WISO002367 Publishing in leading business and management journals

Type
course with continuous assessment
Semester hours
1
Lecturer (assistant)
Zivojinovic, Ivana
Organisation
Forest, Environmental and Natural Resource Policy
Offered in
Wintersemester 2026/27
Languages of instruction
Englisch
Content

This seminar course prepares doctoral students to publish in leading business and management journals at the intersection of sustainability, climate change, and biodiversity loss. It demystifies the journey from research idea to published article: how journals differ in scope and expectations, what editors and reviewers look for, how contributions are framed and defended, and how authors navigate the review process. Throughout, two journals serve as running illustrations—Business & Society and Organization & Environment—chosen because they sit at the heart of the business-sustainability field and exemplify the standards of leading field journals more broadly. The instructor draws directly on his editorial experience with both journals.
The seminar is hands-on and student-led, delivered as a block course over three days of four hours each (12 hours total). Each day comprises two blocks. For each block, a rotating discussion lead opens with a short critical synthesis of the assigned readings and facilitates debate, while the Professor acts as moderator and discussant, adding editorial insight through short lectures.
Day 1 maps the publishing landscape—journal ecosystems, aims and scope, rankings and their limits, and positioning one's work—and then dissects the anatomy of a contribution using exemplary articles from Business & Society, Organization & Environment, and others. Day 2 turns to theory, framing, and writing compelling introductions and contribution statements, followed by methods, rigor, and transparency from a reviewer's perspective. Day 3 addresses the review process itself—a peer-review simulation using a real (anonymized) decision letter, and strategies for responding to reviewers—and concludes with publishing strategy and ethics: targeting journals, cover letters, desk rejection, authorship, research integrity, and building a publication pipeline over an academic career.
Students work with their own material throughout: each participant brings a working paper, dissertation chapter, or well-developed research idea, which is progressively refined through the exercises.
Previous knowledge expected

No specific prior knowledge is required. The seminar is designed for doctoral students who are writing, or preparing to write, for academic journals. Participants should ideally bring a working paper, thesis chapter, or developed research idea to work on during the course; students at an earlier stage are equally welcome and can work with a research proposal. Students should be willing to read and critically discuss academic articles and editorial essays in English, to actively participate in and lead discussion, and to give and receive constructive peer feedback. Students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds -business and management, environmental and social sciences, policy, economics, forestry and natural resources - are welcome, and the interdisciplinary mix is intended to enrich debate.
Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
•Map the landscape of leading business and management journals in sustainability, climate change, biodiversity loss space, and match a given manuscript to appropriate target journals based on scope, audience, and contribution type.
•Identify what constitutes a theoretical and empirical contribution, and articulate a clear, defensible contribution statement for their own research.
•Craft compelling introductions and framing that “set the hook” for editors and reviewers.
•Evaluate methodological rigor and transparency from a reviewer's perspective, and anticipate common grounds for rejection.
•Write a constructive, professional referee report, and respond effectively and strategically to reviewer comments and editorial decisions.
•Develop a realistic personal publishing strategy, including journal targeting, handling rejection, research ethics and authorship norms, and pipeline management across an academic career.
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.