Letter from the Editor-in-Chief: Happy 40th Anniversary!

Abstract

Journal of International Business Studies (2009) 40, 1–4. doi:10.1057/jibs.2008.88 Congratulations Are in Ordery but with a Dollop of Caution The year 2009 is the 40th anniversary of the Journal of International Business Studies. The first volume in 1970 was (not surprisingly) much smaller than JIBS will be this year. Volume 1, edited by Edward W. Ogram, Jr., consisted of two issues, 13 articles and 186 pages. The 2009 volume, for which my 10 editors and I are responsible, will consist of nine issues (up from eight in 2008) with about 70 articles and 1680 pages. The initial print run in 1970 was 300 copies compared to more than 4500 print and online subscriptions in 2008. From little acorns mighty oak trees grow! Even at 40 years, JIBS is not the oldest journal in the field of international business (IB). Three IB journals are older: Thunderbird International Business Review (TIBR), formerly The International Executive (first published in 1959), Management International Review (MIR) (1961) and Journal of World Business ( JWB), formerly Columbia Journal of World Business (1966). The field of IB can now claim half a century of scholarly journal publications. Despite being younger than its TIBR, MIR and JWB siblings, JIBS for many years has been widely perceived to be the premier scholarly journal in the field of IB. Moreover, JIBS is now regularly ranked among the top 10 scholarly business and management journals; the most recent Social Sciences Citation Index places JIBS seventh among business journals and tenth among management journals. We have much to celebrate. Still, JIBS is now one journal among many journals that list IB either as their sole or an important domain – and the field is becoming more crowded. Both the number of specialty IB journals and the number of mainstream business journals publishing IB articles continue to grow. Journals widely recognized as top-ranked business journals (e.g., Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal) now regularly publish articles that could have appeared in JIBS. Many universities and business schools around the world recognize the field of IB as a distinct scholarly area, with the Academy of International Business (AIB) as its lead institution and JIBS as its premier journal. In most business schools, including many top-tier institutions, a research portfolio that includes JIBS publications now often goes a long way towards earning tenure and promotion. On the other hand, in the 1990s some universities – including some high-profile US business schools – closed their IB departments and scattered their faculty among mainstream areas in accounting, finance, marketing and management. When IB Journal of International Business Studies (2009) 40, 1–4 & 2009 Academy of International Business All rights reserved 0047-2506