Cross Cultural & Strategic Management: Scopus, Metrics, Scope and Submission Guide

Quick Answer: What Is Cross Cultural & Strategic Management?

Cross Cultural & Strategic Management is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal published by Emerald Publishing. It examines how culture intersects with strategy, management and international business. The journal is interdisciplinary and is especially relevant to research on cross-cultural management, international management, global strategy, organizational behaviour in international settings, culture-related decision making and other management phenomena shaped by cultural context.

It is covered in major scholarly discovery systems. Emerald displays Scopus citation metrics and lists the journal in the Social Sciences Citation Index, alongside services such as EBSCO Business Source Complete, PsycINFO and other databases. The journal uses double-anonymous peer review, meaning author and reviewer identities are intended to be concealed from each other during review.

Authors considering CCSM should verify two things before submission: first, whether the paper makes a meaningful contribution at the culture–international management intersection; second, whether the manuscript meets the current Emerald author guidelines, including the journal's 8,000–14,000-word range, structured abstract, keyword and reference requirements, anonymisation and ScholarOne submission process.

Key Takeaways for Prospective Authors

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing.
• ISSN: 2059-5794; eISSN: 2059-5808.
• Scopus: Source ID 21100803392 is supplied for this journal; Emerald currently displays Scopus CiteScore metrics.
• Current publisher-displayed metrics: 2025 CiteScore 5.7; 2026 CiteScore Tracker 5.0; 2025 Journal Impact Factor 3.0; 2025 five-year Impact Factor 2.8.
• Review model: double-anonymous peer review.
• Official manuscript length: 8,000–14,000 words, including the structured abstract, references, tables, figures and appendices, with 250 words counted for each figure or table.
• Submission: manuscripts must be submitted by the authors through the journal's ScholarOne system accessed from Emerald; Emerald states that submissions should not be made through third-party proxies.
• Open access: Emerald offers gold and green OA routes; the gold OA APC varies by journal and should be confirmed on the current APC price list or submission system.

Journal Information at a Glance

What This Page Covers

• the journal's identity, publisher and scope
• Scopus, Web of Science-related visibility and current publisher-displayed metrics
• the types of research and manuscripts CCSM invites
• how to decide whether a paper is a realistic scope match
• word count, abstract, keywords, references and file requirements
• double-anonymous peer review, publication timelines and acceptance-rate data
• open-access choices, APC cautions and self-archiving
• ethical requirements and transparent use of AI tools
• practical manuscript-readiness checks before ScholarOne submission

Table of Contents

1. Aims, scope and research fit
2. Scopus, indexing and metrics
3. Manuscript requirements
4. Peer review and publication process
5. Publication-readiness checklist
6. Frequently asked questions

Methodology and Sources Used for This Journal Profile

This guide prioritises the official Emerald journal page for aims and scope, author instructions, editorial leadership, review model, citation metrics, timelines, acceptance rate, indexing statements and open-access information. The supplied Scopus Source ID is linked to the Scopus source profile. ISSN information is cross-checked against the ISSN International Centre record.

Where the current Emerald page does not display SJR, SNIP or Scopus category quartiles, this guide does not treat an unverified third-party value as current. For historical context only, it refers to the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Journal Publishing Guide, which reports 2024 Scopus metrics. Metrics, editorial teams, indexing, APCs and policies can change, so authors should reconfirm time-sensitive facts immediately before submission.

What Does Cross Cultural & Strategic Management Aim to Publish?

CCSM's official aims place global management and cultural crossing at the centre of the journal. Emerald describes the journal as interdisciplinary and welcomes scholarship from international business, management and marketing, as well as relevant work informed by anthropology, economics, political science, psychology and sociology.

The key editorial idea is the intersection of culture with strategic and managerial phenomena. A paper may examine individuals, teams, organizations, institutions or cross-level relationships, but culture should matter to the explanation rather than appearing as a superficial demographic descriptor. The journal indicates particular interest in new and distinctive ideas, multilevel work spanning micro, meso and macro levels, and multidisciplinary research.

The journal accepts theoretical/conceptual and empirical research. Empirical work may use quantitative or qualitative methods. Emerald explicitly states that positive, neutral and negative findings can be publishable when the research is methodologically sound, grounded in relevant theory and literature, interprets why the findings occurred and offers detailed directions for future research. This is important for authors: novelty is not the same as obtaining a statistically significant result; the intellectual contribution and quality of reasoning remain central.

