Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Created over two decades ago to meet the growing demand for research and analysis in this expanding field, the Journal of Business and Technical Communication provides you with information you can use today. The journal covers topics of fundamental interest and key issues, such as managerial communication, ethics of business communication, technical communication practice and pedagogy, intercultural communication, and visual design in business and technical communication.
A valuable resource for educators, researchers, scholars, managers, technicians and practitioners, the Journal of Business and Technical Communication offers you a wide range of scholarship that probes current problems and methods. It focuses on article-length studies that present the latest research in business and technical communication. However, it also includes Approaches and Practices articles. These short articles list instructional tips and industrial how-tos. It includes Book and Software Reviews that critically examine the book and software market. Sometimes, it includes Commentaries, which are opinion pieces address issues of importance to the profession, and Comments and Responses, which are exchanges between readers and authors add insight to recent work.
Articles in the Journal of Business and Technical Communication have frequently won professional awards, such as the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) award presented nationally for excellence in publications in technical and scientific communication. Most recently, “The Ethics of Delivering Bad News: Evaluating Impression Management Strategies in Corporate Financial Reporting” by Dr. Emily DeJeu (Carnegie Mellon University) won the Association for Business Communication’s 2022 award for distinguished publication, and "Decolonizing the Color-Line: A Topological Analysis of W.E.B. Du Bois’s Infographics for the 1900 Paris Exposition" by Lynda C. Olman and “Curricular Efforts in Technical Communication After the Social Justice Turn” by Godwin Y. Agboka and Isidore K. Dorpenyo have won CCCC Technical and Scientific Communication Awards.
JBTC is a refereed, JCR™ ranked journal that provides a forum for research and scholarly discussion of business communication, technical communication, and scientific communication. As such, JBTC offers opportunities for bridging dichotomies that have traditionally existed in professional communication journals between business and technical communication and between industrial and academic audiences.
Because JBTC is designed to disseminate knowledge that can lead to improved communication practices in both academe and industry, the journal favors research that will inform professional communicators in both sectors. But articles addressing one sector or the other will also be considered. Submissions may address such topics as best practices in communication; innovative instruction in business and technical communication; qualitative and quantitative research in governmental, business, industrial, nonprofit or academic settings; and theoretical approaches to business and technical communication. While published manuscripts may represent any one of a wide range of approaches and methodologies, treatment should meet the highest standards for scholarship.
| Jo Mackiewicz | Iowa State University, USA |
| Chris Lam | University of North Texas, USA |
| Lori Peterson | Iowa State University, USA |
| Nancy Roundy Blyler, founding coeditor 1987-1989 | Iowa State University, USA |
| Charlotte Thralls, founding coeditor 1987-1989 | Founding Coeditor 1987-1989 |
| Thomas Kent, editor 1990-1994 | Western Michigan University, USA |
| Rebecca E. Burnett, editor 1998-2002 | Iowa State University, USA |
| Dorothy A. Winsor, editor 2003-2007 | Iowa State University, USA |
| Charles Kostelnick, editor 1995-1997, 2013-2015, 2019-2020 | Iowa State University, USA |
| David R. Russell, editor 2007-2019 | Iowa State University, USA |
| Godwin Agboka | University of Houston-Downtown, USA |
| Natasha Artemeva | Carleton University, Canada |
| Charles Bazerman | University of California, Santa Barbara, USA |
| Davida H. Charney | The University of Texas at Austin |
| Menno De Jong | University of Twente, Netherlands |
| Valerie P. Goby | Zayed University, UAE |
| Magnus Gustafsson | Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden |
| JoAnn Hackos | Comtech Services, Inc., USA |
| Christopher Lam | University of North Texas, USA |
| Lisa Melonçon | University of South Florida, USA |
| Marie Paretti | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA |
| Octavio Pimentel | Texas State University, USA |
| Janice C. Redish | President, Redish and Associates, Inc., USA |
| Stuart A. Selber | Pennsylvania State University, USA |
| Clay Spinuzzi | University of Texas at Austin, USA |
| Kirk St. Amant | Louisiana Tech University, USA |
| Jason Swarts | North Carolina State University, USA |
| Miriam Williams | Texas State University, USA |
| Joanna Wolfe | Carnegie Mellon University, USA |
| Han Yu | Kansas State University, USA |
| Cristina Zucchermaglio | Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy |
Types of Submissions
JBTC publishes several types of submissions: article-length studies, approaches and practices, commentaries, book and software reviews, and comments and responses.
Article-Length Studies: Article-length studies, which should present the results of research, are usually 6,000 to 12,000 words. Reports of empirical research should include details of the research design and methodology, either in the text or in an appendix.
