Corporate Communications: An International Journal: Scopus, Metrics and Submission Guide

Quick Answer: What Is Corporate Communications: An International Journal?

Corporate Communications: An International Journal is a peer-reviewed Emerald journal concerned with how organisations communicate strategically with internal and external stakeholders. Emerald describes the journal as addressing the growing recognition that communication is not only a marketing or public-relations function but part of the organisation as a whole. The journal combines academically grounded and practically relevant work across corporate public relations, public affairs and corporate communications.

Its print ISSN is 1356-3289 and eISSN is 1758-6046. The publisher identifies the journal as ranked by Scopus, and the supplied Scopus record points to Source ID 144962. On Emerald’s current metrics panel, the 2025 CiteScore is 6.3, the 2026 CiteScore Tracker is 5.5, the 2025 Journal Impact Factor is 3.3 and the 2025 five-year Impact Factor is 3.1.

Authors considering CCIJ should pay particular attention to whether the manuscript makes a clear contribution to corporate, organisational, public-relations or stakeholder communication research and whether it speaks to the journal’s international and applied orientation. Before submitting, confirm the latest author guidelines, article classification, fees and metrics on the official Emerald page.

Key Takeaways for Prospective Authors

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing.
• Journal identity: Corporate Communications: An International Journal (CCIJ), ISSN 1356-3289, eISSN 1758-6046.
• Scopus: Emerald lists the journal as ranked by Scopus; the supplied source record is Scopus Source ID 144962.
• Current metrics: Emerald displays CiteScore 2025 = 6.3 and 2025 Journal Impact Factor = 3.3; metrics should always be read with their reporting year.
• Review model: double-anonymous review, with suitable submissions sent to at least two independent referees.
• Manuscript length: Emerald’s current author instructions state 6,000–8,000 words, including the structured abstract, references, table/figure text and appendices, with 250 words allowed for each figure or table.
• Open access: authors may choose gold OA after acceptance; green self-archiving is also available under Emerald’s policy. There is no journal submission fee stated; a gold-OA APC applies only if that route is chosen.
• Submission: the corresponding author submits directly through ScholarOne. Emerald states that submission should not be made by a third-party proxy.

Journal Information at a Glance

The table below brings together the identifiers and current items that can be supported by the supplied source record and Emerald’s official journal information.

Interpretation: a Scopus listing and current citation metrics can be relevant when an institution uses database indexing in its publication criteria. They do not establish manuscript fit on their own. A paper can meet an institutional indexing requirement and still be unsuitable for CCIJ if the research question, theory, method or audience falls outside the journal’s editorial scope.

What This Page Covers

• the journal’s identity, publisher, ISSN/eISSN and Scopus Source ID;
• aims, scope and research themes;
• current Emerald-displayed citation metrics and publication indicators;
• manuscript length, abstract, keywords, files, references and submission requirements;
• double-anonymous peer review and editorial screening;
• gold and green open-access options and the fee position;
• publication ethics, authorship, AI-use and research-integrity expectations;
• a practical journal-fit and publication-readiness checklist.

Methodology and Sources Used for This Journal Guide

This article prioritises the official Emerald journal page and author guidelines, the supplied Scopus source identifier, the Scopus source profile, the official ScholarOne submission portal, and Emerald’s publishing-ethics guidance. Where a metric or policy is time-sensitive, the reporting year or period is stated. Values not verified from an authoritative current source are not estimated.

Journal metrics, editorial roles, special issues, fees, indexing status and submission policies can change after this page is published. Authors should recheck the official sources before making a submission decision or using a metric for institutional reporting.

What Does Corporate Communications: An International Journal Aim to Publish?

Emerald frames CCIJ around the idea that organisational communication is not confined to the marketing or PR department. Communication affects how organisations operate internally, manage public relationships and explain themselves to stakeholders. The journal therefore sits at the intersection of communication research and management practice rather than treating communication as a narrow publicity function.