Topics that can plausibly fit the scope

• cross-cultural leadership, teams and decision making
• international strategy, market entry and multinational management
• cultural distance, institutional context and international expansion
• global virtual teams and intercultural collaboration
• culture and innovation, digital transformation or organizational change
• expatriation, global staffing and international human-resource practices
• board, governance or ownership phenomena where cultural context changes strategic outcomes
• consumer or stakeholder behaviour where cultural values connect directly to managerial decisions

These are researcher-oriented interpretations of the published scope, not a closed official topic list. A manuscript can be in a familiar management area and still be unsuitable if the cultural and international-management contribution is weak.

Who Should Consider Submitting to CCSM?

The journal may be a credible target for researchers whose paper makes a theoretically meaningful contribution to international business or international management through a cultural lens. That can include established academics, doctoral researchers, early-career scholars, interdisciplinary teams and practitioners collaborating on rigorous research.

For a PhD scholar, Scopus or Web of Science visibility may satisfy part of an institutional publication rule, but database inclusion alone should not drive journal choice. A strong fit requires alignment among the research question, theory, method, findings and the audience CCSM serves. Authors should also check whether their university recognises the relevant Scopus category, quartile year or JCR metric, because institutions can apply their own rules.

Work is less likely to fit when culture is peripheral, the paper is only a local management study without a persuasive global or cross-cultural contribution, the theoretical grounding is weak, or the contribution cannot be explained beyond a narrow context. Emerald itself advises authors to reread the aims and scope before submission because poor fit can lead to decline without external review.

Understanding Its Scopus Coverage, Indexing and Journal Metrics

The supplied journal record identifies Scopus Source ID 21100803392. Emerald's current metrics panel displays a 2025 CiteScore of 5.7 and a 2026 CiteScore Tracker of 5.0, confirming that Scopus-based citation data are actively associated with the journal. CiteScore Tracker is provisional and updated during the current year, so it should not be confused with the completed annual CiteScore.

Emerald also lists the journal as abstracted or indexed in Social Sciences Citation Index, EBSCO Business Source Complete, PsycINFO, INSPEC and several other services. On the ranking side, the publisher lists inclusion in the Chartered Association of Business Schools Academic Journal Guide, the Australian Business Deans Council Journal Quality List and other national or disciplinary lists. The fact that a journal appears in a ranking list does not mean every institution uses that ranking in the same way.

Impact Factor

Emerald currently displays a 2025 Journal Impact Factor of 3.0 and a 2025 five-year Impact Factor of 2.8. Impact Factor is a Clarivate metric and should not be mixed with CiteScore. Researchers reporting journal quality to a supervisor, promotion committee or doctoral office should state the metric name and year rather than quoting a bare number.

SJR, SNIP and quartile caution

The current Emerald page reviewed for this article does not expose SJR or SNIP. An institutional journal guide from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam reports 2024 SJR 0.707 and SNIP 0.870, with Q1 or Q2 placement depending on Scopus category. Those values are useful historical context, not a substitute for checking the current Scopus source profile. A journal does not have one universal Scopus quartile when it is assigned to multiple subject categories.

What Types of Manuscripts Does the Journal Accept?

During submission, Emerald lists several paper types for CCSM: Regular Paper, Research Notes, Perspective, Distinguished Scholar Essay, Commentary and Book Review. The broader category options described in the author guidance include research paper, viewpoint, technical paper, conceptual paper and case study. Authors should choose the option that best represents the manuscript and follow any type-specific expectations visible in ScholarOne.

The scope itself confirms a strong place for theoretical/conceptual and empirical work. Empirical research can be quantitative or qualitative. A review-oriented manuscript may be possible where it clearly contributes to the journal's intellectual agenda, but an author should not assume that every generic literature review will fit merely because the topic contains the word “culture.” The review must still advance understanding of global management, international business or strategic/managerial phenomena at the intersection of culture.

