Business and Professional Communication Quarterly

bpcqBusiness and Professional Communication Quarterly is the only refereed journal devoted solely to the teaching of communication in the workplace. BPCQ publishes scholarship that advances knowledge about business communication pedagogy in both academic and workplace settings. Articles in BPCQ present a variety of theoretical, applied, and practical approaches and perspectives, including program design and assessment, the impact of technology, global and multicultural issues, qualitative and quantitative research on classroom teaching, and case studies of best practices.

Editorial Staff

Editorial Review Board

About BPCQ

Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, ISSN 1080-5699 (formerly the Bulletin of the Association for Business Communication, ISSN 8756-1972 and Business Communication Quarterly), is published four times each year (March June, September, and December) by the Association for Business Communication and Sage Publications.  It is listed in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI).

Special Features

Business and Professional Communication Quarterly is soliciting submissions for several new features to the journal. BPCQ is looking for 

  • Guest editorials on topics of relevance to business communication pedagogy and instruction and corporate training.
  • Features on trends in teaching and technology.
  • Book reviews of texts on business communication pedagogy, teaching, and instruction as well as corporate training.
  • “Spotlight on Thought Leaders” articles that review the contributions of thought leaders in business communication pedagogy and research and corporate training.
  • Literature reviews of topics relevant to business communication technology and instruction and corporate training research.

If you wish to submit one of these features, please contact BPCQ Editor Robyn Walker at rcwalker@usc.edu with a short proposal that summarizes your idea.

Special Issues Seeking Papers

Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence in Business Communication

Special Issue Editors:

Dr. Carolin Fleischmann, Professor of International Business, Rosenheim Technical University of Applied Sciences
Dr. Kristen Getchell,
Associate Professor of Business Communication, Babson College

Organizations are rapidly adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, such as Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing or Computer Vision. Business communication teaching and practice are adapting to this new environment, which offers many benefits but also presents challenges and ethical dilemmas. In 2022, BPCQ published an article by Kristen M. Getchell, Stephen Carradini, Peter W. Cardon, Carolin Fleischmann, Haibing Ma, Jolanta Aritz, and James Stapp titled “Artificial Intelligence in Business Communication: The Changing Landscape of Research and Teaching” which provided an overview of the ways in which AI technologies are affecting the practice of business communication. This special issue of Business and Professional Communication Quarterly builds on the work of Getchell et al. (2022), and encourages the further study of AI in business communication with the goal of building knowledge for scholars, teachers, and practitioners.

Possible topics can include, but are not limited to the following:

  • The transformation of business communication as a result of AI
  • The use of AI to make business communication more efficient and effective
  • Challenges of AI adoption in the workplace or limitations of new AI technologies for communicating to a business audience
  • The implementation of AI tools in the workplace
  • AI, collaboration, and management
  • Psychological impacts of AI in business communication
  • Ethical or legal implications of AI adoption
  • Teaching AI-enabled business communication in higher education
  • AI for Business Writing/ Augmented Writing (including ChatGPT and similar applications)
  • AI tools assessment

This special issue of BPCQ welcomes contributions from academic and practitioner authors from business communication and related fields. We value all rigorous research approaches and methods. Each study should clearly discuss implications for business communication teaching and/or practice.

Timeline

Full paper submissions:                      December 1, 2023
Peer Review:                                       December 2023/January 2024
Decisions:                                            February/March 2024
Revisions:                                            April 2024
Final Decision:                                     June 2024
Final manuscripts to BPCQ:                August-October 2024

Please submit full manuscripts to https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/bcq selecting “Special Issue” as the article type.

Read full Call for Papers (downloadable pdf)

Positive Communication Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

The Special Issue aims to feature scholarship that will exemplify Positive Communication Pedagogy in business and professional communication. Potential topics include:

  • Instructor behaviors modeling positive communication and student perceptions of instructor immediacy;
  • Positive acts, processes, or outcomes of communication in teaching and learning;
  • Creating learner-centered classroom environments to allow learners to connect and engage;
  • Teaching modules and exercises focused on topics such as:
    • Positive communication in the workplace (e.g., listening, asking questions, supporting, gratitude, forgiveness, savoring, humor, disclosing);
    • Positive experiences and emotion at work;
    • Positive communication and business and professional ethics;
  • Designing effective positive business and professional communication courses;
  • Programmatic frameworks for integrating positive communication in business and professional curricula;
  • Positive communication learning outcomes and assessment methods;
  • Employer and societal demands for positive communication skills, and programmatic changes to reflect those demands; and,
  • Positive communication pedagogy and student perceptions of inclusion and belonging.

Read Full Call for Proposals (downloadable pdf)

Submission Requirements

Submit a preliminary proposal of 500 to 1,000 words (max) by January 15, 2024 via the submission form. Proposals should include: (a) a proposal title for the manuscript, (b) clearly identity the type of proposal (research, editorial piece, thought leadership, book, resource, or literature review), (c) an abstract of the manuscript, (d) references, and (e) contact information for all authors.

Authors may email guest editors Julien Mirivel (jcmirivel@ualr.edu) or Ryan Fuller (ryan.fuller@csus.edu) with questions.

Timeline

Abstract due by: January 15, 2024
Full Manuscripts due by: September 15, 2024
Invitations Sent by: March 15, 2024
Expected Publication: 2025

Upcoming Special Issues

Rhetoric and Pedagogy in Business Communication

Papers for this special issue of BPCQ will explore the connection of rhetoric and business communication pedagogy through essays, case studies, quantitative studies, qualitative studies, or other appropriate research methods.

Expected Publication - early 2024 (submissions closed)
Special Issue Editor - Jacob D. Rawlins

Information for Contributors

For detailed guidelines about manuscript submission and selection criteria, please visit https://journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/BCQ

Copyright Notice

BPCQ Newsletter

December 2023
September 2023

June 2023
December 2022
March 2023

Subscriptions

Subscriptions to BPCQ and the International Journal of Business Communication are included as a benefit of membership in ABC. To join ABC, visit the membership page on this Web site.

Libraries and other institutions may subscribe to the journals directly from the publisher, Sage Publications.

Back Issues  

To access back issues, click here to first create your Sage login credentials.  

Click here for archived issues of The Bulletin; log in required.

ABC is searching for some past issues of Business Communication Quarterly, 1980, volume 1; 1981, volume 4; 1990, volume 4. If you have these issues and want to share them with ABC, please contact  abcoffice@businesscommunication.org.

Editors

Name Institution Dates
Robyn Walker University of Southern California June 2022 to Present
Melinda Knight Montclair State University 2010-June 2022
Kathryn Riley Illinois Institute of Technology 2005-2010
Deborah C. Andrews University of Delaware 1997-2004
Scot Ober Ball State University 1994-1997
Kitty O. Locker Ohio State University 1992-1993, interim editor
Henrietta N. Shirk Northeastern University 1987-1992
Arn Tibbets University of Illinois 1980-1987
George H. Douglas University of Illinois 1968-1980
Publication suspended in 1966; resumed in 1968
Richard Felton University of Illinois 1965-1966
Robert D. Gieselman University of Illinois 1963-1965
Francis W. Weeks University of Illinois Guest Editors 1950-1956; Editor 1956-1963
Clyde W. Wilkinson University of Illinois Guest Editors 1948-1950
Hugh Sargent University of Illinois Guest Editors 1946-1948
W.H. Butterfield, K. Barker Horning, and A. L. Cosgrove University of Oklahoma Guest Editors 1946
Louis W. McKelvey and D. L. Lang Northwestern University Guest Editors 1946
C. R. "Andy" Anderson University of Illinois 1936-1956