Journal of Intellectual Capital: Scopus Indexing, Metrics, Scope and Submission Guide

Key Takeaways

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing; print ISSN 1469-1930 and eISSN 1758-7468.
• Scopus indexing is listed by Emerald; the supplied source record identifies Scopus Source ID 144669.
• Emerald reports 2025 CiteScore 14.9, 2026 CiteScore Tracker 12.5, 2025 Impact Factor 6.8 and 2025 five-year Impact Factor 8.0.
• The journal focuses on original theoretical and empirical contributions to intellectual-capital research.
• Articles should normally be 7,000–10,000 words and include a structured abstract and up to 12 keywords.
• Peer review is double anonymous, with at least two independent referees for manuscripts sent to review.
• Standard publication does not carry a submission fee; gold open access is optional after acceptance and involves an APC.
• Submission must be made directly by the author through the journal’s ScholarOne system—not by a third-party proxy.

Journal Information at a Glance

What This Page Covers

• Aims, scope and subject fit
• Scopus and citation metrics
• Recent research themes
• Article classifications
• Manuscript requirements
• Peer review and timelines
• Open access and fees
• Ethics and publication readiness
• Submission workflow

Methodology and Sources

This profile was prepared from the official Emerald journal page and author guidelines, the journal’s current issue and EarlyCite pages, the supplied Scopus source record, and the official Scopus Source ID 144669. Citation metrics, acceptance data and publication timelines are reported with their publisher-supplied dates.

Information such as APC amounts, editorial membership, issue schedules and database quartiles can change. Where a current value was not displayed on the authoritative journal page reviewed for this guide, it is marked for verification rather than estimated.

What Does Journal of Intellectual Capital Aim to Publish?

The journal’s mission is to publish original theoretical and empirical research that advances intellectual-capital literature. Emerald describes its field in terms of the factors that determine organizational value, especially human, structural and relational capital. The journal is therefore relevant to management, knowledge management, strategy, innovation, entrepreneurship, accounting for intangibles and related organizational research when intellectual capital is a core analytical construct.

The official scope explicitly welcomes work on intellectual capital in corporations and small and medium enterprises; national and international studies; micro-, meso- and macro-level intellectual capital; entrepreneurial contexts; research methods; Industry 4.0; and the security of organizational intellectual capital. That makes the journal broader than a traditional measurement-and-reporting outlet. A paper may examine how intangible resources are created, governed, protected or translated into innovation, sustainable performance, competitive advantage or societal value.

For authors, the key interpretation is that a manuscript should do more than use “intellectual capital” as a convenient label. A strong fit normally requires a clear intellectual-capital problem, engagement with relevant IC theory or prior literature, and a contribution that readers in this community can recognize. A technically sound study on HR, innovation or sustainability may still be out of scope if the intellectual-capital contribution is peripheral.

Understanding Its Scopus Coverage and Journal Metrics

Emerald lists Scopus and the Social Sciences Citation Index among the journal’s indexing services. For researchers working under university rules that require Scopus or Web of Science visibility, this is important evidence of discoverability. The supplied source record identifies Scopus Source ID 144669. Because database coverage can change, researchers should save or screenshot the live Scopus source profile when formal evidence is required.

The publisher currently displays a 2025 CiteScore of 14.9 and a 2026 CiteScore Tracker of 12.5. It also displays a 2025 Journal Impact Factor of 6.8 and a 2025 five-year Impact Factor of 8.0. These metrics measure different citation windows and should not be treated as interchangeable. They are useful for understanding visibility, but they do not by themselves determine whether a manuscript is suitable.

Emerald also reports a 20.4% acceptance rate for submissions between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. That number indicates selectivity during a specific reporting period. It should never be converted into an individual acceptance probability: editorial fit, contribution, methods, evidence, writing quality and reviewer judgment matter far more for a particular paper.

What Recent Research Shows About the Journal’s Direction

Current 2026 issues show that the journal is engaging with established IC questions and newer contexts. Recent papers include research on circular intellectual capital and governance in the WEEE sector, green intellectual capital and circular-economy implementation, intellectual-property protection and ambidextrous innovation, green human capital and mergers and acquisitions, and digital or metaverse ecosystems. Volume 27 also includes work on public-healthcare intellectual-capital management and organizational learning for sustainable innovation.

For manuscript selection, these examples suggest several things. First, sustainability and green/circular forms of intellectual capital are active themes. Second, the journal accepts multiple methodologies, including qualitative theory-building designs, structural-equation modelling, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, data mining and systematic literature reviews. Third, the core IC construct still needs to be visible even when the application context is novel.

Is This Journal a Good Match for Your Research?

A manuscript is more likely to be aligned when intellectual capital is central to its theoretical framing, variables, mechanism or research question. Studies that simply add a human-capital variable to a generic performance model may be less convincing than work that explains how different forms of IC interact, are measured, governed or converted into value.

As a practical publication-readiness step, compare your abstract, contribution statement and methods with several papers from the latest two or three issues. Do not imitate topics mechanically. Instead, ask whether your paper speaks to the same intellectual community while adding a defensible new insight.

What Types of Articles Does the Journal Publish?

During submission, Emerald asks authors to select a paper type and category. The official guidelines list Research Paper and Practitioner Paper as paper-type options. The broader classification guidance also describes research paper, viewpoint, technical paper, conceptual paper, case study, literature review and general review categories. Authors should select the closest category offered in the live ScholarOne workflow.

The journal’s recent content demonstrates that empirical, conceptual, review and applied work can all be relevant when the contribution is strong. A systematic literature review, for example, needs to synthesize and critique the IC literature rather than merely catalogue prior studies. A practitioner-oriented paper still needs credible evidence and a clear connection to the journal’s scholarly purpose.

