Spanish Journal of Marketing - ESIC: Scopus, Metrics, Scope & Submission Guide

Key Takeaways

• Publisher and owners: Emerald Publishing publishes SJM-ESIC on behalf of AEMARK and ESIC Business & Marketing School; the journal is owned by AEMARK and ESIC.
• Scope: international marketing research, with particular interest in novel contributions at the frontier of knowledge and emerging areas.
• Scopus: indexed in Scopus; supplied Source ID 21100855756.
• 2025 metrics: Emerald reports CiteScore 13.8 and Journal Impact Factor 5.3; a 2026 CiteScore Tracker of 13.3 was displayed when this guide was prepared.
• Open access: diamond open access with no APC for authors; articles use a CC BY 4.0 licence.
• Peer review: double-anonymous; the transparency statement says suitable articles are reviewed by a minimum of two external reviewers after initial editorial assessment.
• Submission format: research papers up to 10,000 words, structured abstract, up to 12 keywords, and submission through the journal's editorial system/ScholarOne.
• Selectivity: Emerald reports an 11.6% acceptance rate for submissions from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025; this should not be treated as a prediction for any individual paper.

Journal Information at a Glance

Metric caution: citation metrics, quartiles, indexing status and editorial statistics can change between reporting cycles. Use the year shown with each figure and reconfirm current values in the official database before using them for a PhD, promotion, funding or institutional compliance decision.

What This Page Covers

• journal identity, publisher and ownership
• aims, scope and subject fit
• Scopus and other indexing services
• current verifiable citation and submission metrics
• article type, manuscript length and abstract requirements
• double-anonymous peer review and editorial screening
• diamond open access, copyright and fees
• research and publication ethics
• submission workflow and practical pre-submission checks
• ethical ways Contentxprtz can support publication readiness without promising acceptance

Methodology and Sources

This journal profile was prepared from the official Emerald Publishing page for Spanish Journal of Marketing - ESIC, its author guidelines, indexing and metrics information, the journal transparency statement, the official DOAJ record, and the Scopus Source ID supplied with this task. Where the official sources reviewed did not provide a current SJR, SNIP or category quartile, this guide does not manufacture a value. Researchers should verify those database-specific fields directly in the latest Scopus, SCImago or Clarivate view required by their institution.

The journal's policies can change. In particular, authors should recheck the official Emerald journal page and author guidelines immediately before submission.

What Is Spanish Journal of Marketing - ESIC?

SJM-ESIC is a specialist marketing journal with an intentionally international audience. Emerald states that manuscripts may come from authors anywhere in the world and may focus on any relevant international market. This distinction matters because researchers can otherwise misread “Spanish” in the title as a geographic submission restriction. The journal explains that the name reflects its origin, not a requirement that studies use Spanish samples, Spanish institutions or Spain-specific problems.

The journal has continuity with the former Revista Española de Investigación de Marketing ESIC. It has been published fully in English since 2016 and by Emerald since 2018. Its audience includes academics, students and professionals active in marketing research worldwide. Recent journal content illustrates a broad marketing remit, including consumer behaviour, branding, digital and social-media marketing, technology adoption, customer relationships, tourism-related marketing, sustainability and emerging AI-related questions.

For a prospective author, the journal is best understood as a research outlet seeking substantive marketing contributions rather than simply a venue for any business or management paper. A manuscript with a weak marketing theory connection, limited novelty, or an audience mainly outside marketing may be better suited to another journal even if its keywords overlap with SJM-ESIC.

Journal Aims and Scope

Emerald describes SJM-ESIC as a double-anonymous peer-reviewed journal with an international vocation. It is especially interested in submissions that offer unique and novel contributions at the frontier of knowledge, address emerging areas relevant to academic marketing research, or open new research niches. The journal also states that its evaluation process is rigorous and that it seeks to encourage debate and publish the latest research trends in marketing.

Topics that may align well

Based on the journal's stated marketing focus and the themes represented in its published work, potentially relevant research areas include consumer behaviour, brand management, marketing strategy, digital marketing, social media and influencer marketing, customer experience, retailing, services marketing, tourism and hospitality marketing, marketing communications, technology adoption, artificial intelligence in marketing, sustainability and responsible marketing, international marketing and related empirical or conceptual questions.

What “fit” means in practice

A subject label alone is not enough. A paper on artificial intelligence, for example, may fit when the central research problem advances marketing knowledge about consumer response, branding, customer relationships or marketing decision-making. A technically sophisticated AI paper with no meaningful marketing contribution may not. The same principle applies to sustainability, tourism, education, platforms or digital technologies: the manuscript needs a clear marketing question and contribution.

As a practical publication-readiness step, read several recent SJM-ESIC papers that are close to your topic and method. Compare how they frame theory, establish novelty, define the marketing contribution, justify the design, report evidence and discuss implications. This is general submission strategy rather than a formal journal rule, but it is one of the most useful ways to assess fit.

Who Should Consider Submitting?