The official aims and scope identify a mix of pure and applied research in corporate public relations, public affairs and corporate communications. Specific examples listed by Emerald include how company communications can affect profitability, how employee communication can influence productivity and performance, press and media relations, access to information about central and local government affairs, and investor relations and financial PR.

Research themes that can plausibly align with the scope

• strategic corporate communication and communication management;
• internal and employee communication, voice, trust and engagement;
• media relations, reputation, corporate identity and stakeholder relationships;
• public affairs and the communication of organisational positions in contested public environments;
• investor relations, financial communication and corporate disclosure;
• CSR, sustainability and responsible-business communication;
• crisis and risk communication where the organisational communication contribution is central;
• digital, data-driven and AI-mediated corporate communication;
• international, comparative and cross-cultural corporate communication;
• communication measurement, analytics and evaluation.

Recent Emerald calls for papers reinforce the breadth of this agenda. Topics include quantitative research, analytics and big data in corporate communications; the history of public relations; the politicisation of CSR communication; and the future of internal communication. Those calls should be treated as examples of current editorial interest, not as a complete boundary for regular submissions.

What may be a weaker fit?

A manuscript is more likely to struggle with fit if corporate or organisational communication is only incidental—for example, a general marketing study with no substantive communication contribution, a purely technical information-systems paper, or a workplace study that discusses communication only as a control variable. The safer test is whether the paper’s central research question and contribution would matter to CCIJ’s communication-focused readership.

Is This Journal a Good Match for Your Research?

For journal selection, start with the contribution rather than the title of your discipline. CCIJ’s scope is broad enough to accommodate work from communication, business, management and related social-science perspectives, but the manuscript still needs a clear communication problem, theoretical position or practical contribution.

As a practical publication-readiness step, compare your abstract with several recent CCIJ papers. Look for overlap in research questions, theoretical conversations, methods and the level at which the contribution is made. This is general journal-selection guidance, not an Emerald submission rule.

Understanding Its Scopus Coverage and Current Journal Metrics

Emerald currently lists CCIJ among journals ranked by Scopus. The source record supplied with this task identifies Scopus Source ID 144962. That combination is useful for distinguishing this journal from similarly named publications and for authors whose institutions specifically ask for Scopus-listed outlets.

Emerald’s metrics panel currently displays a 2025 CiteScore of 6.3 and a 2026 CiteScore Tracker of 5.5. The tracker is a changing current-year indicator rather than a final annual CiteScore, so it should not be quoted as if it were a fixed 2026 score. Emerald also displays a 2025 Journal Impact Factor of 3.3 and a 2025 five-year Impact Factor of 3.1.

The official Emerald page reviewed for this guide does not display SJR, SNIP or a Scopus quartile. Rather than import an unverified figure from an unofficial ranking page, this guide marks those items for direct database verification. If your university requires a particular quartile, check the latest Scopus/SCImago or institutional source your programme recognises and confirm both the year and subject category, because quartiles can vary by category and reporting cycle.

Publication indicators shown by Emerald

Emerald also displays an acceptance rate of 42.9% for submissions between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, a time to first decision of 64 days for its stated reporting dataset, and 34 days from acceptance to publication for the previous 12 months as last updated in April 2025. These are historical performance indicators, not promises for an individual manuscript. The author-guideline text separately states a goal of informing authors of a first decision within 60 days.

What Types of Articles and Contributions Does the Journal Publish?

The current author-guideline interface asks authors to select an article type and category during submission. It explicitly shows Original Article and Editorial as article-type options, while the journal’s broader description refers to a combination of articles, research, viewpoints and news. For a standard scholarly submission, researchers should use the classification options actually presented in ScholarOne at the time of submission.

Do not assume that a review article, conceptual paper or practitioner piece is accepted under a particular label simply because similar work appears in past issues. If your manuscript does not map clearly to the current submission categories, contact the editor with the title and structured abstract, as Emerald recommends for authors unsure about suitability.

Preparing a Manuscript for CCIJ

According to Emerald’s current author instructions, the main article should be 6,000–8,000 words. This count includes the structured abstract, references, text within tables and figures, and appendices; the instructions say to allow 250 words for each figure or table. The manuscript must be provided in Microsoft Word format. A PDF may accompany the Word file, but PDF alone is not acceptable. LaTeX may also be used when accompanied by a PDF.

