• Original Research Articles (5,000–8,000 words): empirical, data-driven studies (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods) that generate new evidence and/or rigorously test and extend existing theoretical frameworks.

• Review Articles (4,000–7,000 words): provide a critical synthesis of prior research within a clearly defined scope, highlighting key findings, disagreements, gaps, and directions for future research. Authors must state clear research question(s), objectives and their original contribution to the field and their role in the development of the topic, relative to prior work. The journal considers:

  • Systematic Review: is required to follow PRISMA 2020 and include (supplementary) a flow diagram, checklist, and the full search strategy.

  • Scoping Review: is required to follow PRISMA-ScR and include (supplementary) a flow diagram, PRISMA-ScR checklist, and the full search strategy; it maps the breadth of evidence, so transparent reporting of search and selection is essential.

  • Narrative (Integrative/Conceptual) Review: is required to describe the search approach and include a summary table; a conceptual synthesis figure/model is strongly encouraged.

  • Bibliometric Review: is reproducible and reports the database and download date, the full query, the software used, and provides a performance analysis plus at least two mapping analyses with the underlying records (see Donthu et al., 2021).

For an overview of review types and guidance in business research, see Snyder (2019).

• Preliminary Communications (4,000–7,000 words): reports of initial or partial findings from ongoing research, intended for early dissemination.

• Professional Papers (3,000–6,000 words): peer-reviewed applied contributions that translate theoretical insights into professional or managerial practice rather than presenting new empirical data.

• Book Reviews and Commentary (up to 2,000 words): invited contributions providing critical reviews of recent scholarly books or commentary on current issues relevant to the journal.

*Word counts exclude references, tables, figures, and appendices.

Note on Conference Papers:

• The journal may consider extended and substantially revised versions of papers previously presented at academic conferences.

• Eligible submissions must be based on conference abstracts only - not on full papers published in proceedings.

• Manuscripts must demonstrate significant new content or analysis beyond the original conference version.

• Such papers are treated as new submissions and undergo independent peer review.

• While the Journal follows a double-anonymous process, complete anonymity cannot always be maintained for publicly presented work.

• Authors must acknowledge and cite the original conference source, including any reused tables, figures, or data.

• Accepted papers must state the conference title, date, and location.

All manuscripts must be submitted in MS Word (.docx) format. PDF submissions are not accepted. Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the APA Style, 7th Edition. The journal follows APA 7, for referencing and citation, with minor adaptations in manuscript formatting as specified below.

General formatting

• Paper size: A4, margins: 2.5 cm (1 inch) on all sides.

• Font: Cambria, 11 pt.

• Line spacing: 1.1, with no extra spacing before or after paragraphs.

• Alignment: left-aligned (ragged right). Do not use full justification or manual hyphenation.

• Do not indent the first paragraph in a section. Indent the first line of each subsequent paragraph by 0.75 cm.

• Page numbers: right-aligned, beginning with the title page as page 1.

• Equations: submit as editable text (not images).

• Abbreviations: spell out in full at first mention.

• Use straight quotation marks and apostrophes only.

Order of sections

Authors must follow the standard order of sections:

1. Title page (Please download Template.docx and complete it locally. Online editing is not enabled.) 

• • Article title (Cambria 14 pt, bold, centered, sentence case)

  • Author details: full name; institutional affiliation (institution, department, city, country); ORCID iD; institutional e-mail address; ROR ID for the organization they are affiliated with.

  • Corresponding author marked with an asterisk (*)

  • Funding acknowledgments (see Author Responsibilities)

    • If there is no funding, state: “This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.” 

  • Data availability statement

  • Author contributions (see CRediT statement)

  • Conflict of interest statement

  • If applicable, include an Ethics Statement for research involving human participants or survey data, confirming informed consent and compliance with institutional standards.

2. Abstract and Keywords

• • Abstract length: 150–250 words, in English only.

  • Structure: Purpose; Design/Methodology; Findings; Practical Implications; Originality/Value.

  • Font: Cambria 10 pt, italic, justified.

  • Keywords: 4 - 5, listed below the abstract.

  • JEL Classification: Authors must include relevant JEL codes, listed below the keywords. 

3. Main text (anonymous for review)

Manuscripts must be structured into the following required sections:

1. Introduction

2. Literature Review or Theoretical Background

3. Methodology

4. Results

5. Discussion

6. Conclusion

4. References

Must follow APA 7th Edition (see Section 4).