SJM-ESIC may be worth considering for marketing academics, PhD scholars, early-career researchers, faculty members and research-active professionals whose work is already developed to an international scholarly standard. The journal itself identifies academics, students and professionals active in marketing research as part of its audience.

For PhD researchers, the important question is whether the journal satisfies the requirements of your university, doctoral programme or funding body. Scopus indexing and citation metrics may be relevant, but some institutions require a particular quartile, JCR category, ABDC grade, journal list or indexing status at a specific date. Always check your own rules against the current official database record.

A strong candidate manuscript will normally have a focused marketing problem, a defensible theoretical basis, a clearly articulated contribution, a method appropriate to the research question, transparent reporting and implications that extend beyond a narrow local description. International relevance does not require multinational data in every case, but authors should make the broader scholarly value clear.

Indexing and Scholarly Visibility

Emerald lists SJM-ESIC in Scopus and in Clarivate's Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI). It also lists DOAJ, Crossref, EBSCO Discovery Service, ERIH PLUS, Google Scholar, ProQuest services, WorldCat, the Australian Business Deans Council Journal Quality List (Grade B), and other abstracting or discovery services. The DOAJ record identifies the journal as open access and confirms the print ISSN 2444-9695 and online ISSN 2444-9709.

The supplied Scopus source record is 21100855756. Researchers checking institutional eligibility should use that identifier to avoid confusion with similarly named titles or the journal's previous title. A database listing should always be checked in the database itself when the timing of coverage matters.

PubMed/MEDLINE: this is a marketing journal and no official PubMed/MEDLINE indexing claim was found in the journal information reviewed. It should not be represented as a biomedical-indexed journal merely because individual marketing topics may touch health or healthcare.

Current Journal Metrics: What Is Verifiable?

Metrics should support, not replace, a journal-selection decision. CiteScore and Journal Impact Factor use different databases and calculation methods. Acceptance rate is a journal-level historical statistic, not the probability that a specific manuscript will be accepted. Editorial fit, novelty, execution and reviewer judgement remain decisive.

For SJR, SNIP and quartile, the official Emerald page reviewed for this guide did not display a current value. Rather than mix years or rely on an unverified ranking site, this page marks them for direct verification in the latest relevant database. Quartile can differ by subject category and reporting year, so a bare “Q1” or “Q2” claim without year/category context can be misleading.

What Article Types Does the Journal Publish?

The current author guidelines instruct authors, during submission, to select Research Paper as the paper type. Emerald describes this category broadly as research undertaken by the authors, including construction or testing of a model or framework, action research, testing of data, market research or surveys, empirical or scientific research, and papers with a practical focus.

That does not mean every design will automatically be suitable. The research still has to align with SJM-ESIC's marketing aims and demonstrate a worthwhile contribution. Authors proposing a manuscript that does not fit the stated Research Paper category should consult the editorial team rather than assume that a different article type is accepted.

Manuscript Requirements Authors Should Know

These requirements are detailed enough that formatting should be checked before upload, not after peer review. A paper can be editorially promising yet still create avoidable delays if the submission is incomplete, identifies the authors inside the blinded manuscript, or ignores required abstract and file-format instructions.

Submission Process

1. Confirm scope fit. Re-read the aims and scope and compare the manuscript with recent SJM-ESIC papers.
2. Prepare the anonymous manuscript. Remove author names and identifying details from the manuscript, figures and captions. Upload acknowledgements or biographies separately where applicable.
3. Check format and word count. Ensure the paper, abstract, keywords, tables, figures and references follow the current author guidelines.
4. Enter author metadata carefully. All contributing authors are added to ScholarOne in the intended publication order, with email and affiliation details.
5. Complete ethical declarations. Disclose funding, conflicts of interest, prior publication issues and any necessary permissions.
6. Submit through the journal's editorial system. Emerald notes that authors may encounter Paperpal Preflight, an optional AI-driven guideline check, before proceeding to ScholarOne.
7. Track communication through the journal system. Pre-decision status questions should follow the contact routes on the journal page; post-acceptance queries go to the relevant publishing contact.

Emerald's author instructions explicitly ask authors to give the journal aims and scope a final read before submission because a manuscript that is not a good fit may be declined without external peer review.

Peer-Review Process

SJM-ESIC uses double-anonymous peer review. Its transparency statement says all articles receive an initial assessment by the journal editor. If an article is considered suitable for further consideration, it is reviewed by a minimum of two external reviewers. The final editorial decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief.

For authors, anonymity is operational rather than merely a label. The current guidelines tell authors to ensure names do not appear in the manuscript, figures or captions, to upload acknowledgements and biographies separately, and to phrase self-citations in a way that does not identify the authors unnecessarily.

The journal reports 63 days to first decision for submissions between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. This is an average/reporting statistic, not a promised turnaround time for each manuscript. Complexity, reviewer availability, revisions and editorial workload can affect an individual paper.

