Journal of International Marketing Editor in Chief Ayşegül Özsomer has introduced a new paper type to the journal: JIM Insight Papers.
Insight Papers are shorter manuscripts (under 5,000 words, including all components of the manuscript but excluding the web appendix) that undergo an expedited peer review process, with a final decision reached within two rounds of review. The format serves insights that warrant faster dissemination than the regular article track allows.
Two conditions govern admission to the format. A manuscript must provide a clear basis for expedited review and meet the evidence standard. Meeting one without the other does not qualify.
Grounds for expedited review (at least one required):
- Time-sensitivity: The insight responds to a development in the international marketing environment that is unfolding now. In their cover letters, authors need to state what makes the finding time-sensitive and what would be lost if it appeared through the regular article track. Fit with the journal’s domain is not in itself a case for urgency: a manuscript that would be equally valuable three years from now belongs in the regular article track.
- Correction or confirmation of the research record: The paper confirms, bounds, or disconfirms a published finding that is consequential for international marketing theory or practice. In their cover letter, authors need to establish why the target claim matters to the field and how their evidence changes what can be concluded from it.
Evidence standard (required in all cases):
Insight Papers must be empirically grounded and the evidence must be substantial enough to support confidence in the insight. Because expedited review compresses the opportunity for additional data collection, that confidence must rest on the evidence as submitted; work at a preliminary or exploratory stage does not fit the format. The format does not prescribe a number of studies; what matters is the breadth of the evidence. A single investigation drawing on rich secondary data, or a broad primary data collection such as a multi-country survey, can readily meet this standard. Experiments, however, are narrow in scope by design: single-experiment submissions rarely provide sufficient breadth, whereas a set of experiments yielding consistent evidence does. Qualitative designs are equally welcome and held to the same standard, which requires authors to detail the sampling approach and how they determine saturation.
Web appendix
Because the compressed format leaves limited room for methodological detail in the main text, authors should submit a clearly structured, concise web appendix that enables reviewers to evaluate the research design, data collection, and analysis.
Submission and decision
Authors must edit and polish their manuscripts for clarity and flow before submission. Submissions that offer no ground for expedited review, or that fall short of the evidence standard, will be desk rejected or redirected to the regular manuscript track. Insight Papers entering review receive a final decision within two rounds. Only in very rare cases will the review rounds will be extended.
All JIM papers (full articles, special issue articles, and Insights) should be submitted via JIM’s ScholarOne site.
Go to the Journal of International Marketing