Benchmarking: An International Journal – Scopus, Metrics & Author Guide

Quick Answer: What Is Benchmarking: An International Journal?

Benchmarking: An International Journal is an Emerald Publishing journal for research on benchmarking and the use of performance comparison, metrics, best practices and improvement approaches in organisational settings. Its official scope connects benchmarking with operations management, productivity, performance evaluation, decision-making and continuous improvement.

The journal is indexed in Scopus, and Emerald reports a 2025 CiteScore of 13.6 plus a 2026 CiteScore Tracker of 13.2 at the time this guide was verified. Emerald also lists the journal in Clarivate’s Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI). SCImago reports a 2025 SJR of 1.112; researchers needing a formal quartile or SNIP for institutional assessment should confirm the current value in the latest Scopus/SCImago source record because category quartiles and annual metrics can change.

The journal may be worth considering when benchmarking, comparative performance analysis or performance-improvement logic is central to the study—not merely mentioned in the title or discussion. Before submitting, compare the manuscript with recent BIJ papers, recheck the current Emerald author guidelines, and confirm any university or funder requirements for indexing, quartile and open-access status.

Key Takeaways

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing.
• Identifiers: print ISSN 1463-5771, online ISSN 1758-4094; supplied Scopus Source ID 20793.
• Indexing: Emerald explicitly lists Scopus and Clarivate ESCI among the journal’s indexing services.
• Scope: benchmarking, performance metrics, best practices, productivity, operations, process improvement, quality, digital transformation, supply chains and related performance questions.
• Peer review: double anonymous, with at least two independent anonymous reviewers according to the current Emerald Insight page.
• Current manuscript basics: Original Article up to 12,000 words; Microsoft Word; Harvard references; UK or US English; up to six keywords on the current live journal page.
• Open access: hybrid. Gold OA requires an APC; green self-archiving is also available under Emerald’s policy.
• Important caution: two official Emerald surfaces currently show different Impact Factor and publication-timeline snapshots, so authors should reconfirm those changing figures before using them in formal reports.

Journal Information at a Glance

What This Page Covers

• journal identity, publisher, ISSNs and Scopus status
• aims, scope, subjects and the kinds of manuscripts that appear to fit
• current citation metrics and how to interpret conflicting publisher snapshots
• accepted article types, manuscript preparation and submission workflow
• peer review, open access, APCs and publication ethics
• a journal-fit checklist and common reasons a paper may be unsuitable
• practical publication-readiness steps before submission
• ethical ways Contentxprtz can support language, structure, formatting and submission readiness

Methodology and Sources

This profile was researched and fact-checked on 11 August 2026. Primary evidence came from the live Emerald Insight journal page, the Emerald journal information and author-guidelines page, Emerald’s open-access/APC information, and the supplied Scopus Source ID 20793. SCImago was used only as a secondary source for the 2025 SJR value.

Journal metrics and operational statistics are time-sensitive. In this case, Emerald’s two official surfaces were not fully synchronised: one displayed a 2025 Journal Impact Factor of 4.4 and a 30.7-day first-decision figure, while another displayed 4.8 and 100 days based on a specified 2024–2025 submissions window. Rather than choosing one silently, this guide flags the discrepancy. Authors should confirm the current value in the relevant source—especially Clarivate JCR for Impact Factor and the live Emerald page for workflow statistics—before using it in a thesis, promotion file, grant application or institutional journal list.

What Is Benchmarking: An International Journal?

The journal positions benchmarking as more than a simple comparison of one organisation against another. Its stated purpose is to provide theoretical and applied techniques that help scholars and practitioners understand performance, identify best practices and improve organisational management. This creates room for empirical, conceptual and practice-oriented research when the work advances knowledge about how comparison, measurement and improvement are designed or used.

The journal has a long publication history. Emerald’s issue archive reaches back to 1994, and the title was previously Benchmarking for Quality Management & Technology until 1998. The current title signals a broader international and management-oriented remit. Recent 2026 material includes work on financial and sustainability trade-offs, supply-chain visibility, digitalisation and adaptive capabilities, digital-twin readiness, Quality 4.0/5.0 and performance frameworks.

For an author, that breadth should not be interpreted as “any management paper is in scope.” The unifying logic should normally be visible in the research question, theoretical framing, method, metrics or contribution. A manuscript about supply chains, sustainability, tourism or digital transformation may fit when it contributes to benchmarking or performance-improvement knowledge; the same topic may be a poor fit if benchmarking is incidental.

