International Journal of Project Management: Scopus, Metrics & Submission Guide

Quick Answer: What Is the International Journal of Project Management?

The International Journal of Project Management (IJPM) is an Elsevier-published journal focused on project management and project organizing. It is published in collaboration with the Association for Project Management (APM) and the International Project Management Association (IPMA). Its scope includes projects, programs, portfolios, project-based and project-oriented organizations, project networks and project-oriented societies.

Elsevier lists the journal in Scopus and the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). The supplied Scopus record identifies Source ID 19696. The official journal page lists print ISSN 0263-7863 and online ISSN 1873-4634. These identifiers are important because journal names can be similar across databases.

For researchers deciding whether to submit, the main test is not simply whether a project appears in the dataset. The manuscript should make a meaningful contribution to project management or project organizing and connect the specific empirical context to wider theory, scholarship or practice.

Key Takeaways

• Publisher and collaboration: Elsevier; published with APM and IPMA.
• Scopus: Listed by Elsevier as indexed in Scopus; supplied Scopus Source ID 19696.
• Identifiers: ISSN 0263-7863; online ISSN 1873-4634.
• Current displayed metrics: Elsevier Journal Insights shows CiteScore 14.2 and Impact Factor 7.5; reconfirm before formal use.
• Peer review: Double-blind review by two or more specialists according to the Guide for Authors.
• Typical manuscript length: 8,000–10,000 words for most manuscripts, subject to the journal’s stated counting method.
• Publishing model: Hybrid: subscription publishing without an author publication fee, or optional gold open access with a currently displayed APC of USD 3,200 excluding taxes.
• Acceptance is not guaranteed: Strong fit, theoretical contribution, methodological rigor and clear presentation remain essential.

Journal Information at a Glance

What This Page Covers

• Journal aims, scope and subject alignment.
• Scopus identity, major indexing and visible metrics.
• Article fit and reasons a paper may be unsuitable.
• Manuscript length, abstract, highlights, references and anonymization.
• Submission through Elsevier Editorial Manager.
• Peer-review model and journal-reported timelines.
• Open-access choice and the currently displayed APC.
• Ethical preparation, AI disclosure and authorship responsibilities.

Methodology and Source Note

This profile was prepared from the supplied Scopus journal record and authoritative publisher/database sources, primarily the official International Journal of Project Management pages on ScienceDirect, Elsevier’s Guide for Authors, Elsevier Journal Insights, Elsevier Shop, and Clarivate’s journal title list. Metrics, editorial teams, fees, indexing status and submission policies can change; authors should reconfirm critical facts immediately before submission or institutional reporting.

International Journal of Project Management Aims and Scope

IJPM is positioned around research that advances understanding of project management and project organizing. The official scope emphasizes managing projects, programs and portfolios; project-based and project-oriented organizations; networks; and project-oriented societies. It explicitly welcomes project scholarship viewed through organizational behavior, strategy, supply chains, technology, change, innovation and sustainability.

The journal is not restricted to one project sector. Its scope extends across organizational development and change, strategic transformation, sustainability transitions, product development, engineering, infrastructure and systems delivery. It also spans sectors such as information technology, manufacturing, construction, consulting and professional services, public-sector work, international development and cooperation.

What the scope means for authors

A manuscript can be strongly contextual—such as infrastructure megaprojects, digital transformation, public projects or sustainable transitions—but the paper should explain why the findings matter beyond the immediate case. Elsevier’s scope language stresses the importance of broader theoretical implications from contextualized project research.

As a practical journal-selection step, compare your research question, theoretical framing and methods with several recent IJPM papers. A study that simply uses a project as its setting may be weaker than one that contributes directly to debates about temporary organizing, project governance, project behavior, portfolio management, innovation, sustainability, technology or related project scholarship.

Subject Areas and Research Themes

Elsevier Journal Insights lists subject areas including Management Science and Operations Research, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Business and International Management, Management of Technology and Innovation, and Civil and Structural Engineering.

Scopus Indexing, Web of Science Visibility and Journal Metrics

Elsevier’s official Journal Insights page lists Scopus among the journal’s abstracting and indexing services. The supplied source record gives Scopus Source ID 19696. For verification, use the title together with ISSN 0263-7863 and EISSN 1873-4634.

Clarivate’s journal title list also includes the International Journal of Project Management under these ISSNs, while Elsevier lists the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) in Journal Insights. This supports major-database visibility, but institutional rules may require a specific current category, quartile or year.

