Review of International Business and Strategy: Scopus Indexing, Metrics, Scope & Submission Guide
Review of International Business and Strategy (RIBS) is a peer-reviewed Emerald Publishing journal focused on international business and global strategy. Researchers commonly search for the journal to confirm whether it is indexed in Scopus, understand its current citation metrics, assess topic fit, and prepare a manuscript that follows Emerald’s submission requirements. This guide brings those questions together in one journal-specific resource.
The journal is currently listed by Emerald with ISSN 2059-6014 and eISSN 2059-6022. The supplied Scopus Source Record ID is 21100801726, which links to the journal’s Scopus source profile. Emerald also identifies the journal as the successor to International Journal of Commerce and Management. Because indexing, metrics, editorial information and publication charges can change, authors should reconfirm time-sensitive details on the official journal and database pages immediately before submission.
Key Takeaways for Prospective Authors
- Publisher: Emerald Publishing.
- Scopus: The journal is listed in Scopus; Source ID 21100801726.
- 2025 CiteScore: 6.3, as displayed by Emerald using Scopus data.
- 2025 Journal Impact Factor: 3.3, as displayed by Emerald using Clarivate data.
- Scope: International business and global strategy, including empirical and theoretical/conceptual work.
- Manuscript length: Emerald’s current author instructions state 5,000–7,000 words, including the structured abstract, references, tables, figures and appendices; authors are asked to allow 250 words per figure or table.
- Peer review: Double-anonymous review, normally with at least two independent referees after editorial screening.
- Publishing model: Hybrid. Gold open access is optional after acceptance; green self-archiving is also described by Emerald. The current APC should be verified on Emerald’s live APC list or submission system.
Journal Information at a Glance
The table below separates stable identifiers from metrics and policies that should be rechecked before a manuscript is submitted.
| Field | Journal information |
|---|---|
| Journal name | Review of International Business and Strategy (RIBS) |
| Source type | Journal |
| Publisher | Emerald Publishing |
| Former title | International Journal of Commerce and Management |
| ISSN | 2059-6014 |
| eISSN | 2059-6022 |
| Scopus Source ID | 21100801726 |
| Scopus status | Indexed; verify live status on the Scopus source profile |
| Primary field | Business, Management and Accounting; international business and global strategy |
| 2025 CiteScore | 6.3 (Emerald display, Scopus metric) |
| 2025 Impact Factor | 3.3 (Emerald display, Clarivate metric) |
| 2024 SJR | 0.745, reported in institutional library data sourced from Scopus; verify the latest value before use |
| 2024 SNIP | 1.224, reported in institutional library data sourced from Scopus; verify the latest value before use |
| 2024 Scopus quartile | Q1 in Business and International Management and Q1 in Strategy and Management in the 2024 institutional Scopus-metrics record; quartiles are year- and category-specific |
| Official journal page | Emerald journal page |
| Submission route | ScholarOne, accessed from the official Emerald journal page |
| Open access | Hybrid: optional gold OA plus green self-archiving route described by Emerald |
| APC | Not safely stated here as a fixed amount; verify the current journal-specific APC on Emerald’s live APC list or editorial system |
What Is Review of International Business and Strategy?
RIBS is an international business journal that publishes research addressing how firms operate, compete, organise and develop strategy across national borders and within changing global environments. Emerald describes its core subject as international business and global strategy and welcomes work that can advance theory, challenge established explanations or offer contemporary perspectives on international business phenomena.
The journal accepts methodological variety. Its official aims and scope explicitly welcome quantitative, qualitative and mixed-method empirical studies at macro and/or micro levels, alongside theoretical or conceptual work that is firmly grounded in international business and global strategy literature. That combination makes the journal potentially relevant to researchers studying multinational enterprises, cross-border entrepreneurship, institutional environments, innovation, knowledge transfer, location choices and strategic responses to international uncertainty.
Journal Aims, Scope and Research Themes
According to the official Emerald journal page, RIBS aims to publish high-quality peer-reviewed research that deepens understanding of international business and global strategy. The stated emphasis is not merely on describing cross-border activity, but on research that proposes new perspectives, challenges existing theory or meaningfully develops what the field understands about international business problems.
Topics explicitly highlighted by the journal
- Internationalisation of firms and international entrepreneurship.
- Political, social, economic and institutional influences on international business activities and firm strategies.
- Knowledge-transfer strategies and innovation in multinational enterprises.
- Location strategies connected with international business activities.
These examples are not an exhaustive list. For journal-fit purposes, authors should use them as signals of the journal’s centre of gravity. A manuscript on digital platforms, sustainability, geopolitical risk, artificial intelligence, emerging-market multinationals, export strategy or cross-border innovation may fit when the research question is clearly anchored in international business or global strategy theory rather than merely using an international sample.
