Author guidelines

Please read the guidelines below before visiting EJFB's submission site to upload your manuscript. You should use the EJFB's Microsoft Word template to prepare your Title Page. 

 

Preliminary considerations

Before submitting your manuscript to EJFB, please read our editorial policy hosted in Journal information section. We also invite you to visit our Publishing ethics & research integrity page for more information.

What we publish

Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts to shed new light on contemporary challenges in the broad domain of family business. They should strike a reasonable balance between theory and practice, providing a concise but clear description of the issue or research question, using a credible and persuasive argumentation based on scholarly foundation as well as an appropriate methodology, concluding with a clear summary with implications and recommendations for the business practice. This should not be at odds with the use of an informative language, avoiding as far as possible the use of jargon and technical terminology.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of EJFB will be reviewed. EJFB accepts manuscripts for evaluation written in English, Spanish or Portuguese but only publishes manuscripts in English.

Types of papers

EJFB publishes original papers that raise our knowledge base on family business, business-owning family, and allied field. Content and presentation must meet the normal standards for scientific credibility. The journal considers the following types of papers:

Research papers: These papers are based on empirical findings or descriptions, theoretical arguments, or methodological developments that show an immediate practical relevance for family business owners, managers, consultants, and other stakeholders. Descriptive works that do not offer a relevant contribution to family business research are not considered for publication in EJFB. Final accepted manuscripts typically should have less than 9,000 words (all-inclusive) with a section on practical implications and recommendations. Statistical details and empirical results should be presented in an appendice at the end of the document to provide smooth reading of article, thus reinforcing its orientation to business practice.

Reviews and meta-analyses. These papers should provide an extensive overview of recent developments on topics that fall within the scope of the journal. They should offer a clear contribution to the domain of family business and establish an agenda for future research. Review articles are usually up to 11,000 words. The practical implications and recommendations sections should be well developed.

New or Data-driven insights. EJFB welcomes articles of 6,000-9,000 words in length that provide new ideas or perspectives by building upon existing or new theories to understand contemporary trends related to enterprises in general, and family firms in particular. EJFB also accepts papers that present new empirical works or techniques that are explorative in nature or that show unusual or counterintuitive findings.

Point/Counterpoint debates. Short articles or notes written to clarify or respond to the content of an insight article previously published in this journal. The Editors of the journal may accept other formats (e.g. two manuscripts by different authors presenting conflicting views on a specific topic). 

Perspective articles. This category of article is an in-depth viewpoint paper that present a forward-thinking view of an emerging topic that is written in an accessible and non-technical style. These articles can provide an ‘insider view’ of family firms and business-owning families drawing on experiential knowledge or offer reflections on key challenges and response options with a view to trigger new exchanges on emerging and future issues. Papers that seeks a dialogue between theoretical and the empirical evidence will be well received. Publishing perspective articles allow an in-depth practical and theoretical discussions.

Essays and Commentaries. They are usually essays that present a personal point of view of fundamental concepts or prevalent ideas in the field.  Commentaries should be stimulating and reflective essays providing personal perspectives on key topics and issues within family firm research. Whereas a perspective article looks at the big picture of a topic, an essay or commentary is a more technical or practical paper.

Practitioner forum pieces. Papers describing the experience of addressing the challenges faced by family firms and business-owning families. Practice papers are aimed to understand critical issues that are unique to family firms by applying the knowledge and expertise developed to solve complex family business issues. We encourage entrepreneurs, business owners and managers, practitioners, consultants, policy makers and other family business stakeholders to present their opinion and experiences using cases and data from which they have learned and that can be useful elsewhere.

Point/Counterpoint debates, Perspectives, Essays and Commentaries, and Practitioner Forum pieces submitted to EJFB are indicatively 4,000 words long, including references. Following a preliminary triage, all papers are sent out for review.

Publishing model

EJFB is a fully open access, also called Diamond Open Access.