Approaches and Practices: Approaches and practices are short pieces—5,000 to 7,000 words—published in a section of the journal devoted to pedagogical tips and industrial how-tos.
Commentaries: Commentaries—which may range from 2,000 to 3,000 words—are opinion pieces addressing issues of importance to the profession.
Comments and Responses: Comments and responses are exchanges between readers and authors about pieces that have appeared in JBTC. These submissions should not exceed 2,500 words.
Book and Software Reviews: Book reviews critically examine recent additions to the book and software market. Reviews may range from 800 to 1,200 words. Directions for preparing a book or software review appear below. Queries regarding reviews should be submitted to the book review editor, Chris Lam, at chris.lam@unt.edu.
Directions for Submitting Manuscripts
Manuscripts should be submitted to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jbtc.
When submitting your manuscript, you will need to upload a manuscript file with no identifying author information (designate as Main Document). To hide your identity during the review process, refer to your own previously published research by using the word “AUTHOR” rather than your name. Also, do not include the year of publication or title of your previously published work in either the main text or your list of references.
Your manuscript file should contain an abstract of about 100 words. Place it on a separate page headed by the full article title. Omit author names.
You will also need to upload a separate title page document (designate as Title Page) that contains:
- Full article title
- Acknowledgments and credits
- Each author’s complete name and institutional affiliation
- Grant numbers and/or funding information
- Corresponding author (name, address, phone/fax, e-mail)
Also submit a separate document designated Author Biography(ies) of about 40 words (each).
Documentation and formatting (especially heading style) should conform to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. References should be placed at the end of the manuscript with the heading "References." Instead of footnotes, use endnotes, but substantive notes should be incorporated in the text whenever possible.
JBTC is committed to inclusivity, including showing respect toward all people through language. Our journal rejects oppressive language, be it racist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, ablest, ageist, xenophobic, or any other type of language that belittles or dehumanizes people. JBTC’s editorial staff charge themselves, reviewers, and authors to try to recognize oppressive language and to eliminate it at the manuscript stage. Authors must follow the APA’s guidelines (7th edition) for bias-free language.
Upload all figures and tables as separate documents. Indicate where figures or tables should be inserted in the text by typing on a separate line “INSERT TABLE/FIGURE ABOUT HERE” after the paragraph where the table/figure is first mentioned.
All pages must be typed double-spaced (including indented quotes, references, endnotes, tables, appendixes). Leave the right margin unjustified. Text must be in 12-point Times Roman. Include one-inch margins on all four sides, and number all pages sequentially.
If the manuscript is accepted, authors are responsible for submitting all visuals for accepted manuscripts in camera-ready copy suitable for publication. (Specifications for preparing visuals will be furnished on acceptance.) Authors are responsible for obtaining the necessary permissions and for the accuracy of all references, figures, and tables.
If data from human subjects is used, it must be gathered under the auspices of the human subjects review board or equivalent body at the author’s institution, and a statement to that effect—including the approval/ID number—must be included in the manuscript.
Submission of a manuscript implies commitment to publish in the journal. Authors submitting manuscripts to the journal should not simultaneously submit them to another journal, nor should manuscripts have been published elsewhere in substantially similar form or with substantially similar content. Authors in doubt about what constitutes prior publication should consult the editor.
All article-length studies, approaches and practices, and commentaries are refereed, double anonymize. Readers' reports are routinely provided to authors. Authors are typically informed of the decision within three months. At least one round of revision is common for accepted manuscripts.
Please submit queries regarding manuscript submissions to engljbtc@iastate.edu.
Directions for Book Reviews
Headings for book reviews should include the following information: title of book, author or editor, publisher, date of publication, number of pages in the book, cost, and ISBN (or analogous information for software). Direct questions to the book review editor, Chris Lam, at chris.lam@unt.edu.
Criteria for Review
Before you submit your manuscript to JBTC, please see the review criteria for Research Articles and Approaches and Practices Articles.
Professional Editing of Manuscripts
Authors who would like to refine the use of English in their manuscripts might consider using Sage Author Services: https://languageservices.Sagepub.com/en/services/editing.html
An author's use of these services in no way guarantees that their submission will ultimately be accepted. Any arrangement an author enters into will be exclusively between the author and Sage Author Services, and any costs incurred are the sole responsibility of the author.
ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID
As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent, and fair peer-review process, Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.
The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID ID, you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all coauthors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer-review platforms. It takes seconds to do: When prompted, click the link and sign into your ORCID account, and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID ID will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to only you. Your ORCID ID is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.
If you do not already have an ORCID ID please visit the ORCID homepage to learn more and to create one.
For more information, please refer to the Sage Manuscript Submission Guidelines.