A View from the Frontline: Creative Ideas for Implementing a Social Impact Research Mindset in Business Schools
DETAILS
Call for Papers
A View from the Frontline: Creative Ideas for Implementing a Social Impact Research Mindset in Business Schools
Journal: Journal of Social Impact in Business Research
Publisher: Emerald Publishing
Submission Deadline: 28 September 2026
This Special Issue invites business scholars, educators, early-career researchers, and doctoral researchers to contribute innovative approaches for embedding social impact into everyday academic research, teaching, and engagement practices.
About the Special Issue
Business schools are increasingly expected to demonstrate meaningful contributions to society alongside traditional measures such as publications, citations, rankings, and research funding. However, academics often face challenges in balancing these conventional expectations with the time, resources, partnerships, and translation activities required to generate real-world social impact.
The Special Issue shifts attention from high-level institutional strategies to the academic frontline, examining how individual scholars and research teams can practically develop and implement a social impact research mindset.
It particularly welcomes contributions that move beyond advocacy and provide practical frameworks, mechanisms, evaluation approaches, actionable case studies, and replicable models for socially impactful scholarship.
Key Research Areas
Frontline research methodologies and community co-design
Research with vulnerable communities, non-profits, and social enterprises
Navigating tensions between social impact and publishing expectations
Funding and sustaining social impact scholarship
Pedagogies and teaching models for social impact
Experiential and work-integrated learning
Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration
Translating research into policy briefs, community toolkits, and interventions
Early-career researcher and PhD/HDR empowerment
SDG-aligned research pathways
Communities of practice for social impact
Organizational partnerships and social innovation
Measuring and evaluating social value
Digital and data-enabled social impact
Responsible use of AI and analytics in social impact research
Guest Editors
Assoc Prof Udo Gottlieb
Assoc Prof Kerrie Bridson
Assoc Prof Jody Evans
The Special Issue is also an official initiative of the ANZMAC Marketing for Social Impact Special Interest Group (MSI-SIG).
Key Dates
Submission Opens: 1 August 2026
Submission Deadline: 28 September 2026
Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted through ScholarOne. Authors must select the appropriate Special Issue title during the submission process and follow the journal's author guidelines.
Guest Editor Contact: udo.gottlieb@qut.edu.au
Submitted manuscripts must not have been previously published or be under consideration elsewhere while under review.
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