Diamond Open Access is the most equitable path to open access publishing. It refers to a scholarly publication model in which journals and platforms do not charge fees to either authors or readers. Contents published on EJFB are licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 License. If the paper is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according tho this license.

EJFB is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research. In support of the Open Access initiative, authors are encouraged to self-archive their publications in open access repositories and share their research data in institutional or public data repositories.

Data availability statement

The data availability statement tells the reader where the research data associated with a paper is available, and under what conditions the data can be accessed. It also includes links (where applicable) to the dataset.

This declaration states the conditions of access to the “minimum dataset” that are necessary to interpret, verify and extend the research in the paper, transparent to readers. This minimum dataset should be provided through deposition in public community/discipline-specific repositories.  Below are some examples of statements that you can use or adapt:

Availability of data

Template for data availability statement

Data openly available in a public repository  

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in [repository name] at [URL/DOI], reference number [reference number].

Data available within the article or its supplementary materials

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article [and/or] its supplementary materials.

Data available on request from the authors

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [author initials], upon reasonable request.

Data sharing not applicable – no new data generated

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

This information should form part of the ‘Title Page’ file. The information will be published if the paper is accepted.

Peer review policy 

EJFB is a member of the Committe on Publication Ethics (COPE). As a peer-reviewed journal, the rigor of scientific publication is expected to be observed throughout the editorial process and for all parties involved in the act of publishing: authors, editors, reviewers and the publisher. 

All academic papers in EJFB  undergo a rigorous and transparent double anonymized  review process, based on initial editor screening, anonymous refereeing by two independent expert reviewers, and consequent revision by author(s) when required. In addition to offering authors advice and guidance, peer review ensures that the manuscripts published in EJFB are of the correct quality for the journal’s aims. In the peer review process the identity of both the reviewers and author(s) are always concealed from both parties. The review process is done with the Open Journal System (OJS) software that guarantees automated and auditable electronic registration of all interactions.The content of each peer review is confidential, for use only by EJFB editor and authors. 

Practice papers (Practitioner Forum pieces) submitted to EJFB undergo a single anonymous review process, a conventional method of peer review where the authors do not know who the reviewers but reviewers know the identities of authors.

Reviewers make comments to the corresponding author and recommendations to the handling editor. The Editor-in-Chief together with the deputy editors are responsibles for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. 

Please anonymize your manuscript. It is very important that no file contain any information that can identify it with the author(s). 

In case of any signs of misconduct or malpractice, Editor-in-Chief will discuss and will be in contact with the author(s) as soon as possible. 

Find out more about what to expect during peer review process visiting our Publishing ethics & research integrity page.

Originality 

The manuscript must be original and unpublished. The submission has not been previously published (except in the form of an abstract, a published lecture or academic thesis), nor is it before another journal for consideration unless it was rejected.

EJFB is a member of CrossCheck and uses anti-plagiarism tools to guarantee the originality of the submissions  through Ithenticate Plagiarism Checking Software.

Authors should ensure that none of the data presented in the manuscript have been plagiarized, fabricated, manipulated or falsified. All original data are distinguished clearly from previously published data. Also that all references have been properly identified and cited and that the sources of all previously published figures, tables, data, etc., have been cited in the manuscript.

Authorship

All authors should have made substantial contributions to all of the following: (1) the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, (3) final approval of the version to be submitted. It must be ensured that no person who meets the for scientific authorship has been ommitted from the list of authors.

Minor contributions such as suggestions related to references, data analysis or editing support, among others, do not guarantee authorship credits. These and other contributions to the paper may be recognized separately in  'Acknowledgements'.

Please note that AI tools, such as ChatGPT and other tools based on large language models cannot be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Content generated by AI.

Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the Editor-in-Chief. To request such a change, the Editor-in-Chief must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.

Author contribution statement

For transparency, we encourage authors to submit an ‘Author Contribution' statement outlining their individual contributions to the paper using CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy). 

The 'Author Contribution' statement should include the names of all authors and their CRediT role(s). EJFB encourages authors to specify their contributions in this way.

