ICSB launches first fully open access journal on innovation and entrepreneurship

The International Council for Small Business has launched the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Review, its first fully open access scholarly journal, with Taylor & Francis. The new title broadens ICSB’s publishing portfolio and is intended to widen access to research on innovation, entrepreneurship, AI and digital transformation.

Why it matters: - The Innovation & Entrepreneurship Review gives ICSB a fully open access outlet for research that can reach more readers, more institutions and more practitioners. - The launch extends ICSB’s publishing strategy as scholarly access, digital distribution and international research networks continue to reshape academic publishing. - The journal adds a new channel for work on innovation, entrepreneurship and emerging topics that can influence policy, education and practice.

What happened: - The International Council for Small Business launched the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Review, or IER, its first fully open access scholarly journal. - Taylor & Francis is publishing the journal. - Ayman ElTarabishy founded IER and serves as Editor-in-Chief. - Eric Liguori and Katia Passerini are also serving in editorial leadership roles, supported by Regional Editors and a Global Advisory Group. - ICSB plans to introduce IER to its wider community at SME World Forum Paris 2026, which ICSB and the OECD are convening. - ICSB is inviting researchers worldwide to submit work for the journal’s first volumes.

The details: - IER will publish research on artificial intelligence, digital transformation, entrepreneurial ecosystems, innovation management and new forms of entrepreneurship. - The journal expands an ICSB portfolio that already includes the Journal of Small Business Management and the Journal of the International Council for Small Business. - All three journals are published with Taylor & Francis. - ElTarabishy said open access is about widening the community that can participate in creating, sharing and using knowledge. - ICSB began considering an open access journal nearly a decade ago as its research audience became more international and access to academic research became a larger issue. - ICSB chose to let its existing journals develop distinct identities and communities before launching an open access title. - ICSB said it kept peer review, editorial standards and research integrity central to its publishing approach. - The Journal of Small Business Management is described as the oldest and largest scholarly journal in the field of small business management and entrepreneurship. - The Journal of the International Council for Small Business was developed with Jeff Alves to connect MSME research more directly with policy, education and practice. - ICSB says its portfolio can be summed up as Create. Connect. Open. - Under that framework, JSBM creates, JICSB connects and IER opens.

Between the lines: - The launch signals a shift from a two-journal model to a three-part publishing strategy with distinct roles for scholarship, policy engagement and open access distribution. - ICSB is positioning IER as a gateway for newer research areas, especially fields that sit at the intersection of entrepreneurship, technology and global business change. - The open access move also reflects a broader push to make research more usable outside traditional academic circles. - ICSB’s 2017 role in creating United Nations Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day appears to have reinforced its global policy profile and its focus on MSMEs.

What's next: - IER will begin building its first volumes with submissions from researchers around the world. - ICSB will use SME World Forum Paris 2026 as the public introduction for the journal. - The journal’s early issues will help define how ICSB’s open access platform fits alongside its established journals.

The bottom line: - ICSB is adding a fully open access journal to deepen its reach in entrepreneurship research and broaden access to scholarship that connects innovation with real-world enterprise. More information