Business and Politics is the premier journal for cutting-edge research on the relationship between private firms and public governance institutions. The journal features articles that use the tools of social science to analyze contemporary policy issues such as business strategy in weakly institutionalized environments, private regulation and privatization of services, and the relationship between business organizations, nongovernmental organizations, courts, and political parties. It includes articles that offer new insights on bedrock concerns of international trade, industrial policy, lobbying and public policy, regulation, non-market strategy, and firms as both targets of and catalysts for political activity. The journal also publishes selected cases and commentaries on the interaction of politics and corporate strategy.
The editorial team emphasizes analytical rigor and novel theoretical and empirical analysis, which the journal does not associate with any dominant set of methodologies or approaches. We are particularly interested in manuscripts using a comparative approach, cross-regional studies, and interdisciplinary work and strongly encourage submissions from business, political science, law, economics, and public policy.
Abstracts
Abstracts will be typed or pasted into the relevant form in the submission screen rather than being included in the full text of the article. Abstracts should be <200 words for an article, <80 words for a note. Authors are also required to submit keywords.
Formatting Requirements
- Include a title page containing competing interest statements for all authors. (Begin the document with the introduction; an additional title page, including the abstract, will be added to your paper by the EdiKit system.)
- Do not include page numbers, headers, or footers. (The EdiKit system will add the appropriate header with page numbers).
- Write your article in English (unless the journal expressly permits non-English submissions).
- Submit your manuscript, including tables, figures, appendices, etc., as a single file (Word, RTF, or PDF files are accepted).
- Page size should be 8.5 x 11-inches.
- All margins (left, right, top and bottom) should be 1.5 inches (3.8 cm).
- Single space your text.
- Use a single column layout with both left and right margins justified.
- Font:
- Main Body — 12 pt.Times or the closest comparable font available
- Footnotes — 10 pt. Times or the closest comparable font available.
- If figures are included, use high-resolution figures, preferably encoded as encapsulated PostScript (eps).
- Copyedit your manuscript.
- Use the following document structure (remember there is no title page):
Introduction (titling this section is optional)
Subsequent sections including all tables, figures, and footnotes referenced in the text.
Appendices (if any)
Bibliography/References
- Notes should be presented as footnotes.
Competing interests
All authors must include a competing interest declaration in their title page. This declaration will be subject to editorial review and may be published in the article. Competing interests are situations that could be perceived to exert an undue influence on the content or publication of an author’s work. They may include, but are not limited to, financial, professional, contractual or personal relationships or situations. If the manuscript has multiple authors, the author submitting must include competing interest declarations relevant to all contributing authors.
Example wording for a declaration is as follows: “Competing interests: Author A is employed at company B. Author C owns shares in company D, is on the Board of company E and is a member of organisation F. Author G has received grants from company H.” If no competing interests exist, the declaration should state “Competing interests: The author(s) declare none”.
Style Guide
Bibliography/Reference List: The bibliography/reference list should contain the complete facts of publication for each source cited, using the author-date formatting shown in the following examples. Only include the sources that are specifically cited within the text. Provide first names (instead of initials) of authors when available. Within the manuscript, cite with footnotes. At the end of the manuscript, show sources in alphabetical order by the first author's surname and secondarily in chronological order with the earliest date first.
Footnotes: Authors should use footnotes to cite sources. Each footnote should state the author's last name and the year of publication, adding page numbers when quoting from or referring to a particular passage. E.g. Smith 2005, 43. The footnote may include a brief comment that helps the reader to understand the source's relationship to the article's argument.
Please use the following formats for the bibliography and footnotes:
BOOK: Thelen, Kathleen. 2014. Varieties of Liberalization and New Politics of Social Solidarity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
EDITED COLLECTION: DeMenno, Mercy Berman and Tim Büthe. 2022. "Voice and Influence in Global Governance: An Analytical Framework." In Rethinking Participation in Global Governance, edited by Joost Pauwelyn, Martino Maggetti, Tim Büthe, and Ayelet Berman. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
CHAPTER IN MULTI-AUTHOR COLLECTION: Gale, Jeffrey and Rogene A. Bucholz. 1987. "The Political Pursuit of Competitive Advantage: What Business Can Gain from Government." In Business Strategy and Public Policy, edited by Alfred Marcus, Allen M. Kaufman, and David Beam. New York: Quorum Books.
JOURNAL ARTICLE: Weber, Steven, & Mehandru, Nikita. 2022. “The 2020s Political Economy of Machine Translation.” Business and Politics, 24(1), 96-112.
WORKING PAPER: Smirnyagin, Vladimir and Aleh Tsyvinski. 2022. "Macroeconomic and Asset Pricing Effects of Supply Chain Disasters." Working Paper 30503. Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research.
PAPER PRESENTED AT A MEETING: Marple, Tim. 2020. "How Bureaucracies Address Public Bads." Paper presented at the American Political Science Association Annual Conference, September, Virtual.
GOVERNMENT/INSTITUTIONAL PUBLICATION: United Nations. 2022. "World Investment Report 2022: International Tax Reforms and Sustainable Investment." footnote: United Nations (2022).
NEWSPAPER OR MAGAZINE ARTICLES: No reference listing is needed. Include relevant information in a footnote: New York Times, 15 September 2022, p. A1. Author's names and article titles are omitted except when an author prefers to add them because they enhance understanding of points made in the text or the source.
PUBLICATION DISTRIBUTED ELECTRONICALLY: In addition to the usual information, please list the service name, the name of the vendor providing the service, and any identifying numbers.
UNPUBLISHED INTERVIEW: No reference listing is needed. Include relevant information only in a footnote: Author's interview with Adam Smith, Washington, D.C., August 2022. If the interviewee was promised anonymity, describe the informant as precisely as possible, for example, as a member of a category of individuals, without identifying the person.
UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT: Wu, Abraham H. 1994. "Contributions, Lobbying, and Participation." Unpublished manuscript, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
Ph.D. DISSERTATION: Reddie, Andrew. 2019. " Governing Insecurity: The Design and Effects of Arms Control Regimes." Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley.
Spelling: Use the American spelling of words such as "color" and "analyze." When referring to the United States, use "U.S." only in the adjectival form (e.g., the United States v. the U.S. economy).
Capitalization: Use capital letters sparingly. For example: the Clinton Administration v. the administration; South China Sea v. continental Europe; etc.
Punctuation: Observe the following guidelines:
Numerals: In general, spell out numbers including and below one hundred, and for large round numbers above that one thousand, ten million, etc. Use numerals for specific measures (e.g., $55 or 85 km) and percentages (e.g., 50 percent), using the percent sign only in tables and figures.
Dates: Set out specific dates in day-month-year format, omitting commas (e.g., 15 August 2022). When referring to a particular decade, do not use an apostrophe (e.g., 1990s). Spell out centuries (e.g., eighteenth century, not 18th century).
For questions of style not answered here, please refer to The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed., or contact the editorial office of Business and Politics.
Email: bap@berkeley.ed
Once you have prepared your manuscript, please follow the instructions on how to submit your paper via ScholarOne here.