About the Journal

Our History

The European Journal of Family Business (EJFB) was founded in 2011 under the title Revista de Empresa Familiar as an initiative of the Santander Chair in Family Firms at the University of Malaga (Spain). The journal was established to provide a dedicated scholarly forum for research on family businesses at a time when family business studies were rapidly emerging as a distinct field of academic inquiry.

In 2016, the journal adopted its current title, European Journal of Family Business, and began publishing exclusively in English, reflecting its growing international orientation while remaining faithful to its original mission of advancing research on family businesses and business-owning families. Today, EJFB is published by UMA Editorial, the publishing house of the University of Malaga (Spain).

Our Mission

EJFB is dedicated to advancing knowledge on family businesses, business-owning families, and entrepreneurship in family-controlled firms through the publication of rigorous, internationally relevant, and practice-oriented research. The journal seeks to foster dialogue between researchers, practitioners, policymakers, educators, advisors, and business families, promoting research that not only contributes to academic knowledge but also addresses the contemporary challenges faced by family enterprises worldwide.

The journal welcomes contributions from diverse theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, and disciplinary backgrounds, provided they contribute to a deeper understanding of family business and its role in society.

EJFB Today

Today, EJFB is an international, peer-reviewed, diamond open-access journal published twice a year (June and December). The journal is published by UMA Editorial in collaboration with the Spanish Association of Family Enterprise Researchers (SAFER). It does not charge submission fees or Article Processing Charges (APCs), ensuring that both publishing and access remain free of charge for authors and readers.

International Recognition

Over the years, EJFB has consolidated its international visibility through its inclusion in major bibliographic databases and its commitment to internationally recognised standards of scholarly publishing. The journal is indexed in Scopus and the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) of Web of Science, has been awarded the FECYT Seal of Quality, is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and has been recognised by the Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research (ANVUR) as a scientific journal in Area 13 (Economics and Management).

Further information on the journal's indexing, visibility, and metrics is available in the Indexing & Metrics section of this website.

Looking Ahead

Building on its history and international development, EJFB continues to strengthen its position as an international forum for rigorous, internationally relevant, and practice-oriented research on family businesses and business-owning families. The journal remains committed to promoting scientific excellence, encouraging dialogue between academia and practice, and contributing to the continued advancement of family business research.

This commitment is sustained by the institutional support of the University of Malaga through UMA Editorial and by the collaboration of the Spanish Association of Family Enterprise Researchers (SAFER), whose continued involvement reinforces the journal's connection with the international family business research community.