5. Figures and Tables

• • Tables must be fully editable (not pasted as images)

  • Figures must also be uploaded as separate high-resolution files in TIFF, JPG, or EPS format (minimum 300 dpi)

  • All figures and charts must use grayscale or high-contrast black-and-white shading

  • No titles inside the figure itself (titles and captions are outside)

  • Number all tables and figures consecutively in the order of appearance (e.g. ,Table 1, Table 2, Figure 1, etc.)

  • Table title should appear above the table, left-justified, and include a bold label (e.g., Table 1)

  • Figure title should appear above the figure, left-justified, and include a bold label (e.g., Figure 1)

  • The title must be in italics, written in sentence case, 6 pt after the title and end with a period

  • Every Table or Figure must include:

    • source (or “Author’s calculation/illustration”)

    • explanation of abbreviations (if any)

    • methodological/data notes (as applicable).

    • Typography: the label "Note" must be font 9 pt, italics

      • e.g. "Note. Source: Author’s analysis."

      • place a single note line directly below the table/figure.

      • spacing: 6 pt before the note line (gap between display and note) and 8 pt after

      • order of elements: in one line, separated by semicolons. 

  • All captions and notes should be left-justified

  • Ensure every table and figure is explicitly referred to in the text.

  • Use a decimal point and a space as the thousands separator (e.g. 31.1, 45 000.87)

  • If using third-party material, obtain and declare permission for reuse, and provide a credit line (e.g., “Adapted from …”).

6. Appendices (if applicable)

• • Supplementary material such as questionnaires, extended datasets, technical notes, robustness checks, and detailed model specifications may be placed in appendices.

  • Cite appendices in text and list in the order of first mention (Appendix A, Appendix B, …).

  • Normally, figures and tables belong in the main text, not in appendices.

Numbered Heading System

• Headings must be numbered (1., 1.1., 1.1.1., …), Title Case, left-aligned, and consistent.

• Level 1: Cambria 12 pt, bold; two blank lines before / one after.

• Level 2: Cambria 12 pt; one blank line before and after.

• Level 3 (and lower): Cambria 11 pt, italics; one blank line before and after.

• Do not skip levels. If you introduce 2.1, include 2.2; if 2.1.1, include 2.1.2.

Notes

• Do not include any personal or institutional identifiers in the anonymous manuscript .doc file (to preserve double-anonymous review).

• The manuscript file must not contain any author identifiers in the text, footnotes, file name, or document properties (see Section 8). 

Authors must ensure that all submissions are original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere. 

Submissions derived from conference proceedings may be considered only if:

• the original conference paper is clearly disclosed at submission,

• the conference version is publicly available online,

• no copyright or exclusive rights were transferred to the organizer,

• the submitted manuscript has been substantially revised and extended.

All authors must:

• fully disclose any conflicts of interest (financial, institutional, or personal),

• clearly state all sources of funding,

• comply with international ethical standards for research involving human or animal subjects, including:

  • prior approval from an Institutional Review Board or ethics committee,

  • informed consent where applicable,

  • protection of participant privacy and sensitive data.

Allegations of research misconduct are handled in accordance with the journal’s Research Misconduct and Investigation Procedure.

Violations such as plagiarism, data manipulation, duplicate publication, or undeclared conflicts of interest may result in rejection, correction, or retraction, depending on the outcome of the investigation.

Authors who wish to raise concerns regarding the editorial process, ethical issues, or publication-related matters may contact the Editorial Office via the Complaints Policy. All complaints are handled confidentially, fairly, and in accordance with the journal’s integrity framework.

The journal applies a double-anonymized peer review process to all research manuscripts (original research articles, review articles, preliminary communications) and professional papers. For full details, see the Peer Review Policy.

Author and reviewer identities are not disclosed to each other and are known to the editor only. All communication is mediated through the editor and the OJS system. 

Review information published: The journal does not publish peer review reports or reviewer identities alongside the published article.

External review

Each research manuscript and professional paper is evaluated by at least two external experts. Reviewers are selected based on academic expertise and to avoid conflicts of interest (e.g., no reviewers from the same institution as any author, and no recent collaborators). Members of the Editorial Board are generally not invited to serve as reviewers. However, in exceptional cases, Editorial Board members may be invited when highly specific expertise is required and no conflict of interest exists; in such cases, they are subject to the same confidentiality and conflict-of-interest safeguards as all reviewers.