CRediT information should be provided during the submission process. Below are the definitions of the Contributor Roles Taxonomy:

Term

Definition

Conceptualization

Ideas; formulation or evolution of overarching research goals and aims

Methodology

Development or design of methodology; creation of models

Software

Programming, software development; designing computer programs; implementation of the computer code and supporting algorithms; testing of existing code components

Validation

Verification, whether as a part of the activity or separate, of the overall replication/ reproducibility of results/experiments and other research outputs

Formal analysis

Application of statistical, mathematical, computational, or other formal techniques to analyze or synthesize study data

Investigation

Conducting a research and investigation process, specifically performing the experiments, or data/evidence collection

Resources

Provision of study materials, reagents, materials, patients, laboratory samples, animals, instrumentation, computing resources, or other analysis tools

Data Curation

Management activities to annotate (produce metadata), scrub data and maintain research data (including software code, where it is necessary for interpreting the data itself) for initial use and later reuse

Writing - Original Draft

Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work, specifically writing the initial draft (including substantive translation)

Writing - Review & Editing

Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work by those from the original research group, specifically critical review, commentary or revision – including pre-or postpublication stages

Visualization

Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work, specifically visualization/ data presentation

Supervision

Oversight and leadership responsibility for the research activity planning and execution, including mentorship external to the core team

Project administration

Management and coordination responsibility for the research activity planning and execution

Funding acquisition

Acquisition of the financial support for the project leading to this publication

An example of 'Author Contribution' statement is the following:

Amaia Maseda: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software. Vanessa Diaz-Moriana: Data curation, Writing- Original draft preparation. Remedios Hernández-Linares: Visualization, Investigation. Valeriano Sanchez-Famoso: Supervision. Txomin Iturralde: Software, Validation. José Carlos Casillas: Writing- Reviewing and Editing.

If authors have  equal contribution, the statement should say: These authors contributed equally to the work.

This information should form part of the ‘Title Page’ file. The information will be published if the paper is accepted.

Language

EJFB accepts manuscripts for evaluation written in English, Spanish or Portuguese. If the manuscript is submitted in a non-English language, authors commit to translate it to English once it is accepted. Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these).

Use of inclusive language

Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities. Authors should ensure that writing is free from bias, for instance by using plural nouns as default/wherever possible to avoid using "he, she" or "he/she".

Sex and gender equity in research

We encourage authors to include sex and gender considerations where relevant. Authors should use the terms sex (biological attribute) and gender (shaped by social and cultural circumstances) carefully in order to avoid confusing both terms. Given that the terms sex and gender can be ambiguous, authors should explicitly state what definitions of sex and/or gender they are applying. Authors can refer to Sex and Gender Equity in Research guidelines, which offer systematic approaches to the use and editorial review of sex and gender information in study design, data analysis, outcome reporting and research interpretation.

Where appropriate, data should be presented disaggregated. The potential implications of sex and gender on the study results should also be discussed.  Additionally, authors should report how sex and gender were taken into account in the design of the study, whether sex and/or gender differences may be expected. In cases where they cannot, authors should discuss this as a limitation their research's generalizability.

Conflict of interest

All authors must ensure there are no potential or perceived conflicts of interest. They must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. 

Declaration of interest

Authors should complete a 'Declaration of Interest' statement. This statement should form part of the ‘Title page’ file.

If there are no interests to declare, please write: Declarations of interest: none.

This information will be published if the paper is accepted.

Ethical statement

Publishing ethics relate to the integrity of the publication process itself. EJFB  recommends authors review our information on Publishing ethics & research integrity page.

Studies that use surveys and questionnaires, written consent should be sought wherever possible. Participants must be fully informed about the purpose of the survey, how their data will be used and the extent of their involvement, if the anonymity of participants is guaranteed, their ability to withdraw from the study at any time, etc. All relevant privacy protections related to disclosure of subject identities must also be strictly maintained. If the paper is accepted for publication, the 'Ethical statement' section should explain this and confirm that the appropriate protocols for protecting the rights and privacy of all participants were utilized during the execution of the research.

