Journal profile · Multiple
International Small Business Journal-Researching Entrepreneurship
ISSN 0266-2426 · eISSN 1741-2870 · SAGE
International Small Business Journal-Researching Entrepreneurship: CAS Zone 3 · Management (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 4.93; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,900; review about 286 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); acceptance rate 4.9% (journal website); 50 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
International Small Business Journal-Researching Entrepreneurship is published by SAGE and is in Zone 3 of Management in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences, Family Business Performance and Succession and Corporate Finance and Governance, together about 48.5% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The International Small Business Journal (ISBJ) is a leading peer reviewed journal that publishes the highest quality original research papers on small business and entrepreneurship. The ISBJ attracts submissions from international academics focusing upon theoretical, empirical, policy and practitioner issues within the fields of... View full journal description This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Robert BlackburnPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 2%); most named United Kingdom 45, United States 10, France 9, Finland 6, Ireland 6 (110 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Entrepreneurship Studies and InfluencesBusiness, Management and Accounting27.3%
- Family Business Performance and SuccessionBusiness, Management and Accounting13.6%
- Corporate Finance and GovernanceBusiness, Management and Accounting7.6%
- International Business and FDIBusiness, Management and Accounting7.3%
- Firm Innovation and GrowthEconomics, Econometrics and Finance6.4%
- Private Equity and Venture CapitalBusiness, Management and Accounting6%
- Innovation and Knowledge ManagementBusiness, Management and Accounting5.8%
- Migration, Ethnicity, and EconomySocial Sciences4.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Management Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Business | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Management | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Management Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Business | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Management | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Management Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Business | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Management | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 4.93LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 4.9Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 6.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 9.6LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.78LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.85LetPub ·
- h-index
- 157OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,049OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 6OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 8.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 56.07%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 47LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,274 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 49 | 31 | 20 |
| 2025 | 50 | 37 | 254 |
| 2024 | 43 | 32 | 578 |
| 2023 | 27 | 20 | 322 |
| 2022 | 50 | 28 | 1,000 |
| 2021 | 38 | 27 | 1,322 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
286 dayssubmission to acceptance
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 4.9%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 5 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 54 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 286 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 51 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewPublisher website
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,900 / GBP 2,859 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
What to prepare2 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 100–150 words
- Reference style
- Harvard
Article types accepted8
- book reviewThe ISBJ publishes original papers that raise our knowledge base and levels of theorising on small business, SMEs and entrepreneurship. The journal considers th…Length not stated
- book reviewsBook reviews: these are commissioned by the book reviews editor but suggestions are welcome.Length not stated
- full articleThe ISBJ publishes original papers that raise our knowledge base and levels of theorising on small business, SMEs and entrepreneurship. The journal considers th…Length not stated
- full research articleThe ISBJ publishes original papers that raise our knowledge base and levels of theorising on small business, SMEs and entrepreneurship. The journal considers th…Length not stated
- full research articlesFull Research Articles: A maximum of 40 pages including references, tables and figures.Length not stated
- original paperThe ISBJ publishes original papers that raise our knowledge base and levels of theorising on small business, SMEs and entrepreneurship. The journal considers th…Length not stated
- research notesResearch Notes: these are shorter and less common submissions.Length not stated
- reviewThe ISBJ publishes original papers that raise our knowledge base and levels of theorising on small business, SMEs and entrepreneurship. The journal considers th…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints
- Authorship Author contributions
You will be asked to list the contribution of each author as part of the submission process. Please include the Author Contributions heading within your submission after the Acknowledgements section. The information you give on submission will then show under the Author Contributions heading later at the proofing stage.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages. Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to: Share your research data in a relevant public data repository Include a data ava…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Ethical considerations
COPE member Model summary
Please include your ethics approval statements under this heading, even if you have already included ethics approval information in your methods section. If ethical approval was not required, you need to explicitly state this. All papers reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must state that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board approved th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Publishing fees and open access
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Figures submitted in color will be published in color in the online version of the journal at no cost. If you wish to have color figures in the printed version, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice p…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Double anonymized peer review Model summary
The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal: Identity transparency: Double-anonymized Reviewer interacts with: Editor Review information published: None Your manuscript will undergo an initial evaluation. If it does not conform to the requirements laid out in these guidelines, it will be returned to you for amendments prior to peer review. Manuscripts may be desk rejec…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism
The journal and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Please read Sage's complete policy on plagiarism and the actions we may take.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
The journal will consider submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers. Please enter the preprint DOI in the designated field when submitting your manuscript. We advise that you inform the Journal Editorial office about your posted preprint at submission. Note that you should not post an updated version of your manuscript on a preprint server while it is being peer reviewed…
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- SAGE
- ISSN
- 0266-2426
- Electronic ISSN
- 1741-2870
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about International Small Business Journal-Researching Entrepreneurship
What CAS zone is International Small Business Journal-Researching Entrepreneurship in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, International Small Business Journal-Researching Entrepreneurship is in Zone 3 of Management, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Business / Management. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Management. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of International Small Business Journal-Researching Entrepreneurship?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.93; CiteScore 9.6, h-index 157.
How long does peer review take at International Small Business Journal-Researching Entrepreneurship?
The publisher reports about 286 days (submission to acceptance); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 4.9%. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What are the manuscript requirements of International Small Business Journal-Researching Entrepreneurship?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 100–150 words; Reference style: Harvard. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of International Small Business Journal-Researching Entrepreneurship based?
Of the 110 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 2%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (45), United States (10) and France (9). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index International Small Business Journal-Researching Entrepreneurship?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, International Small Business Journal-Researching Entrepreneurship is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is International Small Business Journal-Researching Entrepreneurship open access, and what is the APC?
International Small Business Journal-Researching Entrepreneurship is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,900.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-25). Last updated: .