct-author submission rule is important when using external manuscript support. Editing and formatting assistance can help prepare files, but the authors remain responsible for the submission, declarations and research record.

Publication Ethics and AI Use

Emerald states that manuscripts should be original, not simultaneously under consideration elsewhere and compliant with its research and publishing ethics guidance. The publisher may use Crossref Similarity Check. Conflicts of interest must be declared, and authors must have appropriate permissions when non-public information about identifiable companies, organisations or individuals is used.

For human-participant research, authors should determine whether ethics approval is required and include the relevant information in the submission. Emerald also aligns its editorial ethics with COPE guidance and encourages transparent citation of data, code and methods under the Transparency and Openness Promotion framework.

On generative AI, Emerald states that large language models cannot be credited as authors because they cannot take accountability for the work. Where AI-generated or AI-modified content is used, authors are expected to describe that use and identify the tool and version, subject to editor and publisher judgement. Standard spelling and grammar tools are excluded from that disclosure guidance. Authors remain responsible for accuracy, originality, citations and integrity.

Open Access and Publication Fees

APJBA is not presented as a mandatory fully open-access journal. Emerald offers gold open access as an option after acceptance. Authors choosing that route pay the applicable APC and the article is published under a CC BY 4.0 licence. The exact journal-specific APC was not reproduced here because Emerald directs authors to its current APC price list or the editorial system; prices, waivers and institutional arrangements can change.

Emerald also offers a green open-access/self-archiving route. The publisher states that the accepted manuscript can be made openly available after the article is published without an embargo period. Authors should still follow their funder and institutional repository rules.

Emerald states that there is no submission fee and that authors who do not choose gold open access should not be asked to pay publication, processing or review fees.

Acceptance Rate and Publication Timeline

Unlike many journals that do not publish operational data, Emerald currently displays an 8.4% acceptance rate for submissions between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. It also displays 44 days to first decision for that reporting window and 35 days from acceptance to publication, last updated April 2025.

These figures are historical averages/ratios, not promises. A particular paper may move faster or slower depending on editorial screening, reviewer availability, revision cycles, manuscript complexity and production scheduling. Researchers facing a degree-completion or funding deadline should not treat the published averages as guaranteed dates.

How to Decide Whether Your Manuscript Fits APJBA

As a practical publication-readiness step, read several recent APJBA papers that are close to your question and method. Compare how they frame theory, explain regional context, report methods and articulate managerial implications. This is general publication guidance, not a requirement to cite the journal artificially.

Practical Journal-Fit Examples

Strong scope match

A PhD researcher studies how AI-enabled HR analytics affects employee decision-making across firms in Southeast Asia. The topic connects business analytics, HRM and organisational behaviour. The author should still show theoretical novelty and ensure the manuscript is not merely a technology-performance comparison.

Potentially weak scope match

A paper models stock returns using a purely financial forecasting technique with no behavioural-finance question or management contribution. Despite technical quality, the current APJBA scope makes another finance-focused journal more plausible.

Systematic review

A scholar prepares a review of sustainable supply-chain resilience. The subject fits management and sustainability, but APJBA’s stated PRISMA rule means the review protocol and reporting must be explicit.

Formatting problem

A sound empirical paper arrives at 12,500 words with an unstructured abstract and non-Harvard references. Before submission, the authors should bring the paper within current guidelines rather than relying on editorial staff to correct basic compliance issues.

Revision stage

An author receives major revisions. A strong response letter should reproduce each reviewer point, answer it respectfully, identify exactly what changed and explain evidence-based reasons for any suggestion not adopted.

Pre-Submission Checklist

How Contentxprtz Can Support APJBA Publication Readiness

Contentxprtz can support authors who have already developed their own research and need help presenting it clearly and in line with APJBA’s requirements. Journal-specific support may include scope-alignment review, manuscript assessment, academic editing, ESL language polishing, structured-abstract refinement, journal formatting, Harvard-reference consistency, table and figure language review, cover-letter editing, submission-document checks and reviewer-response editing.

The service should not replace author responsibility for the study, data, analysis, interpretations, citations, ethical approvals or submission declarations. Contentxprtz does not guarantee journal acceptance or publication and cannot influence peer reviewers or editors.

Summary: Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration

Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration is an Emerald Publishing journal in business and management, identified in the supplied Scopus record as Source ID 19900191746. Its current scope spans management, strategy, marketing, HRM, information systems, sustainability, behavioural finance/economics, analytics, entrepreneurship and international business, while conventional finance, accounting and economics are generally excluded. Emerald reports a 2025 CiteScore of 12.1, a 2025 Journal Impact Factor of 4.6, double-anonymous peer review, a 6,000–10,000-word article length and ScholarOne submission. Optional gold OA is available after acceptance, with the current APC to be verified directly. Authors should base the final journal decision on scope, article type, current indexing, institutional rules, costs and the latest official author instructions.

Author

Dr. Aanya Mehta

Research Writer & Professional Business Communicator

Dr. Aanya Mehta writes research-focused resources for Contentxprtz, translating journal policies, academic publishing requirements and research workflows into clear, practical guidance for scholars and professionals.