Journal Aims and Scope

Emerald states that the journal publishes research that advances the understanding and application of benchmarking, performance metrics and best practices to improve business processes and organisational performance. The official scope connects this mission with operations management, productivity, performance evaluation, comparative analysis, decision-making and continuous improvement.

Core themes supported by the official scope

• benchmarking methods, frameworks and best practices
• cross-sector, cross-organisational and international benchmarking
• performance metrics, measurement systems and performance evaluation
• total quality management and continuous improvement
• productivity and operational excellence
• business-process improvement and redesign
• operations and supply-chain best practices
• digital maturity and adoption of new information and communication technologies
• digital transformation and operational performance
• data-driven decision-making, innovation and performance in manufacturing and services

Emerald also emphasises strong literature grounding, sound research design and rigorous qualitative or quantitative analysis. That wording matters: a paper can address an attractive topic but still be unsuitable if the benchmarking construct is weakly defined, the comparison basis is unclear, the sample or method cannot support the claims, or the findings do not advance understanding beyond a local descriptive case.

Examples of manuscripts that may fit

A multi-country comparison of supply-chain resilience maturity, a validated performance-measurement framework for digital transformation, a cross-industry study of quality practices, or a rigorous case-based benchmarking method may all align when the benchmarking contribution is explicit. Reviews can also fit if they critically synthesise a field and produce a useful framework or research agenda rather than merely summarising prior studies.

Examples that may be weaker fits

As a practical interpretation—not an official desk-rejection rule—a generic leadership, marketing, finance or HR paper with no substantive benchmarking or performance-comparison contribution may be less well aligned. Likewise, a one-organisation satisfaction survey may need a much stronger benchmarking rationale, comparative frame or performance contribution to justify submission to this journal.

Who Should Consider Submitting?

The journal may suit academics, doctoral researchers, applied researchers and practitioners whose work sits at the intersection of benchmarking and organisational performance. Researchers in operations management, supply-chain management, quality management, productivity, information systems, sustainability, innovation, services and manufacturing may find relevant pathways into the journal when their study uses benchmarking as an analytical or improvement mechanism.

For PhD scholars, Scopus indexing can be relevant to institutional publication requirements, but it should not be the only criterion. Universities may specify a current quartile, a particular database, an approved journal list, a minimum Impact Factor, or rules about article type and authorship. Verify those requirements independently before choosing a journal.

Scopus Indexing and Other Databases

Yes. Emerald explicitly lists Scopus among the journal’s abstracting and indexing services. The task input identifies Scopus Source ID 20793. Emerald also lists Clarivate’s Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), INSPEC, ProQuest, Applied Science & Technology Source, Computers & Applied Science Complete and several recognised business-school and national journal lists, including ABDC and CABS.

Indexing should be checked close to the date on which it matters. Database coverage, institutional recognition and ranking categories can change. If a university requires proof, use the live Scopus source profile or the institution’s prescribed database rather than a screenshot from an unaffiliated ranking website.

Current Journal Metrics: What Can Be Verified?

Emerald’s journal metrics page reports a 2025 CiteScore of 13.6 and a 2026 CiteScore Tracker of 13.2, with the tracker described as updated monthly. SCImago reports a 2025 SJR of 1.112. These are different indicators and should not be treated as interchangeable.

The official Emerald pages currently disagree on the 2025 Journal Impact Factor: the Emerald Insight journal home displays 4.4, while the Emerald Group journal-information page displays 4.8 and a five-year Impact Factor of 5.6. This could reflect a synchronisation or data-refresh difference between publisher surfaces. For a formal citation of the Impact Factor, use the latest Clarivate Journal Citation Reports record.

The same caution applies to editorial speed and acceptance statistics. Emerald Insight currently shows a 30.7-day first-decision time, 37 days from acceptance to publication and an 8.1% acceptance rate. The Emerald Group page shows 100 days to first decision and 14.5% acceptance for submissions between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, plus 34 days from acceptance to publication based on an April 2025 update. These figures therefore should be treated as source- and period-specific snapshots, not guarantees for an individual manuscript.

Article Types and Word Counts

The current Emerald Insight page lists three accepted manuscript types:

Emerald’s longer author-guidelines page additionally describes classification categories such as research paper, viewpoint, technical paper, conceptual paper, case study, literature review and general review. Because the newer Emerald Insight interface presents the accepted manuscript types more compactly, authors should follow the live submission system and the most recent author-guideline wording when selecting a type.

