The American Journal of Business provides an effective medium for academics and practitioners to share and discuss key business developments and issues that creates value for both groups. The Journal’s audience is the business community — both academic and practitioner, who either follow or contribute to the Journal’s ongoing discussion. It is the intent of the Journal to publish articles aimed at improving business practices or enhance educational value of instructional efforts through application, transfer and interpretation of knowledge. Articles aimed at developing and testing basic theories and concepts are beyond the scope of the Journal.

Instructions for Contributors

Send two separate, electronic files to Ashok Gupta, gupta@ohiou.edu. In the first file include title page of manuscript with author(s) identification, a 50-75 word author biography(s) and a signed statement that the unpublished work is original and not currently under review. Name this file AUTHOR. Include the content of the manuscript, a 100-200 word abstract, and 3-5 keywords in a second file named NO AUTHOR. Send graphics on separate pages. The American Journal of Business uses the author-date system of citations, as described on pp. 616-640 of The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition. Arrange citations and references as described below.

General Advice

The following advice is designed to improve the reader’s understanding of your research. First, choose a brief but accurate title. The ideal title sums up the manuscript in one line or less. Because all articles are blind reviewed, the author’s name should not appear on the title page. Second, make liberal use of subheadings to break up your text and organize it for the reader. (Note the first-, second-, and third-level subheadings used within this issue.) Third, think about how to use illustrations, figures and tables to visually explain concepts.

Download an article formatting sample (.pdf)

Introduction. Although the structural organization of a manuscript will vary with its nature and purpose, all manuscripts should begin with a strong, clear introduction. All articles must include an abstract. The abstract may be a shortened version of the introduction, but does not replace it. The introduction should accurately describe the content of the article and briefly state its conclusions. You may also use a vignette at the beginning of the article in order to illustrate your topic.

Literature Review. Most manuscripts will require a section establishing the conceptual and theoretical base of the discussion. References to previous published work should be cited as described later. Assumptions and conflicting opinions or research results should be noted.

Methodology. Research methodology, if any, should be described sufficiently so that the reader can judge the quality and generality of the research, but this should not be the focus of the article. Often methodological details, formulas and computations can be put in an appendix.

Results. Results should be presented clearly and with little comment. Well-structured tables and figures are particularly useful here. Discussion may follow.

Conclusion. The conclusion/summary section of any manuscript is crucial. Be careful not to carry conclusions beyond that which is supported by your analysis. The practical implications of your work should be emphasized.

Tables and Figures

Each table/figure should be on a separate sheet and its approximate position should be marked in the text. Tables and figures should be numbered (Table 1, etc.) and labeled accurately at the top. Footnotes may be used to cite the source of previously published tables/figures. Figures (charts/graphs/artwork) will be reproduced by the Journal design staff. Please include figure data in a Microsoft Excel file to ensure accurate figures.

Citations

Citations in the text should consist of the author’s name and year of publication enclosed in parentheses (Smith 1996). Add a comma and the page number if a quotation is being cited (Down and Mann 1995, 21). If the author’s name is used in the text itself, it should be followed by the date of publication in parentheses. Multiple authors of a work (four or more) should be listed with the first author’s name followed by et al. When citing a series of works, separate with semicolons. To cite two or more works by the same author in the same year, place a, b, etc. after the year, both in the citation and in the references. Footnotes may be used on the first page to acknowledge a grant or other support for the work being reported. Endnotes may be used in the text if necessary, but should be kept to a minimum. Most such material can be worked into the text or deleted. Do not use endnotes to cite references. Endnotes should be numbered consecutively throughout the manuscript and listed on a separate sheet labeled Notes.

References

References should be listed alphabetically by author’s last name at the end of the manuscript in a section labeled References. Only works cited in the text should be listed as references. References should follow this format:

Books:
Last, F., J. Smith and J. Doe. 2000. Business Now. New York: Publisher.

Articles in Journals:
Last, F., and J. Smith. 2000. Theories in Business. American Journal of Business 17(2):11-21.

Articles in Books:
Last, F. 2000. Strategies for Small Businesses. In John W. Smith, Ed., Advances in Small Business, Vol. 14:21-46.

For other kinds of references please consult The Chicago Manual of Style.

Feedback

For feedback, contact Judy Lane, Journal managing editor, at ajb@bsu.edu.