Open Access, Copyright and Publication Fees

SJM-ESIC is a diamond open-access journal. Emerald states that all articles are immediately and permanently free to read and download, while publication costs are covered by AEMARK and ESIC Business & Marketing School. Authors are therefore not required to pay an article processing charge for publication in the journal.

Published articles use a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. The journal's transparency statement explains that authors retain copyright while allowing others to share, use and build upon the work with appropriate attribution.

The DOAJ record independently identifies the journal as having no publication fees/APCs and using CC BY. Authors should still verify the current fee statement on the official journal page before submission, especially because publishing arrangements can change over time.

Research and Publication Ethics

Emerald states that its editors and employees follow guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). For SJM-ESIC submissions, the author guidelines emphasise originality, no simultaneous submission elsewhere, conflict-of-interest disclosure, respect for copyright, and permissions for third-party material. Emerald may use Crossref Similarity Check to assess originality.

The journal also references the Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines, encouraging transparent citation of data, program code and methods; persistent identifiers for datasets or code; and compliance with appropriate data-protection, privacy and ethical procedures.

Ethical publication readiness therefore involves more than reducing textual similarity. Authors should make sure the contribution is genuinely original, sources are cited accurately, data and methods are reported responsibly, authorship reflects real contributions, permissions are secured, and any professional editing assistance complies with institutional and publisher rules.

How to Decide Whether Your Manuscript Fits SJM-ESIC

• Marketing centrality: Is the main research problem clearly a marketing problem rather than a general management, information-systems or social-science problem with marketing added only in the discussion?
• Novelty: Can you state in two or three sentences what genuinely new knowledge the manuscript contributes?
• International relevance: Even if the data come from one country, can the paper explain why the theory or findings matter to an international marketing audience?
• Theoretical positioning: Does the literature review lead to a precise research gap rather than only summarise prior studies?
• Methodological fit: Does the design answer the research question, and are sampling, measurement, analysis and limitations transparent?
• Recent journal fit: Can you identify several recent SJM-ESIC papers that show your topic or methodological conversation belongs in the journal?
• Guideline readiness: Can the paper meet the 10,000-word limit, structured abstract, keyword, multilingual abstract and anonymity requirements?
• Institutional eligibility: Does the journal's current indexing/category status satisfy your university, doctoral or funding requirements?

If several answers are “no,” revising the paper or choosing a different journal may be more productive than submitting immediately. If the subject fit remains unclear after reviewing the aims and scope, Emerald's FAQ says authors may email the editor with the paper title and structured abstract to ask about suitability.

Common Reasons a Manuscript May Be Unsuitable

The journal does not publish a definitive list of desk-rejection reasons on the page reviewed, so the following points are practical interpretation rather than official rejection criteria. A manuscript may struggle if it is outside marketing, offers only incremental novelty, does not make its international significance clear, uses a method that cannot support its claims, contains weak theoretical development, or ignores core submission requirements.

Presentation quality also matters because the journal states that manuscripts should be clear, concise and logical and prepared to high quality standards. Language editing cannot repair a weak research design, but unclear writing can obscure a strong contribution and make review harder.

How to Prepare a Stronger Journal-Aligned Manuscript

1. Make the contribution explicit

State what previous marketing research cannot yet explain, what your study adds, and why the addition matters. The contribution should appear consistently in the introduction, theory, hypotheses or research questions, results interpretation and conclusion.

2. Match the literature to the research problem

A journal-aligned literature review is selective and analytical. Use foundational and recent scholarship to establish the problem, competing explanations and unresolved gap. Avoid long descriptive lists of studies that do not advance the argument.

3. Audit the method before polishing prose

Check whether the sample, measures, design, statistical or qualitative procedures, robustness checks and ethical considerations are strong enough for the claims. Resolve substantive weaknesses before spending time on final formatting.

4. Write the structured abstract last

Once the paper is stable, build the required Purpose, Design/methodology/approach, Findings and Originality headings directly from the final manuscript. This reduces inconsistency between the abstract and paper.

5. Perform an anonymity and metadata check

Remove names from the manuscript and visual materials, move acknowledgements/biographies to separate files, and verify that ScholarOne metadata is complete and consistent.

6. Reconfirm journal information on submission day

Metrics, editorial roles, author instructions and system workflows can change. Use this profile for preparation, then treat the official Emerald page as the final authority at the point of submission.

Pre-Submission Checklist

• The manuscript directly addresses a marketing research problem.
• The novelty and contribution are clear in the introduction and conclusion.
• The paper is within the current 10,000-word limit after counting included components as specified by the journal.
• The structured abstract uses the required headings and stays within the stated limit.
• Up to 12 appropriate keywords are supplied.
• English, Spanish and Chinese abstract/keyword requirements have been addressed or the editorial team has been contacted about translation support.
• The manuscript file is anonymised for double-anonymous review.
• Acknowledgements and author biographies are separate where included.
• Funding, conflicts of interest and permissions are disclosed appropriately.
• References, datasets and persistent identifiers are checked for accuracy.
• The latest aims, scope, fees, metrics and author guidelines have been reconfirmed on the official journal page.