Elsevier currently displays CiteScore 14.2 and Impact Factor 7.5. The page also identifies SJR and SNIP as relevant metrics/indexing services, but this guide does not state numerical SJR or SNIP values because a current official numeric value was not verified. Likewise, it does not label the journal Q1/Q2/Q3/Q4 without a current category-and-year record from the applicable database.

Article Types and Recent Publication Signals

The journal primarily publishes substantive research that advances project-management and project-organizing knowledge. The Guide for Authors is structured around full research manuscripts, while the current articles-in-press page also shows that formats such as short communications can appear. Authors should therefore confirm the article type available in the live submission system before preparing a non-standard format.

Recent and forthcoming themes visible on the journal site include AI and organizational/project readiness, inter-organizational collaboration, sustainability transitions, circular economy, digitalization of projects, philosophy in project management, temporary organizing, project cognition and grand challenges. These examples are useful signals of active scholarly conversations, not a closed list of acceptable topics.

Manuscript Requirements: What Authors Should Prepare

The IJPM Guide for Authors uses Elsevier’s “Your Paper Your Way” approach for initial submission. A new manuscript may be submitted as a single Word or PDF file suitable for refereeing, with fuller source-file requirements applying at revision. The journal nevertheless specifies several substantive requirements that should be addressed from the beginning.

• Most manuscripts accepted by the journal are 8,000–10,000 words, including figures and tables and excluding references. The guide counts each figure and table as 300 words.
• The manuscript should be double-spaced, single-column, typically 11- or 12-point type, with 2.5 cm margins and page numbers.
• An abstract of up to 150 words is required, with at least two keywords.
• Highlights are mandatory: 3–5 bullet points, no more than 85 characters including spaces per bullet, supplied as a separate editable file.
• Sections should be clearly defined and numbered.
• At initial submission, reference formatting can be flexible if it is complete and internally consistent; DOI inclusion is strongly encouraged where applicable.
• A cover letter and manuscript word count are requested in the submission checklist.
• Corresponding-author email and full postal address must be provided.
• A competing-interests statement is required even when there is nothing to declare.

Reference and literature expectations

The guide stresses that a paper should be located in current research and show originality. It notes that a significant proportion of citations—typically at least one third—should be refereed papers from the previous five years, while still including seminal earlier scholarship where needed. This is not a reason to add citations mechanically; relevance and intellectual positioning matter more than a quota-driven reference list.

Double-Blind Peer Review and Anonymization

The official Guide for Authors states that submissions are refereed on a double-blind basis by two or more specialists. The author and referees do not know each other’s identities, and referees do not know the identity of other referees.

Authors should prepare a separate title page containing names, affiliations and corresponding-author details, and a blinded manuscript without identifying information. File names, acknowledgements, self-citations and tracked comments should be checked carefully so that anonymization is not accidentally broken.

Journal-Reported Review and Publication Timelines

Elsevier Journal Insights currently reports the following journal-level indicators: 6 days from submission to first decision, 82 days from submission to decision after review, 391 days from submission to acceptance, and 2 days from acceptance to online publication.

These figures describe reported journal performance and should not be treated as a deadline or guarantee for a specific paper. Review complexity, reviewer availability, revisions, special collections and editorial decisions can all change the path of an individual manuscript.

Open Access and Publication Fees

IJPM uses a hybrid publishing model. Elsevier currently displays an optional gold open-access APC of USD 3,200 excluding taxes. It also states that the subscription publication route carries no publication fee charged to authors. The amount payable for open access may be reduced depending on agreements or author circumstances.

Because APCs and institutional agreements can change, verify the final fee shown during submission and check whether your institution, funder or country participates in an Elsevier open-access agreement.

Publication Ethics and Responsible Manuscript Preparation

The Guide for Authors incorporates Elsevier policies on ethics, authorship, competing interests, funding, copyright, originality checks, inclusive language and declarations involving generative AI. Submission indicates that the work is not simultaneously under consideration elsewhere and has been approved by the authors and relevant responsible authorities.

Corresponding authors are asked to provide contributor roles using the CRediT taxonomy. The guide also explains that manuscripts may be checked using Crossref Similarity Check and other originality tools.

Generative AI disclosure

The guide states that use of generative AI or AI-assisted technology in manuscript preparation must be declared when applicable, with authors retaining responsibility for the submitted content. Basic grammar, spelling and reference-checking tools are treated differently in the publisher guidance. Researchers should review the latest policy immediately before submission because publisher AI policies can evolve.