Preparing a Manuscript for Journal of Intellectual Capital

Length, files and title

Emerald states that articles should be 7,000–10,000 words, including the structured abstract, references, text in tables, figures and appendices. Authors should allow 250 words in the count for each figure or table. The main article file should be supplied in Microsoft Word format; a PDF may accompany it but cannot be the only manuscript file. LaTeX is permitted when an accompanying PDF is supplied.

Structured abstract and keywords

All submissions require a structured abstract with Purpose, Design/methodology/approach, Findings and Originality. Research limitations/implications, Practical implications and Social implications may be added when relevant. The abstract, keywords and article classification together should not exceed 250 words. Authors may provide up to 12 concise keywords.

References, tables and figures

References must use a recognized Harvard style and should be checked for completeness, accuracy and consistency. Figures should be high quality, numbered and captioned; acceptable formats include AI, EPS, JPEG, BMP and TIFF. Emerald asks authors to submit tables separately from the main article, number them consecutively with Roman numerals and indicate their intended position in the manuscript.

Anonymity and author information

Because review is double anonymous, the manuscript should not reveal author identity. Emerald specifically asks authors to remove author names from the manuscript, including figures and captions, and to upload acknowledgements or biographies separately. Author details—including institutional email, name and affiliation—are entered through ScholarOne.

How to Submit the Manuscript

The corresponding author should submit through the journal’s ScholarOne system accessed from the Emerald journal page. Emerald is unusually explicit that the submission must be made directly by the author or authors—not by email, a third-party agent, a journal representative or a proxy company. If this is the author’s first submission to the journal, a ScholarOne account must be created. Authors are also encouraged to add their ORCID identifier.

1. Re-read the journal aims and scope and confirm the manuscript is genuinely aligned.
2. Prepare the anonymized manuscript and separate files for author details, acknowledgements, tables and supplementary material as required.
3. Check title, abstract, keywords, paper classification, references, funding statement, conflicts and permissions.
4. Open the journal’s official Emerald page and follow the “Submit your paper” link to ScholarOne.
5. Enter every author in the intended publication order and verify affiliations and contact details.
6. Upload files, complete declarations, add ORCID details where available and review the generated submission proof carefully.
7. Submit personally and retain the confirmation email and manuscript number.

What Happens After You Submit?

The editorial office first screens each submission. A paper may be declined or returned before external review if it does not fit the aims and scope, fails submission policies, or the language/manuscript quality is considered too low. If the paper appears suitable, Emerald states that it will be sent to at least two independent referees for double-anonymous peer review.

After reviewer reports are received, the editor may accept, request minor or major revisions, or decline the manuscript. The publisher reports an average 34 days to first decision for submissions between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. Separately, the author guidelines describe a goal of communicating a first decision within 60 days. These figures are not guarantees; complex review rounds, reviewer availability and revisions can extend the process.

For accepted papers, Emerald reports 33 days from acceptance to publication based on the previous 12 months, last updated April 2025. Accepted manuscripts go through licensing, editorial checks, copyediting, typesetting and proof review before an EarlyCite version is published online with a DOI.

Open Access, APCs and Publication Fees

Journal of Intellectual Capital offers both gold and green open-access routes. If an author chooses gold open access after acceptance, Emerald charges an article processing charge and publishes the article under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licence. The current journal page directs authors to the APC price list or the editorial system for the applicable amount; because fees can change, this guide does not insert an unverified price.

The green open-access route allows the author accepted manuscript to be made openly available after publication without an embargo period, subject to Emerald’s self-archiving rules. For the standard subscription route, Emerald states that there is no submission, processing or review fee. Authors should be cautious of messages requesting payment before acceptance or when they have not selected gold OA.

Research Ethics, Originality and Responsible AI Use

Emerald’s research and publishing ethics guidance follows COPE principles. Submissions should be original, not under consideration elsewhere, and transparent about conflicts of interest, funding, authorship and any previously published substantial material. The publisher may use Crossref Similarity Check to examine originality.

For studies involving human participants, authors should consider whether ethical approval and informed consent are required and report the relevant information. Authorship should be limited to people who made substantial and meaningful contributions; contributors who do not meet authorship criteria can be acknowledged.

Emerald’s current AI policy is particularly important. Large language models cannot be authors. The publisher states that generative AI may be used for copy-editing an author’s own existing original work to improve structure, language and grammar, with responsibility remaining with the human author; however, using generative AI to create or draft new submission content is not permitted under the policy displayed on the journal page reviewed for this guide. Authors should check the latest policy immediately before submission because AI guidance is evolving.

Publication-Readiness Checklist for Prospective Authors

How Contentxprtz Can Ethically Support Journal Preparation

Contentxprtz can help authors prepare for submission without claiming influence over editors or reviewers. Support may include manuscript assessment, journal-fit discussion, academic editing, proofreading, structured-abstract refinement, reference and citation consistency, table and figure presentation, journal formatting, cover-letter editing and reviewer-response editing after a decision.

For a Journal of Intellectual Capital submission, useful support often means checking whether the intellectual-capital contribution is explicit throughout the title, abstract, literature review, hypotheses or research questions, findings and discussion. Language editing can also reduce ambiguity and improve the visibility of the contribution while preserving the author’s ideas, evidence and interpretation.

Contentxprtz cannot guarantee acceptance, a particular review outcome, Scopus indexing, citation performance or publication speed. The author remains responsible for the study, data, analysis, references, ethics, declarations and final ScholarOne submission.