Unless exempt, all research involving human participants or the collection and/or use of their data requires ethical approval. Data from human participants includes: the use of secondary research data, and human data and records (e.g., genetic, financial, personnel, criminal, or administrative records); samples taken from participants (e.g. blood samples and DNA); the collection and/or analysis of data collected through the use of sensors and other digital ‘tracking’ tools or other online generated content.

Research that involve the use of personal data also requires ethical approval. Personal data included in any part of the paper and in any supplementary materials must be removed unless authors have written permission from participants.

Declaration of ethical statement

If the study needs ethical approval, it should be documented in the submission and must have been obtained before research is carried out. By making the submission, authors must include in the 'Title Page' an ethical statement  that should include the approval number, the date of approval, and the name and localition of the ethics committee or review board. If the paper is accepted for publication, this information should be indicated in the published article as follow: 

Ethical statemet. This study was approved by the NAME OF ETHICS COMMITTEE OR INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD (APPROVAL NUMBER/ID NUMBER) on APPROVAL DATE.

Any paper describing a study involving humans should also contain an informed consent statement. Written consents should be retained by the author, and copies of these consents, or evidence of their acquisition, must be made available to EJFB upon request. When informed consent has been obtained, it should be indicated in the article. For example: 

Ethical statement. The authors confirm that Informed consent was obtained from all participants involved in the study.

The publised article should also indicate data protection and confirm that the appropriate protocols for protecting the rights and privacy of all participants were utilized during the execution of the research. An example of ethical statement is the following:

Ethical statement. The authors confirm that data collection for the research was conducted anonymously and there was not possibility of identifying the participants.

Generative AI usage in manuscript preparation

If authors use generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies (e.g., ChatGPT) in the writing and preparation of their manuscript, their use must be described. Authors ar fully responsible for the accuracy of any information provided by these tools and for correctly referencing any supporting work on which that information depends.

It must be recalled that authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and performed by humans who can take ownership of their work, make ethical judgments, and fulfill responsibilities associated with research.  In accordance with COPE’s position statement on AI tools, these tools cannot fulfill the role of an author of an article. Therefore, AI cannot be listed as an author in scientific publications.

In the case of relying on these tools for drafting the manuscript, APA style  already provides a structured format for describing the use of ChatGPT or other AI tools, incorporating in-text citations and proper referencing. Here is an example offered by APA for describing the use of ChatGPT, along with in-text citation and referencing:

In-text Citation:

“When prompted with “Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that although the two brain hemispheres are somewhat specialized, “the notation that people can be characterized as ‘left-brained’ or ‘right-brained’ is considered to be an oversimplification and a popular myth” (OpenAI, 2023)1.

1OpenAI (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

Source: McAdoo, T. (2023, April 7). How to cite ChatGPT. APA Style. Retrieved at: https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt

In addition, it will be necessary to disclose the use of these technologies in a statement. Please note that authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the contents of the work.

Using AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process to improve the language and readability of the manuscript does not require to add a statement.

Declaration on the use of generative AI

Authors must disclose the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the research process by adding a statement at the end of their manuscript, before the References list. The statement should be placed in a section entitled ‘Statement on the use of generative AI ’. Authors must provide details like the model, version, date of use, and user’s name for thorough transparency. The following text is an example of declaration:

Declaration on the use of generative AI: During the preparation of this work the author(s) used [NAME TOOL / SERVICE] in order to [REASON]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication.

In the submission, this information should also form part of the ‘Title Page’ file. 

This declaration does not apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references, etc. If there is nothing to disclose, there is no need to add a statement.

As mentioned, authors should not list AI and AI-assisted technologies as an author or co-author. Authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and performed by humans.

Funding information

Authors are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the paper and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design (please indicate the grant number); in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement then this should be stated.