Manuscript and Formatting Requirements

The current Emerald Insight page says article files should be supplied in Microsoft Word, written in UK or US English, use the Harvard reference style, and include up to six short, relevant keywords. It also notes that figure/table word-count estimates should be considered in the total. Emerald’s detailed author page requires a structured abstract and provides extensive instructions for figures, tables, author details, funding and supplementary material.

Structured abstract

The detailed Emerald guidance asks for a structured abstract with the mandatory headings Purpose, Design/methodology/approach, Findings and Originality. Optional headings include research limitations/implications, practical implications and social implications. The detailed page states a maximum of 250 words for the abstract block including associated submission elements described there.

Author and funding information

All contributing authors should be entered in ScholarOne in the intended publication order. Institutional email and affiliation information should be accurate, all material contributors should be appropriately credited, and external research funding must be acknowledged together with the funder’s role.

Figures, tables and supplementary material

Emerald asks for high-quality electronic figures with clear numbering and captions. Its detailed instructions say tables should be separately supplied and clearly located in the manuscript, while supplementary materials can be hosted with the article or in a trusted repository subject to the journal’s anonymity and accessibility requirements.

A note about conflicting keyword guidance

The older/detailed Emerald Group page still contains wording allowing up to 12 keywords, whereas the current Emerald Insight journal page asks for up to six. Because the current front-end page is more specific and recent-looking, this guide uses six as the practical limit, but the final authority is the live ScholarOne form and author guidelines at the time of submission.

How to Submit a Paper

1. Check journal fit. Read the aims and scope, then review several recent articles using similar theory, method or application context.
2. Choose the manuscript type. Match the paper to the categories currently available in ScholarOne.
3. Prepare the anonymous review file. Because the journal uses double-anonymous review, remove identifying material as instructed by the journal.
4. Prepare metadata. Confirm title, abstract, keywords, authors, affiliations, funding, acknowledgements and declarations.
5. Check references and permissions. Use Harvard-style citations consistently and secure permission for third-party copyrighted material where required.
6. Submit through ScholarOne. Use the official BIJ ScholarOne portal. Emerald’s guidance states that submissions should be made by the author rather than by email or an undisclosed proxy.
7. Respond to editorial queries and peer review. Keep responses evidence-based, specific and respectful; revise the manuscript rather than only explaining why no change was made.

Before pressing submit, reopen the live author guidelines. A correctly formatted paper can still be rejected for fit, contribution or methodological reasons, while a strong paper can lose time through preventable metadata, anonymity or reference problems.

Peer-Review Process

Emerald states that BIJ uses double-anonymous peer review. The current Emerald Insight page says submissions are sent to at least two independent and anonymous reviewers. In a double-anonymous model, reviewer identities are hidden from authors and author identities are intended to be hidden from reviewers, so manuscript preparation should avoid unnecessary identifying information.

Emerald describes the purpose of review as improving rigour and scholarly quality. The publisher’s displayed first-decision statistics should not be interpreted as a promised turnaround time. Editorial triage, reviewer availability, revisions and manuscript complexity can all affect an individual paper.

Open Access, APCs and Publication Charges

BIJ is a hybrid journal. Authors can publish through the subscription route or choose gold open access after acceptance. Emerald states that gold OA uses a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licence and requires an article processing charge. It also offers a green OA route that allows the author accepted manuscript to be self-archived without an embargo after publication under the conditions stated by Emerald.

Emerald’s 2026 open-access page gives a standard hybrid-journal APC of £3,222 / US$4,351 / €3,710, plus VAT where applicable. This is a publisher-level hybrid rate rather than a fee invented for BIJ. Authors should check the live editorial system for the current journal-specific price, institutional agreements, funder arrangements, discounts or waivers before making a funding decision.

Choosing paid open access does not purchase acceptance. Peer review and editorial assessment apply independently of the decision to pay an APC.

Publication Ethics and Research Integrity

Emerald states that it follows guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Submitted work should be original, not simultaneously under consideration elsewhere, appropriately attributed and free of undisclosed conflicts of interest. The publisher may use Crossref Similarity Check to assess originality.

Authors are expected to address ethics approval and informed consent where human participants or relevant data are involved. Funding, conflicts, permissions and prior publication of substantial material should be disclosed where applicable.

