Writing A Great Book Chapter

The 2nd  International Conference on Sustainable Business and Entrepreneurship (ICOSBE)

As stated earlier on the main homepage, the conference committee encourages authors to submit papers that address issues related to sustainable business and entrepreneurship (SBE), the central theme of the conference, one of the eight designated conference tracks, or any of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) listed at https://sdgs.un.org/goals. Authors are advised to mention one of these issues in their abstracts, keywords, introductions, or other relevant sections, as strong alignment with these areas will be viewed favorably during the review process.

Please note that this is a management and business-focused conference. Submissions that are solely based on science, technology, engineering, mathematics, arts, or other non-management and non-business fields will not be accepted.

To help authors prepare suitable manuscripts for submission, the following paragraphs outline the recommended structure and focus areas for the book chapter/article.

A well-structured article typically contains five main parts: (1) Introduction, (2) Literature Review, (3) Research Methodology, (4) Results and Discussion, and (5) Conclusion. While each part plays an important role, IGI reviewers pay particular attention to the Introduction and Conclusion, as these parts demonstrate the study’s purpose, originality, and overall contribution to the field.

The Introduction (Part 1) should include the research background, clearly establishing why the topic of the article is timely, relevant, and important. It should also provide a brief yet focused review of previous studies, highlighting what is already known and what remains uncertain, debated, or unexplored in the field. Authors must identify research gaps and limitations, followed by a clear statement of the research aim, objectives, research questions, and the study’s novelty.

The research aim presents a broad statement describing the overall purpose or ultimate goal of the study, while the research objectives break this aim into specific, actionable, and measurable steps. These objectives guide the study’s design, data collection, and analysis, serving as a practical roadmap for achieving the research aim.

Finally, the Introduction should also outline the expected theoretical and managerial contributions of the study. Overall, this section typically follows a “funnel approach,” i.e., beginning with a broad discussion of the topic, narrowing down to a specific research gap, and concluding with a concise statement of the study’s objectives and contributions.

The Literature Review (Part 2) may vary depending on the discipline. For management articles employing a Likert-scale survey, it should include a discussion of grand theory, middle-range theory, and practical/operational/low-level theory, along with clear explanations of each variable, construct, or factor. It should also present the hypotheses and their theoretical justifications, as well as the proposed research model.

A high-quality literature review does more than summarize existing studies.  The review critically analyzes and synthesizes prior research, identifies inconsistencies or limitations, and highlights areas requiring further investigation. This synthesis should logically lead to the research objectives and clarify how the current study contributes to advancing theoretical and practical knowledge.

The Research Methodology section (Part 3) of a business article employing a Likert-scale survey should describe the research population, sampling method, minimum sample size calculation, and the sources or references for the measurement instruments or survey indicators. It should also justify the choice of analytical tools used such as SmartPLS and discuss aspects of reliability and validity, including threshold values such as the maximum acceptable value for the Heterotrait–Monotrait Ratio of Correlations (HTMT). Furthermore, it should clearly explain the criteria used to determine whether each hypothesis is supported. Overall, the methodology section must provide a transparent and detailed blueprint of the research design, data collection, and analysis procedures, including ethical considerations, to ensure that the study is valid, reliable, and replicable by other researchers.

The Results and Discussion section (Part 4) should be carefully structured to maintain objectivity and analytical depth. The Results section should report the findings clearly using text, tables, and figures without interpretation. The Discussion section, on the other hand, should interpret the findings, relate them to existing literature, and highlight theoretical and practical implications.

A common mistake that often leads to rejection is mixing the two sections. For instance, interpreting data in the Results section or merely repeating the findings in the Discussion section without offering meaningful analysis or insight.

Finally, the Conclusion (Part 5) should restate the study’s purpose and summarize its key findings, emphasizing how the results address the research objectives. It should also demonstrate the relevance of the study to both existing literature and real-world applications. The Conclusion must highlight the study’s originality and contribution to the field while acknowledging limitations that could affect the interpretation or generalizability of the findings. The section should end by suggesting clear directions for future research and providing a strong, integrative closing statement that reinforces the significance and lasting impact of the study.