By Sarah Stephen

If Google Scholar is to be trusted, nearly 4 million research papers (& books) got published this calendar year. This number might not be too far away from truth as it was around 2 million, according to a commentary published in 2018. If we narrow this down to the keywords/topics of business & society, Google Scholar suggests over 240000 papers & books published in 2021. We could take these figures with some healthy scepticism, but the fact remains that much research is published… and many remain submerged in the sheer volume.

Evidently, these papers have gone through the bitter-sweet process of research being conducted, results being written up, and the manuscript being repeatedly revised following presentations at seminars and conferences – and comments from reviewers and editors (who, by the way, are doing this as part of their academic service). Many of these published papers are 30-40 pages long and, with time and resources being valuable commodities from a reader’s point of view, the key insights and practical applications of these papers can remain perpetually hidden.

In addition, research papers often, knowingly or unknowingly, cater to a specific set of audience: other researchers working on same or similar topics. For instance, as an institutional theorist (amongst a few other labels), I expect my readers to not blink when I write of “institutional change” and “institutional logics”. At the same time, it might as well be Greek and Latin (or Alien) to many, including researchers in allied fields!

Tapping into the untapped potential of research

So, how then can research papers published in Business & Society, which are generally of great relevance to society and environment, reach the stakeholders who would benefit most, including those who could apply these in practice? This is where the blog of Business & Society serves as one of the adept instruments utilised by the journal in disseminating research. By doing so, these insights reach other researchers, students, practitioners, and the wider public. Furthermore, as the articles are indexed with an ISSN, the blog has the potential of generating substantial academic and societal impact.

This dissemination is a team-effort. Behind the scenes are the perseverant support of the journal’s co-editors. This year, I worked closely with the Social Media Editor, Jose-Carlos Garcia-Rosell, and the journal co-editor, Hari Bapuji, who dedicated significant time and effort in reviewing the penultimate version of submitted articles and contending with unexpected roadblocks. Given the fact that we juggle our own research, teaching, university and academic service, alongside family and hobbies, and that too in the context of pandemic upheavals, the editorial team’s commitment and motivation remains phenomenal!

I have also been impressed by the hard work, patience, and dedication of contributing authors. Very often, it would be an author’s first venture into blogging – and they would do it with alacrity. And I must confess some unexpected benefits of being a blog editor – this has enabled me to keep myself updated of the latest research and often assign these as readings to my students or draw upon these for my own research and lecture content. And, more often, reviewing submitting articles have opened my eyes to other theoretical and empirical domains.

Our 2021 activities and topics

This year, the BAS blog published 35 articles, with 3 commentaries, 30 articles based on research published in BAS, and 2 articles related to calls for research papers. In general, each article published in the BAS blog underwent 2-7 rounds of editorial revisions, including a final review by Hari Bapuji & Jose-Carlos Garcia-Rosell. Unlike the previous year, we had to ditch the issue-by-issue limelight approach – the pandemic and its effects necessitated a degree of accommodativeness.

As part of the journal’s 60^th anniversary, authors of four historically impactful research papers reflected on their research, including the perennial business-case question of corporate social responsibility and financial performance  and an adept epistemological categorisation of papers on CSR. The blog also continued its trajectory of discussing racial injustices and calling for academic research on stakeholder engagement and radical new approaches in addressing sustainability challenges. Even if our travel continues to be restricted, we got a glimpse into the reputation of banks in Germany and into social entrepreneurship in South Africa. We received a comprehensive understanding of transparency and the importance of words and saw how governmental influence has limitations and the impact of income inequality on production location. We evaluated the evidence showing how women in the boardroom makes a company more competitive and got an insight into grassroots organisations and cross-sector collaborations. We considered the four pathways that businesses could utilise for addressing human trafficking and the ramifications of DNA analyses. And we might possibly have since seen coffee brewing in a different light!

The above is a brief snippet of the fascinating articles published this year in the blog – more remains available online and 2022 promises to deliver more such impactful research! The easiest way for readers to stay in the loop is by subscribing to our growing mailing list, and/or by joining our growing list of followers on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. And if at all you are considering contributing a commentary or if you have suggestions on what else you would like to read- we would love to hear from you!