Please supply all details requered by your funding and grant-awaring bodies. This information will be published if the paper is accepted.

Acknowledgments

Authors may recognize those who have supported the authors in the preparation of the manuscript. Acknowledgments should not be included in the manuscript. The acknowledgments will be incorporated into the paper once it is accepted for publication.

 

Preparing the manuscript for submission

Our manuscript submission system will guide you step-by-step through the process of entering your article data and attaching files. Online submission system requires the register as author role. User ID and password can be obtained on the first visit. The system will contain the files that make up the manuscript for the peer review process. The corresponding author will receive information about the review process of the manuscript via email.

Please do not hesitate to contact us (ejfb@uma.es) in case you have any question or any problem when submitting your article. Remember that we will be very pleased to support you.

Accepted file formats

Manuscripts should be uploaded as a single document containin the main text, tables and figures. Please insert the graphics (schemes, figures, tables, etc.) in the main text after the paragraph of its first citation. In revision stages, figures and tables must be provided as separate files.

The title page and the main manuscript files should be provided in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx). Accepted  figures (charts, diagrams, images, etc.) file formats are as follows: TIFF (or JPEG), EPS (or PDF), or MS Office files.

Important: Please anonymize your manuscript and prepare a separate title page file containing author details. .

Title page file

Please use the EJFB's Microsoft Word template to prepare your Title Page. This should contain:

  • Manuscript title. Concise and informative, written in English and Spanish (only Spanish speakers) with initials capitalized (excluding determiners, prepositions, etc.). Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. The title should not contain abbreviations.
  • Author details. Please clearly indicate the first name and the surname(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. In case of using double surnames, use a hyphen between them. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Provide the full postal address, including the country name and the e-mail address of each author. EJFB encourages to provide the ORCID of all authors.
  • Corresponding author. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author. Please include the ORCID number.
  • Conflict of interest statement. EJFB encourages to provide this information. If there are no interests to declare, please write: Declarations of interest: none.
  • Author contribution statement. All authors that have made a significant contribution to the paper should be listed. EJFB encourages authors to provide information about their contribution using the relevant CRediT roles. Those who have provided support but have not contributed to the research should be featured in an acknowledgements section. If authors have equal contribution, please write: Authors contributed equally to the work. 
  • Ethical statement. By making the submission, authors must include an ethical statement  that states the following:
    • Ethical approval of the ethics committee or instituional review board (if applicable).
    • Informed consent from all participant involved in the study (if applicable).
    • Confidentiality statement or non-disclosure agreement (if applicable).
  • Declaration on the use of generative AI in the writing and preparation of the manuscript (if applicable).
  • Data availability statement. Include this  statement so that readers can easily find where the research data associated with the paper is available, and under what conditions the data can be accessed.

Main manuscript file

Manuscript should be uploaded as a single document (containing the main text, tables and figures) in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx).
Manuscript should be prepared following APA style (6th edition) including DOI in URL format. Paper should be in A4 size, using double line spacing, a minimum of 1 inch (2.5 cm) margins, and 12 point readable font.

Please organize your paper with the following structure: Abstract; Keywords; Introduction; Thematic sections; Discussion, conclusions & implications; References; and Appendices.

Authors should write in an accessible way and avoid technical jargon so that the paper can be understood by a non-academic reader. 

Regular manuscript should be no more than 9,000 words (all-inclusive). Point/counterpoint debates, perspective pieces, commentaries, and practice papers should have a maximum length of 4,000 words and also include a brief abstract and keywords.

The abstract should not exceed 250 words. Exceptions may be evaluated by contacting the journal Editor. Abbreviations will be avoided in the Abstract. Clear writing and an attractive presentation are indispensable.

Manuscripts should have an introduction and a conclusion section, with the main body of the article divided into thematic headings. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, etc.), 1.2, etc.  Authors should not use abbreviations in the headings. Please define abbreviations the first they are mentioned in the abstract and manuscript.