Who Should Consider Submitting?
The journal may suit PhD scholars, early-career researchers, faculty members and international business professionals whose studies make a clear scholarly contribution to international business or global strategy. A strong candidate manuscript will usually do more than report that firms in different countries behave differently. It should articulate why the cross-border context matters theoretically and how the findings alter, refine or extend what the field knows.
| Potentially stronger fit | Potentially weaker fit |
|---|---|
| Research centred on internationalisation, MNE strategy, cross-border entrepreneurship or global strategic choices | Domestic management research with no meaningful international-business contribution |
| Studies connecting institutional, political, social or economic environments to international strategy | Descriptive country comparisons without theory development or a clear IB question |
| Empirical work using quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods with a defensible contribution | Methodologically sound work whose central question belongs primarily to another discipline and only incidentally involves global data |
| Theoretical/conceptual papers grounded in international business or global strategy literature | General opinion essays without a developed scholarly argument |
As a practical publication-readiness step, compare your manuscript with several recent RIBS papers. Look at the research questions, theoretical framing, units of analysis, methods and discussion sections. This is not an official acceptance criterion, but it is one of the most useful ways to judge whether your contribution resembles the kind of conversation the journal is currently publishing.
Understanding Its Scopus Coverage and Journal Metrics
The supplied Scopus Source Record ID 21100801726 corresponds to Review of International Business and Strategy. Emerald’s journal page also lists Scopus among the databases that abstract and index the title. Researchers who need Scopus evidence for university, doctoral or promotion requirements should check the live Scopus source record rather than relying on screenshots or old third-party ranking pages.
Current metrics displayed by Emerald
As of this guide’s verification date, Emerald displays a 2025 CiteScore of 6.3, a 2026 CiteScore Tracker of 5.5 and a 2025 Journal Impact Factor of 3.3. The tracker is an in-year indicator and should not be described as the final 2026 CiteScore. Emerald also displays a 2025 five-year Impact Factor of 3.3.
For SJR, SNIP and quartile, an institutional university library record reports 2024 Scopus journal metrics of SJR 0.745, SNIP 1.224, and Q1 in both Business and International Management and Strategy and Management. Because these values are 2024 metrics and newer ranking datasets can change, they should not be casually relabelled as “current 2026” values. Authors whose institution has a specific quartile rule should verify the exact database, category and year their institution recognises.
Indexing and Scholarly Visibility
Emerald states that RIBS is abstracted and indexed in Scopus and the Emerging Sources Citation Index, alongside services including ABI/INFORM, EBSCO Business Source Complete, ProQuest databases, INSPEC and others. Inclusion in a database should be treated as a discoverability signal, not as a guarantee that a journal satisfies every institutional publishing rule. Universities may impose their own conditions concerning Scopus status, Web of Science collection, quartile, journal lists, publication year or active coverage.
Before you submit for a degree or formal research evaluation, save the live source record or institutional evidence required by your university. If your programme has a “Q1/Q2 only” or “Scopus active only” requirement, confirm how the institution defines the relevant year and category.
What Types of Manuscripts Does RIBS Publish?
Emerald’s current author guidance lists manuscript categories including Empirical Research Paper, Conceptual Paper, Case Study and Book Review. The submission classification menu also includes categories such as research paper, viewpoint, technical paper, conceptual paper, case study, literature review and general review. Authors should choose the category that best reflects the manuscript rather than selecting a type for perceived strategic advantage.
For an empirical article, ensure the theory, design, data and analysis are aligned. For a conceptual article, the value should come from rigorous theoretical development rather than a broad narrative summary. For a literature review, the review method and synthesis logic should be explicit enough for readers to understand how the literature was identified, evaluated and integrated.
Manuscript Requirements Before Submission
The official RIBS author instructions should control the final submission format. At the time this guide was checked, Emerald states the following requirements.
| Requirement | What authors should prepare |
|---|---|
| File format | Microsoft Word is accepted; a PDF may accompany the Word file but is not accepted alone. LaTeX may be used with an accompanying PDF. |
| Length | 5,000–7,000 words including the structured abstract, references, text in tables, figures and appendices. Allow 250 words per figure or table. |
| Title | A concise title. |
| Author information | All authors added in ScholarOne in publication order, with email and affiliation details. Author accounts are required. |
| Anonymisation | Remove author-identifying information from the review manuscript; acknowledgements and biographies should be uploaded separately. |
| References | A recognised Harvard style; Emerald’s Harvard style is acceptable. Citation accuracy and consistency remain the author’s responsibility. |
| Figures | High-quality electronic figures with clear numbering and captions; Emerald lists accepted image formats in the author guidance. |
| Tables | Submitted separately from the main article, numbered consecutively in Roman numerals, with placement indicated in the manuscript. |
| ORCID | Emerald asks authors to add an ORCID during submission. |
How the Submission Process Works
Emerald states that manuscripts must be submitted by the corresponding author through the journal’s ScholarOne editorial system accessed from the official Emerald page. It explicitly warns that submission should not be made by email, through a third-party agent or by a proxy submitting on an author’s behalf. That distinction is important for researchers using external editing or publication-readiness support: ethical support can help prepare files, but the authors should control and make the submission themselves.