How to Decide Whether IJPM Fits Your Manuscript

Common Reasons a Manuscript May Be Unsuitable

• The paper does not make a clear contribution to project management or project organizing.
• The manuscript describes a project-management practice without developing a research contribution.
• Theoretical positioning is thin or disconnected from recent field debates.
• Methods are not sufficiently rigorous, transparent or appropriate for the research question.
• The manuscript falls materially outside the journal’s typical length or submission instructions.
• The paper is not anonymized correctly for double-blind review.
• The abstract, highlights, cover letter or required declarations are missing.
• Ethical, authorship, competing-interest or originality expectations have not been addressed.

Step-by-Step Submission Process

1. Confirm fit: read the current aims and scope and compare your paper with recent articles.
2. Prepare the title page: include title, authors, affiliations, acknowledgements, declarations and full corresponding-author contact details.
3. Create the blinded manuscript: remove author-identifying details and check file metadata/comments.
4. Check length and structure: verify the 8,000–10,000-word guidance and required sections.
5. Prepare abstract, keywords and highlights: abstract up to 150 words; at least two keywords; 3–5 mandatory highlights.
6. Complete declarations: competing interests, funding, authorship/CRediT and AI-use disclosure where applicable.
7. Write the cover letter: state the manuscript’s contribution, journal fit and word count without making promotional claims.
8. Submit through Editorial Manager: use the official IJPM submission portal.
9. Respond to review carefully: if invited to revise, provide an anonymous, point-by-point response and a clean revised manuscript as requested.

Active Calls and Research Directions as of 10 August 2026

The journal’s call-for-papers pages show several collections with deadlines still ahead of 10 August 2026, including digitalisation of and by projects (30 September 2026), the transformational role of philosophy in project management (30 September 2026), circular economy in project management (30 October 2026), and tackling grand challenges with projects (31 December 2026). Authors should open the live call page before planning a submission because deadlines and collection status can change.

Publication-Readiness Checklist for IJPM

• The research question is clearly connected to project management or project organizing.
• The contribution is explicit in the introduction and conclusion.
• Recent IJPM literature and relevant adjacent scholarship are engaged.
• Methods match the research question and include appropriate validity/quality discussion.
• The manuscript is within the journal’s stated typical word range or has a defensible reason for deviation.
• Abstract is no more than 150 words and keywords are included.
• Three to five highlights meet the 85-character limit.
• Title page and blinded manuscript are separated correctly.
• References are complete, consistent and cross-checked against in-text citations.
• Competing interests, funding, CRediT and AI-use declarations are addressed where applicable.
• Tables and figures are readable, necessary and positioned appropriately for review.
• The cover letter explains contribution and fit without claiming entitlement to acceptance.

How Contentxprtz Can Support IJPM Publication Readiness

Contentxprtz can support researchers preparing for journals such as IJPM through ethical, author-controlled services. Depending on the manuscript, this may include journal publication support, academic editing, language polishing, journal-fit assessment, manuscript formatting, reference and citation checks, cover-letter editing, pre-submission review and reviewer-response editing.

Support should strengthen clarity, consistency and compliance without changing the ownership of the research. The researcher remains responsible for data, analysis, interpretations, authorship, disclosures, source accuracy and the final submission. Contentxprtz does not control editorial decisions and does not guarantee acceptance or publication.

Summary: International Journal of Project Management

The International Journal of Project Management is an Elsevier journal published with APM and IPMA and focused on advancing project-management and project-organizing scholarship. Elsevier lists the journal in Scopus and SSCI; the supplied record identifies Scopus Source ID 19696. Its verified identifiers are ISSN 0263-7863 and online ISSN 1873-4634.

Elsevier currently displays CiteScore 14.2, Impact Factor 7.5, optional open-access APC of USD 3,200 excluding taxes, and a subscription route without an author publication fee. The Guide for Authors specifies double-blind review, typical 8,000–10,000-word manuscripts, a maximum 150-word abstract, mandatory highlights and online submission through Editorial Manager. Authors should verify live metrics, fees and policy details immediately before submission.

Conclusion: Evaluate Fit Before You Format

IJPM can be a strong target when a manuscript makes a clear, rigorous contribution to project management or project organizing and connects its specific project context to wider scholarly debates. Indexing and metrics matter for visibility and institutional requirements, but they do not replace scope fit, theoretical contribution, methodological quality or responsible reporting.

Before submitting, verify the live journal page, reread the Guide for Authors, compare your manuscript with recent IJPM work, and complete a final anonymization and ethics check. For professional support with publication readiness, use Contentxprtz journal publication services as an editorial support resource—not as a promise of acceptance.