Editorial decisions

Based on reviewers’ reports, the Editor may decide to::

• accept the manuscript,

• request minor revisions,

• request major revisions, or

• reject the submission.

In cases of conflicting reviews, a third reviewer may be invited. Revised manuscripts may undergo further review. 

For accepted papers, the article page will display key editorial dates (submission / revision / acceptance / published). 

Authors may appeal an editorial decision within 30 days with a brief, reasoned request (refer to Appeals process).

Suggested reviewers (optional)

Authors may propose up to three potential reviewers in the Cover Letter at the time of submission. These suggestions are non-binding and serve primarily to expand the journal’s reviewer database. Suggested reviewers are not automatically assigned; they may be considered at the editor’s discretion after independent verification and conflict-of-interest screening.

Suggested names must include:

• full name,

• institutional affiliation, and

• official institutional email address.

The Editorial Team makes the final decision on reviewer selection, including assessment of potential conflicts of interest.

Non-peer reviewed content

Certain contributions (e.g., editorials, book reviews, announcements, corrections) are evaluated internally by the Editorial Board and do not undergo external peer review.

Letters to the Editor

Post-publication scholarly discussion is possible via letters to the editor (see Publication Ethics: Post-Publication Discussion).

All manuscripts must be submitted electronically via the Online Journal System (OJS) on the Hrčak portal. Submissions by email are not accepted.

Submission steps

1. Register or log in to the OJS system.

2. Upload the following .doc files separately (required):

• Article

• Title Page

• Cover letter

• Anonymous manuscript (without author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, or funding details)

3. Optional: 

   • Supplementary materials (e.g., questionnaires, extended tables, robustness checks, datasets, figures, appendices)

4. Enter required metadata (title, abstract, keywords, references)

5. Confirm compliance with the journal’s guidelines and policies (authorship, ethics, conflict of interest, plagiarism screening)

6. Submit.

Authors can track the progress of their manuscript and communicate with editors directly through the OJS system at all stages of the review process.

Author Contributions (CRediT Statement)

During submission, please upload a separate statement specifying each author’s contributions according to the CRediT taxonomy. Author contribution statements are collected during submission and will be published in the final version of the article. Only the roles that apply to the manuscript should be listed. Format example:

• Author Contributions: Conceptualization – A.B.; Methodology – A.B., C.D.; Software - C.D.; Formal analysis – C.D.; Data curation – E.F.; Writing – original draft – A.B.; Writing – review & editing – C.D., E.F.; Supervision – G.H.

Important

• All listed authors must have made a substantial scholarly contribution (see Authorship and Contributions).

• Changes to authorship (addition, removal, or reordering of authors) are not permitted after acceptance, except in exceptional cases (see Changes to Authorship).

• Submissions are automatically screened for plagiarism and originality (see Plagiarism and AI-generated Content Screening).

Digital Preservation

• The journal participates in the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN), which uses the LOCKSS to provide decentralized, distributed, and permanent preservation, ensuring perpetual access to the published content.

• All published content is permanently archived on the Hrčak portal (the central platform for Croatian open-access scholarly journals), ensuring long-term preservation and accessibility.

• In addition, all research articles are preserved in the Internet Archive (archive.org) within the dedicated collection of Poslovna izvrsnost – Business Excellence, ensuring international redundancy and perpetual access. 

• All articles include Digital Object Identifier (DOI) via Crossref, with Crossmark for reliable citation and update tracking. 

Author Identifiers and Research Data

• Authors are strongly encouraged to include their ORCID iD ensuring accurate attribution and integration with international databases.  

• In line with the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), authors are invited to share relevant research data in public repositories, supporting transparency and reproducibility.

Self-Archiving Policy

Authors are permitted to deposit all versions of their manuscripts:  

• Submitted version (preprint) 

• Accepted version (postprint) 

• Published version (Version of Record).

These may be deposited in institutional or subject repositories, provided that the final publication includes a full bibliographic citation and a link to the article’s DOI.

The journal’s self-archiving policy is registered with the Jisc Open Policy Finder, where journal is listed as supporting the Green level of self-archiving, in line with international best practices.