- Recheck the journal’s aims and scope and the current author instructions.
- Prepare an anonymised manuscript and separate author/biographical information where required.
- Confirm authorship order, affiliations, ethics declarations, permissions and conflict-of-interest information.
- Enter the manuscript metadata in ScholarOne and upload the required files.
- Review all generated submission information before final confirmation.
- Retain the manuscript number supplied after successful submission.
What Happens After You Submit?
Each submission is first screened by the journal’s editorial office. Emerald notes that a paper may be declined or returned at this stage if it does not fit the aims and scope, does not comply with submission policies, or the manuscript/language quality is too low for review. Manuscripts considered suitable are sent to at least two independent referees for double-anonymous peer review.
After peer-review reports are received, the editor may accept the paper, request minor or major revisions, or decline it. Emerald’s general goal in the author instructions is to inform authors of a first decision within 60 days. The journal metrics section currently reports an observed 52-day time to first decision for submissions between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. This is historical performance data, not a promise for an individual manuscript.
The same journal metrics area reports an acceptance rate of 22.8% for submissions between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. An acceptance rate describes past journal-level outcomes; it cannot be used to predict whether a particular paper will be accepted.
Open Access, APCs and Publication Charges
RIBS operates as a hybrid journal. Emerald describes two open-access routes across its journals. Under gold open access, an author may choose after acceptance to make the version of record openly available under a CC BY 4.0 licence and pay the applicable article processing charge. Under green open access, Emerald describes a self-archiving route for the author accepted manuscript.
The official RIBS guidance does not support publishing a static APC amount in this guide without checking the live price list. Emerald says the charge varies by journal and can be found on the publisher’s APC price list or within the editorial system. It also states that authors are not charged a submission fee and that payment is requested only if the author chooses the gold OA route after acceptance, subject to applicable arrangements. Therefore, verify the current fee and any waiver or agreement directly with Emerald before making funding decisions.
Research and Publishing Ethics
Emerald states that its editors and staff follow guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and its own research and publishing ethics policies. For authors, several points are especially relevant: submitted work should be original, should not be under consideration elsewhere, and should disclose conflicts of interest. Substantial previously published material must be declared where applicable, and the publisher may use Crossref Similarity Check.
Research involving human participants should include appropriate ethical approval and informed-consent information when required. Authors are responsible for permissions, accurate authorship, research integrity and transparent methods. A publication-readiness service should support these responsibilities rather than bypass them.
Why Manuscripts May Be Rejected Before External Review
Emerald explicitly indicates that scope, submission-policy compliance and manuscript/language quality are part of editorial screening. In practical terms, common desk-rejection risks for a journal like RIBS include a weak connection to international business or global strategy, an unclear theoretical contribution, insufficient novelty, poor alignment between research question and method, or a manuscript that does not meet required presentation standards.
Not every technically correct paper belongs in this journal. A well-executed domestic marketing, HR, finance or operations study may still be a weak RIBS submission if the international context is peripheral. Conversely, a strong international dataset is not enough if the paper does not explain what it contributes to international business or global strategy scholarship.
A Journal-Fit Checklist Before You Submit
- Can you state the international business or global strategy problem in one or two sentences?
- Does the literature review engage directly with the IB/global strategy conversation rather than only a neighbouring discipline?
- Does the manuscript explain what existing theory cannot adequately explain?
- Are the data, method and unit of analysis appropriate for the stated contribution?
- Do the findings answer the research question without overclaiming?
- Have you compared the paper with recent RIBS articles for topical and methodological fit?
- Does the paper satisfy the 5,000–7,000-word guidance and Harvard-reference requirement?
- Is the review manuscript properly anonymised?
- Are authorship, ethics, consent, permissions, conflicts and data statements accurate?
- Have you checked the live Scopus record, latest metrics and current Emerald instructions rather than relying on an old ranking page?