Preparing a Manuscript for Cross Cultural & Strategic Management

Length and file format

The official author guidelines state that articles should be 8,000 to 14,000 words. That count includes all text, the structured abstract, references, tables, figures and appendices, and authors are asked to allow 250 words for each table or figure. Article files should be supplied in Microsoft Word. A PDF may accompany the Word file but a PDF alone is not acceptable; LaTeX can be used when an accompanying PDF is supplied.

Structured abstract and keywords

Every submission requires a structured abstract. The mandatory headings are Purpose, Design/methodology/approach, Findings and Originality. Research limitations/implications, Practical implications and Social implications are optional where relevant. Emerald states that the abstract should be no more than 250 words in total, including keywords and article classification. Up to 12 short, appropriate keywords may be supplied.

Author details and anonymisation

All contributing authors must be entered in ScholarOne in the intended publication order, and each contributing author needs an account. The journal requests author email, name and affiliation through the submission system. Because the review is double-anonymous, the manuscript itself should not reveal author identity. Emerald advises moving acknowledgements and biographies to separate files and checking figures, captions and self-references for identifying information.

References, funding and supplementary files

References must use a recognised Harvard style. Emerald permits its own Harvard variant and states that another recognised Harvard style can be accepted, provided citations are complete, accurate and consistent. External research funding must be acknowledged and the funder's role described. Supplementary materials may be uploaded in formats listed by Emerald or deposited in a trusted repository, but authors should consider whether repository links could compromise review anonymity.

How to Judge Whether Your Manuscript Really Fits

A practical fit test is to ask whether the paper would still make the same contribution if its cultural context were removed. If the answer is yes, the manuscript may need a stronger explanation of why culture changes the theory, mechanism, boundary condition or managerial implication.

As a practical publication-readiness step, compare your manuscript with several recent CCSM papers. Look at the theories used, level of analysis, methods, cultural constructs and the way authors articulate contribution. This comparison is general publication guidance, not an official journal requirement, but it can reveal mismatches before formal submission.

What Happens After You Submit a Manuscript?

CCSM uses a double-anonymous peer review process. The journal explains that reviewers are matched to manuscripts based on relevant expertise and are expected to provide constructive, critically engaged feedback. Author and reviewer identities should therefore be protected in the files supplied for review.

Before a manuscript reaches external reviewers, editorial screening can assess fit, completeness, ethics and basic quality. Emerald explicitly advises authors to confirm that the work matches the aims and scope because a poor fit may be declined without peer review. Authors should therefore treat the title, abstract, introduction and contribution statement as part of the fit demonstration, not merely as formatting elements.

The publisher currently states a 60-day time to first decision, based on submissions between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. It also displays a 9.9% acceptance rate for that same submission period. Separately, Emerald lists 59 days from acceptance to publication, with the underlying figure marked as last updated July 2024. These statistics describe historical journal performance and are not a promise for an individual manuscript.

If accepted, the paper enters production, including editorial checks, copyediting, typesetting and author proofs. Emerald describes the online version of record published before issue assignment as EarlyCite; it receives a DOI and is citable before being placed into a scheduled issue.

Open Access, APCs and Self-Archiving

Emerald describes two open-access routes for its journals: gold open access and green open access. Gold OA makes the publisher's version of record freely available on publication under a CC BY 4.0 licence. If authors choose gold OA, an article processing charge is payable after acceptance. The journal page does not state a fixed CCSM APC amount in the text reviewed here; Emerald directs authors to its APC price list or the editorial system because the amount varies by journal.

The green route allows authors to self-archive the accepted manuscript. Emerald states that the author accepted manuscript can be made openly available without an embargo once the article has been published. Funding agreements, institutional read-and-publish arrangements or national mandates may affect the practical cost to an individual author, so fee and eligibility checks should be made before choosing the route.

Authors should not confuse “the journal offers open access” with “every article requires an APC.” The APC is associated with the gold OA choice described by Emerald; researchers should review the current options in ScholarOne and the publisher's open research information before committing funds.

Publishing Ethics, Originality and Responsible AI Use

Emerald states that manuscripts should be original, not simultaneously submitted elsewhere and compliant with research and publishing ethics. The publisher follows Committee on Publication Ethics guidance and may use Crossref Similarity Check. Conflicts of interest should be declared, copyright and third-party permissions must be addressed, and studies involving human participants should include appropriate consent and ethics approval information where required.