Structured abstract and keywords

Every submission needs a structured abstract of up to 250 words in total, including keywords and article classification. The required headings are Purpose; Design/methodology/approach; Findings; and Originality. Research limitations/implications, Practical implications and Social implications are optional where relevant. Emerald asks for up to 12 short keywords.

Author details, anonymity and acknowledgements

Author details are entered in ScholarOne, and each contributing author needs an account. Because the journal uses double-anonymous review, the review manuscript should not contain identifying author information. Emerald specifically advises moving acknowledgements and biographies to separate files and checking figures, captions and self-references for clues to identity. If biographies are included, the journal asks for no more than 100 words per named author.

Tables, supplementary material and references

Tables should be submitted separately from the main article, numbered consecutively in Roman numerals, with their intended position indicated in the manuscript. Supplementary files should be uploaded before acceptance and should be clearly labelled. References must use a recognised Harvard style; Emerald’s own Harvard style is acceptable, and DOI information should be included where available.

How Do You Submit a Manuscript?

Submissions are made through CCIJ’s ScholarOne portal. Emerald states that the corresponding author should submit directly through the official editorial system and that submissions should not be made by email or by a third-party agent, company or proxy on the author’s behalf. Contentxprtz can support preparation, formatting and readiness, but the author remains responsible for the submission and scholarly content.

1. Read the current aims and scope and compare the manuscript with recent CCIJ papers.
2. Prepare the anonymised manuscript and separate author-identifying files.
3. Confirm the word count, structured abstract, keywords, tables, references and ethics statements.
4. Enter all contributing authors accurately in ScholarOne and add ORCID identifiers where available.
5. Upload the manuscript and supporting files, select the appropriate article classification, and complete declarations.
6. Review the generated submission proof before finalising.

After successful submission, ScholarOne sends a confirmation and manuscript number. Keep that number for future correspondence and use the official journal contacts if any communication appears suspicious.

What Happens After You Submit?

Emerald explains that each submission is first screened by the journal’s editorial office. A manuscript can be declined or returned at this stage if it does not fit the submission policies or aims and scope, or if the language/manuscript quality is too low for review. This makes pre-submission fit and clarity particularly important.

If the paper is considered potentially suitable, it is sent to at least two independent referees under a double-anonymous peer-review process. Reviewers do not receive author identities, and authors are not told reviewer identities. After review, the editor may accept, request minor or major revisions, or decline the manuscript.

The journal also participates in Emerald’s manuscript transfer service. A transfer suggestion can help identify another Emerald journal if CCIJ is not the right home, but Emerald expressly notes that transfer does not guarantee publication by the receiving journal.

Responding to reviewer comments

When revision is invited, treat the response letter as a structured scholarly document: address each comment, state exactly what changed, identify page or line locations, and explain respectfully when a suggestion cannot be followed. This is general publication guidance rather than a CCIJ-specific rule, but it helps editors and reviewers assess a revision efficiently.

Open Access, Publication Fees and Author Rights

CCIJ is not presented by Emerald as a fully sponsored open-access journal. Emerald currently offers two OA routes across its journals: gold open access and green open access/self-archiving. If an accepted author chooses gold OA, the version of record is made openly available under a CC BY 4.0 licence and an article processing charge is payable after acceptance.

The official journal FAQ states that there is no submission, processing or review fee outside the gold-OA route. The exact APC can vary and should be checked on Emerald’s current APC price list or in the editorial system at the point of submission. Because a current journal-specific amount was not directly verified for this article, no APC value is guessed here.

For green OA, Emerald states that the author accepted manuscript can be made openly available under its self-archiving policy without a payment and without an embargo period once the official publication is available. Authors should still review the latest rights and repository wording that applies to their institution or funder.