AI use

Emerald’s current author guidance says large language models cannot be credited as authors. It requires responsible and transparent AI use, and its policy distinguishes between generating new manuscript content and copy-editing an author’s own existing work. The page states that using generative AI to draft new submission content is not permitted, while copy-editing the author’s original material can be permitted subject to Emerald’s stated principles. Authors should read the current Emerald AI policy before submission because publisher rules can evolve.

How to Decide Whether the Journal Fits Your Manuscript

As a practical publication-readiness step, read at least five to ten recent papers from the journal, especially those closest to your method and topic. Note how they frame benchmarking, structure the abstract, justify the sample, report performance measures and articulate originality.

Recent Research Signals from the Journal

Recent 2026 papers and EarlyCite records show the journal engaging with contemporary operational and managerial problems. Examples include research on financial and sustainability trade-offs in the Portuguese metal wholesale sector, upstream supply-chain visibility in Brazil and Portugal, digitalisation and adaptive supply-chain capabilities, digital-twin readiness for sustainability, and Quality 4.0/5.0 readiness. These examples indicate that the journal’s benchmarking lens is being applied to digital, sustainability and resilience questions as well as more traditional performance measurement.

These examples should be used to understand topical direction, not to reverse-engineer a paper around fashionable keywords. A strong submission still needs a genuine research question, defensible evidence and a contribution consistent with the journal’s aims.

How to Prepare a Stronger Journal-Aligned Manuscript

1. State the benchmark clearly. Explain what is being compared, why that comparator is meaningful and what performance construct is being evaluated.
2. Make the contribution explicit early. The title, abstract and introduction should show the benchmarking/performance contribution rather than forcing reviewers to infer it.
3. Build a journal-relevant literature base. Position the study against recent benchmarking and performance-measurement work without citing BIJ mechanically.
4. Align method and claim. Cross-sectional, longitudinal, case, survey, modelling, review and mixed-method designs can all be valuable, but conclusions should not exceed what the design supports.
5. Explain practical significance. Where appropriate, show how managers, operations teams or policy actors could use the findings to compare, prioritise or improve performance.
6. Audit tables and metrics. Define units, denominators, scoring systems, benchmark groups and uncertainty so comparisons are reproducible.
7. Check anonymity and declarations. Remove identifying clues where required and prepare ethics, funding, conflict and data statements before submission.
8. Perform a final language and reference review. Clear English and consistent Harvard references reduce avoidable friction, but editing cannot compensate for weak research design or poor journal fit.

Pre-Submission Checklist

• The manuscript’s central question fits the journal’s benchmarking and performance-improvement remit.
• The current Emerald author guidelines and ScholarOne fields have been checked on the day of submission.
• The selected manuscript type and word count are compliant.
• The title is concise and the structured abstract clearly states purpose, method, findings and originality.
• Keywords follow the current journal limit and terminology.
• Author identities are handled correctly for double-anonymous review.
• References are complete, accurate and consistently Harvard styled.
• Figures and tables are legible, numbered and supported by clear captions and source/permission information.
• Funding, conflict-of-interest, ethics, consent and AI-use disclosures are complete where applicable.
• Any institutional requirement for Scopus, quartile, Impact Factor or OA status has been independently verified in the designated database.
• The cover letter explains fit and contribution without exaggerating novelty.
• No service provider or editor has promised acceptance; final responsibility for the work remains with the authors.

How Contentxprtz Can Support Publication Readiness Ethically

Contentxprtz can support researchers with manuscript editing, academic proofreading, language polishing, journal-formatting checks, reference consistency, cover-letter editing, reviewer-response editing, manuscript assessment and journal-selection guidance. For a BIJ submission, this may include checking whether the argument makes the benchmarking contribution visible, improving the clarity of a structured abstract, reviewing table and figure presentation, and aligning formatting with the current author instructions.

Such support should strengthen the author’s own scholarship, not replace it. Contentxprtz should not fabricate references, invent data, conceal authorship, make undisclosed intellectual contributions or imply that editing can guarantee acceptance. The journal’s editors and reviewers make the publication decision.

If you want publication-readiness support, see Contentxprtz journal publication services. A useful starting point is to provide the target journal link, current manuscript, tables/figures and any reviewer or supervisor comments so the support can be scoped to the actual submission requirements.

Official Links for Authors

• Benchmarking: An International Journal – Emerald Insight
• Emerald journal information, detailed author guidelines, indexing and metrics
• Official ScholarOne submission portal
• Scopus Source ID 20793
• Emerald open-access and APC information