For AI, Emerald's current policy is particularly important. The publisher does not permit generative AI to be credited as an author and requires responsible, transparent use. Its journal guidance states that generative AI should not be used to copywrite new submission content, while copy-editing an author's own original existing work to improve structure, clarity, language or grammar is permitted under the policy's conditions. Authors should read the current Emerald AI policy before submission because publisher rules can evolve.

For researchers using professional editing, the ethical boundary is similar: an editor can improve language, structure, formatting, references and readiness without fabricating data, inventing citations, disguising authorship or making undisclosed research decisions. Responsibility for the data, analysis, arguments, ethics and final manuscript remains with the authors.

Publication-Readiness Checklist for CCSM

Common Reasons a Paper May Be Unsuitable or Unready

1. Culture is incidental. A national sample alone does not establish a cross-cultural or cultural-management contribution.
2. The international-business contribution is unclear. The journal explicitly expects research papers to explain what they contribute to international business and managing in the global context.
3. Theoretical framing is too thin. Descriptive cultural differences need a defensible mechanism and relationship to prior theory.
4. The manuscript falls outside the word range. CCSM's official guideline is 8,000–14,000 words under a broad counting method.
5. The abstract is unstructured or too long. The journal requires designated structured-abstract headings and a 250-word limit including keywords and classification.
6. Anonymous review is compromised. Identifying details can undermine double-anonymous review.
7. References or declarations are incomplete. Inaccurate references, undeclared funding/conflicts or missing ethics information can create avoidable editorial problems.
8. The paper is submitted through an intermediary. Emerald states that authors should submit directly through the journal's ScholarOne site rather than through third-party proxies.

How Contentxprtz Can Support Ethical Publication Readiness

Preparing for CCSM requires more than proofreading. The manuscript must demonstrate journal fit, articulate a clear theoretical contribution, follow the structured abstract and word-count rules, maintain anonymous-review readiness and present citations, tables and figures consistently.

Contentxprtz can support authors with academic editing, manuscript editing, proofreading, journal formatting, reference and citation consistency, manuscript assessment, cover-letter editing, reviewer-response editing and publication-readiness review. The goal of this support is to help authors communicate their own research clearly and comply with applicable journal requirements.

Contentxprtz does not control Emerald's editorial decisions and cannot guarantee peer-review success, journal acceptance or publication. Authors remain responsible for research integrity, data, analysis, interpretation, source verification, policy compliance and final submission.

Explore journal publication and manuscript-readiness support if you want help aligning presentation and submission materials with the journal's stated requirements.

Summary: Is Cross Cultural & Strategic Management a Good Target?

Cross Cultural & Strategic Management is a strong potential target when a manuscript sits genuinely at the intersection of culture and international or strategic management. Its interdisciplinary scope allows theoretical, quantitative and qualitative approaches, but authors are expected to make a clear contribution to the literature and to international business or managing in a global context.

The journal is published by Emerald, uses double-anonymous peer review, carries Scopus citation metrics and is listed by Emerald in the Social Sciences Citation Index and other major databases. Current publisher-displayed figures include a 2025 CiteScore of 5.7 and 2025 Journal Impact Factor of 3.0, while the publisher also reports a 9.9% acceptance rate for the 2024–2025 submission period. These indicators provide context, not a prediction of acceptance.

Before submission, verify the live author guidelines and metric year, check the manuscript against recent CCSM papers, satisfy the 8,000–14,000-word and structured-abstract requirements, anonymise the review file and submit directly through Emerald's ScholarOne link. Scope alignment and research quality should drive the decision before metrics or ranking.

Conclusion: Prioritise Fit, Then Prepare Precisely

CCSM can be an appropriate home for rigorous research where culture is integral to explaining international, strategic or managerial phenomena. The journal's scope is broad enough for interdisciplinary and multilevel work, yet specific enough that a generic management manuscript may not fit without a convincing cross-cultural and global-management contribution.

Recheck the live Emerald author guidelines, Scopus profile and any metric or fee your institution requires on the day you submit. Then focus on what matters most to editors and reviewers: a sound research question, strong theory, credible methods, clear interpretation and a manuscript that follows the journal's practical requirements.

Optional professional support can improve clarity and submission readiness while preserving author responsibility. At Contentxprtz, we don’t just edit; we help ideas reach their fullest potential.