Research Ethics, Authorship and Responsible AI Use

Emerald states that its publishing ethics follow guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Submissions must be original, not simultaneously under consideration elsewhere, and transparent about conflicts of interest, funding, permissions and research ethics. Where human participants are involved, authors must consider ethical approval and informed consent and include the required statements.

The current Emerald policy also requires appropriate authorship: people who made substantial and meaningful contributions should be included, while non-contributors should not be listed. Large language models cannot be credited as authors. Emerald’s AI policy reviewed for this guide permits generative-AI-assisted copy-editing of an author’s own original work subject to accountability and transparency, but states that using generative AI to create or draft new submission content is not permitted. Authors should read the full current policy before using AI tools in manuscript preparation.

Crossref Similarity Check may be used to assess originality. Similarity software is not a substitute for good citation practice: authors remain responsible for accurate attribution, permissions, quotation and paraphrasing.

How to Make a Manuscript More Journal-Aligned Before Submission

A strong submission is not simply well written; it makes its fit visible. In the introduction and discussion, the manuscript should show why the problem matters to corporate communication scholarship or practice, how it engages with relevant literature and what readers of CCIJ gain from the findings.

• Clarify the communication contribution. Do not leave readers to infer why the topic belongs in a corporate communication journal.
• Use recent journal literature selectively. Cite CCIJ papers when genuinely relevant, not to manufacture fit.
• Match claims to the method. Avoid causal language when the design supports only association or interpretation.
• Strengthen international relevance. A single-country study can still fit an international journal when the conceptual problem and implications travel beyond one setting.
• Make practical implications evidence-based. CCIJ has a practical orientation, but managerial recommendations should arise from the data and analysis.
• Check anonymity. Remove self-identifying details that could compromise double-anonymous review.
• Follow the exact current author instructions. Formatting errors are avoidable friction and can delay editorial handling.

Although these steps cannot guarantee peer-review success, they can reduce preventable problems and help editors and reviewers evaluate the manuscript on its scholarly merits.

How Contentxprtz Can Support Publication Readiness Ethically

Contentxprtz can assist researchers with academic editing, manuscript editing, proofreading, journal-format alignment, reference consistency, cover-letter refinement, manuscript assessment and reviewer-response editing. For a CCIJ submission, that support may include checking whether the structured abstract is complete, improving clarity in an author’s existing text, reviewing consistency with Harvard referencing, and flagging places where the manuscript’s communication contribution is not yet clear.

Support should remain within ethical boundaries. Contentxprtz does not control editorial decisions and cannot guarantee acceptance, indexing, publication speed, citations or peer-review outcomes. The researcher remains responsible for the study design, data, analysis, originality, claims, citations, authorship, disclosures and final submission.

Final Journal-Fit Checklist

• My central research question is genuinely about corporate, organisational, public-relations, public-affairs or stakeholder communication.
• I can explain the manuscript’s contribution to the readership CCIJ serves.
• I have compared the paper with recent CCIJ articles and current calls for papers where relevant.
• I have confirmed my institution’s current Scopus/Impact Factor/quartile requirements independently.
• The manuscript is within the current 6,000–8,000-word guidance or I have checked whether an exception applies.
• The structured abstract uses the required headings and stays within the stated limit.
• All author-identifying material has been separated from the double-anonymous review file.
• Ethics, consent, funding, conflicts and permissions are fully addressed where applicable.
• References and DOIs have been checked for accuracy and consistency.
• I have reviewed the official Emerald page immediately before submission for changes in policies, metrics or fees.

Should You Consider CCIJ for Your Manuscript?

CCIJ may be a strong candidate for research in corporate communication, strategic communication, public relations, internal communication, public affairs, stakeholder relationships, CSR communication, media relations or investor communication when the manuscript makes a clear contribution to that community. Its Scopus listing and current Emerald-displayed citation metrics may also make it relevant where researchers need recognised database visibility.

The final decision should still begin with scope and readership. Recheck the official author guidelines, current metrics and fee information; compare your paper with recent publications; and prepare the manuscript carefully for double-anonymous review. Professional editing or publication-readiness support can help improve presentation and alignment, but it cannot substitute for original research or guarantee an editorial outcome.