Mathematical analysis and statistical data should be placed in appendices it is possible in order to provide smooth reading of article, thus reinforcing its orientation to business practice.

The first page of the manuscript 

Please remember that personal data of authors may under no circumstances appear in the manuscript.

The first page should contain:

  • Manuscript title. A short informative title should be provided

  • Abstract. A concise abstract is required, writen in English and Spanish (only Spanish speakers) and of not more than 250 words. The abstract should summarize the whole paper and not the conclusions alone. It should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. References and non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself

  • Keywords. Inmediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 4-6 keywords, using American or British spelling, avoiding general and plural terms, and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of', etc.). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible, since these keywords will be used for indexing purposes. Keywords are not capitalized.

  • Classification codes.  Please provide at least one JEL code. These classification codes may be accessed at JEL.

Main body of the manuscript

Please organize your paper with the following structure:

  • Introduction. This must state the objectives of the paper and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

  • Theory section. This must explain the theories that support the research, showing that the work is grounded in established ideas, theories and models.

  • Sample description and methods. This must include a description of the research method, procedures, as well as the reason for selecting them. Provide sufficient details to allow the work to be reproduced by an independent researcher.

  • Results. They should be clear and concise. Authors should report, where relevant, whether sex and/or gender differences may be expected.

  • Discussion. This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them

  • Conclusions. The main conclusions of the work must be presented in a short Conclusions section.
  • Practical implications. Practical implications are based on logic and reasoning. Please try as much as possible to be realistic in your description of what the results of your study might imply.
  • References. Citations will be listed alphabetically at the end of the paper, and be presented in alphabetical order in accordance with the APA style (6th edition).
  • Appendices. They should include mathematical analysis and statistical data, if it possible.

Where Greek letters or other special sorts are used, please ensure they are clear on the manuscript. Mathematical and statistical analyses should be placed in appendices where possible.

Illustrations, tables, figures, etc. must be included in the manuscript, in the correct place and numbered consecutively. The format admitted for all of them is JPG except tables than must be editable text. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in them do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules and only use capital letters in the first word of the titles. All these must be properly referenced and, if any are copyrighted, it is the author’s responsibility to obtain the necessary permissions to use them.

Footnotes are incorporated into the text and numbered consecutively throughout the article.

Before submitting your work, please check that the manuscript is complete, grammatically correct, and without spelling or typographical errors. Final accepted manuscripts typically should have less than 9,000 words including figures, tables, footnotes and references.

Funding

If article is accepted, funding information will be published within the article. Please list funding sources to facilitate compliance to funder’s requirements. Supply all deails required by our funding and grant-awarding bodies as follows: This work was supported by the [Funding Agency] under Grant [number xxxx]

Acknowledgements

If article is accepted, acknowledgements will be published within the article. 

Reference style

Books and journal articles should be referred to in the text by the authors name and year of publication, e.g. (Cooper & Martínez-Pereira, 1992) or Cooper and Martínez-Pereira (1992). Where there are multiple citations within the text, they should be ordered chronologically then alphabetically. Where reference is made to more than one work published by the same author in a single year, a suffix, a, b, c, etc., should follow the date, e.g. (Smith 1989b).

Please ensure that all citations in the text are listed in the reference list, and that all entries in the reference list are cited in the text. Citations will be listed alphabetically according to APA style (6th edition). It is mandatory the inclusion of the DOI in URL format when it exits, or the link to the electronic publication.

A full reference list should be included at the end of the paper using the following convention:

  • Reference to a journal publication : Aparicio, G., Ramos, E., Casillas, J.C., & Iturralde, T. (2021). Family business research in the last decade. A bibliometric reviw. European Journal of Family Business 11(1), 33-44. https://doi.org/10.24310/ejfbejfb.v11i1.12503.

  • Reference to a book: Kellermanns, F.W. & Hoy, F. (2017). The Routledge companion to family business. Routledge. 