How to Prepare a Stronger, Journal-Aligned Manuscript
A stronger RIBS submission usually begins with alignment rather than formatting. First, identify the specific international-business conversation your paper enters. Then make the theoretical gap visible early, show why the global or cross-border context is essential, and ensure that the method is capable of answering the question. In the discussion, return to the exact theory introduced earlier and explain what the evidence changes, not merely what the results “show.”
Language editing should preserve the author’s meaning and scholarly voice. The goal is clarity, logical progression and accurate terminology, not artificially ornate academic prose. Before submission, perform a separate technical pass for references, figure/table labels, anonymisation, declarations and ScholarOne metadata. Treat these as quality-control tasks rather than last-minute administrative work.
How Contentxprtz Can Support Publication Readiness
Contentxprtz can ethically support authors who are preparing a manuscript for RIBS through journal publication services, including manuscript editing, academic proofreading, journal-format alignment, reference and citation checking, manuscript assessment, cover-letter editing and reviewer-response polishing. Support should strengthen the author’s communication and compliance while leaving the research decisions, authorship, data, analysis, conclusions and submission under the researchers’ control.
Professional editing does not guarantee peer-review success, acceptance or publication. Editors and peer reviewers make independent decisions based on journal fit, research quality, originality, ethics and scholarly contribution. The useful role of publication support is to reduce avoidable presentation and readiness problems so the manuscript can be evaluated on its academic merits.
Methodology and Source Notes
This guide was prepared from the supplied Scopus source record and Contentxprtz template, then checked against current information on Emerald’s official RIBS journal and author-guideline pages. Metric values shown as 2025 or 2024 are deliberately tied to their reporting year. SJR, SNIP and quartile values are presented as 2024 reference metrics from an institutional university-library record rather than relabelled as 2026 data. Authors should recheck all time-sensitive information immediately before submission.
- Official RIBS journal page and author guidelines — Emerald Publishing
- Scopus Source ID 21100801726
- VU University Library journal record — 2024 Scopus journal metrics reference
- Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Review of International Business and Strategy?
It is a peer-reviewed Emerald Publishing journal focused on international business and global strategy. It publishes empirical and theoretical/conceptual research and is commonly abbreviated RIBS.
Who publishes Review of International Business and Strategy?
The journal is published by Emerald Publishing.
Is Review of International Business and Strategy indexed in Scopus?
Yes. Emerald lists Scopus among the journal’s indexing services, and the supplied Scopus Source ID is 21100801726. Authors should still check the live Scopus source profile when current active status is important for institutional requirements.
What is the Scopus Source ID of RIBS?
The Scopus Source ID supplied for Review of International Business and Strategy is 21100801726.
What are the ISSN and eISSN?
Emerald currently lists ISSN 2059-6014 and eISSN 2059-6022.
What is the 2025 CiteScore?
Emerald currently displays a 2025 CiteScore of 6.3. It also displays a 2026 CiteScore Tracker of 5.5, which is an in-year tracker rather than a final annual CiteScore.
What is the journal’s 2025 Impact Factor?
Emerald currently displays a 2025 Journal Impact Factor of 3.3, attributed to Clarivate.
Is RIBS Q1 or Q2?
A 2024 institutional Scopus-metrics record lists Q1 in Business and International Management and Q1 in Strategy and Management. Quartiles are category- and year-specific, so authors should verify the latest applicable Scopus or institutional record before citing a current quartile.
What subjects does the journal cover?
Its core field is international business and global strategy. Officially highlighted themes include firm internationalisation, international entrepreneurship, international environmental influences on strategy, knowledge transfer and innovation in MNEs, and location strategy.
How long should a manuscript be?
Emerald’s current instructions state 5,000–7,000 words including the structured abstract, references, text in tables, figures and appendices, with an allowance of 250 words for each figure or table.
What reference style does RIBS use?
Emerald asks for references in a recognised Harvard style and provides its own adopted Harvard guidance. Authors should check citation completeness, accuracy and consistency.
How does peer review work?
After editorial screening, suitable manuscripts are sent to at least two independent referees using a double-anonymous peer-review process. The editor then decides whether to accept, request revisions or decline the manuscript.
What is the journal’s acceptance rate?
Emerald reports a 22.8% acceptance rate for submissions between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. This historical journal-level rate cannot predict the outcome of an individual manuscript.
Does RIBS charge an APC?
There is no submission fee stated by Emerald. Authors who choose gold open access after acceptance may pay a journal-specific APC. Because the amount can change, verify the current price on Emerald’s live APC list or in the editorial system.
Can Contentxprtz guarantee acceptance in RIBS?
No. Contentxprtz can support ethical manuscript editing, proofreading, formatting and publication readiness, but acceptance and publication decisions are made independently by the journal’s editors and reviewers.