  • Reference to a chapter in a book: Pérez-Pérez, M. & Hernández-Linares, R. (2019). Commitment to learning, knowledge, and strategic renewal: do family firms manage them differently? In J. M. Saiz-Alvarez, J. Leitão, & J. M. Palma-Ruiz (Eds.), Entrepreneurship and family business vitality, 177-203, Springer.

  • Reference to a webpage or piece of online content: Gallo, M.A. & Pereira-Otero, B. (2018). The exercise of power in the family business. Practitioner FFI, June 27th. Retrieved from https://ffipractitioner.org/the-exercise-of-power-in-the-family-business 

  • Reference to a conference paper or poster presentation: Maseda, A. (2021). Women in family business: advances in research topics. Paper presented at the AINVEF 2021 Annual Meeting of SAFER (Sociedad Española de Investigadores en Empresa Familiar, Pyme y Emprendimiento). Bilbao, November 2021.

Tables

Tables should be included in the main body of the manuscript after the paragraph of its first citation. Tables should be numbered consecutively as Table 1, 2, 3, etc. Give each table a brief title.

Please submit tables as editable text and not as images.

Figures

All figures (charts, diagrams, images, etc.) should be submitted in an acceptable format [TIFF (or JPEG), EPS (or PDF), or MS Office files] and with the correct resolution. All figures should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals and have clear captions. Please:

  • Do not supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); these typically have a low number of pixels and limited set of colors.
  • Do not supply files that are too low in resolution.
  • Do not submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

Figure captions

Ensure that each illustration has a caption.  Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.

It is responsibility of the author(s) to obtain the necessary permissions for the images that are subject to copyright.

Math formulae

Please submit math equations as editable text and not as images. Present simple formulae in line with normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., X/Y. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp.

Suplementary files

Supplementary material (e.g. research data, additional material, etc.) should be submitted as separate files alongside the title page and manuscript files. These files should be clearly labelled in such a way that makes it clear they are supplementary. All supplementary material must be mentioned at the appropriate moment in the main text of the manuscript. 

Please note that EJFB will not make any changes to the material and it will not be copyedited. Authors will not receive proofs for the review. 

If authors choose to use an institutional or personal repository, they should ensure that the supplementary material is hosted on the repository ahead of submission, and then include a link to the repository within the manuscript. It is the responsibility of the authors to ensure that the material is free to access and that it remains permanently available.

 

After acceptance

After your paper is accepted, your files will be assessed to ensure they are ready for production. EJFB will carry out editorial copyediting and typesetting and return proofs to the corresponding author for the review. This is the opportunity to correct any typographical errors, grammatical errors or incorrect author details. EJFB cannot accept request to rewrite text at this stage.

When the page proofs are finalized, the proofed version of the paper will be published online. This is referred to as the Article in press version (also called EarlyCite version), which has yet to be assigned to a volume and issue but it has a DOI and is fully citable. It will be compiled into an issue according to the EJFB's issue schedule, with papers being added by chronological date of publication.

When an author discover significant errors or inaccuracy in the published paper, we have the option of withdrawing it or introducing a correction notice. Please visit our  page on fundamental error in published works.

How to share scientific information (open access publications)

Open access (OA) refers to the practice of providing online access to scientific information (research articles and research data) that is free of charge to the end-user and reusable.

EJFB  is a fully open access journal. EJFB provides immediate and fully open access to its content, which means that all content will be permanently available for free without delay. There are no financial, legal or technical barriers to accessing publications.

In support of the OA initiative, we encourage authors self-archive their publications in open access repositories. Specifically, Spanish authors should  make a deposit of their accepted manuscripts to their respective institutional repositories upon acceptance of their articles. In papers published in EJFB, we encourage sharing their publications with colleagues and other stakeholders. For further information and guidance, please refer to the Recolecta website.

To make research data findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR), we also encourage authors to deposit their research data (data underlying publications considered as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or calculation) in their institutional repositories or open access thematic repositories (e.g., repositories within the European Open Science Cloud initiative - EOSC).