Small Business International Review

Editors’ letter

Carlos Martínez-Abarca Pastor: gratitude and recognition for an editorial career

This issue of Small Business International Review wishes to devote a few words of recognition, gratitude, and affection to Carlos Martínez-Abarca Pastor, a person closely linked to the history of this journal and to the editorial project that made it possible.

View full Editors’ letter

Carlos Martínez-Abarca Pastor: gratitude and recognition for an editorial career

Carlos’s relationship with this project began long before the launch of SBIR. Since 2008, he has been linked to FAEDPYME, where he worked as a project officer and contributed, steadily and discreetly, to the development of many of the Foundation’s initiatives. Among them was the creation, in 2012, of FAEDPYME International Review, conceived as an international academic forum for research on small and medium-sized enterprises.
From those first steps, Carlos was present as the journal’s managing editor. During that initial stage, until 2016, his work was essential in sustaining and developing an editorial initiative that would later enter a new phase. When, in 2017, the journal became Small Business International Review, Carlos continued to carry out that role from the very foundation of SBIR. His presence has therefore accompanied not only the birth of this journal, but also the transition between two stages of the same editorial journey.
Throughout all these years, Carlos has carried out work that was often quiet and not always visible to readers and authors, but essential for the journal’s progress, consolidation, and growth. Behind every published issue, every editorial process, every technical adjustment, every communication, and every final detail, there has been his serious, constant, and generous work.
Those of us who have shared this project with him know well that his contribution has gone far beyond the duties formally associated with his position. Carlos has always taken on more tasks and responsibilities than could reasonably be expected of him, not out of obligation, but out of personal commitment, a deep sense of responsibility, and a profound dedication to the journal. His way of working helped resolve many difficulties, gave continuity to editorial processes, and enabled SBIR to build, step by step, an increasingly solid, professional, and recognizable structure.
In a scientific journal, the most visible names are usually those of authors, reviewers, and editors. Yet there are people whose contribution is decisive precisely because they make everything else possible. Carlos is one of those people. His role as managing editor has sustained the journal’s day-to-day work, cared for its processes, attended to its details, and maintained the continuity of a project that, without such constant work, would hardly have reached the level of maturity it has today.
This collective effort, to which Carlos has contributed decisively, has enabled SBIR to achieve especially important national and international recognitions in recent years: the granting and renewal of the FECYT Quality Seal for Spanish scientific journals, inclusion in Scopus, with a Q2 classification in one of its subject areas, and inclusion in the Academic Journal Guide, with a 1 rating. These milestones are the result of the work of many people — editors, the editorial team, the scientific committee, reviewers, and authors — but it would be unfair not to acknowledge that Carlos’s work has been an essential part of the editorial infrastructure that made them possible.
For us, who have worked with him for so many years, Carlos has not only been a key figure in the journal’s editorial management. He has been, and remains, a close colleague: reliable, discreet, and generous; someone with whom we have shared concerns, urgent matters, difficult decisions, and also many satisfactions. His name forms part of SBIR’s history, of the previous stage that made its birth possible, and, more broadly, of the FAEDPYME trajectory from which this editorial project emerged.
Current circumstances prevent him from continuing to lead the day-to-day tasks he has carried out for so many years. Precisely for that reason, this letter is, above all, a gesture of gratitude and recognition: for his work, his commitment, his patience, his availability, and the way in which he has always cared for the journal. It is also an expression of gratitude for the privilege of having known him and of having shared with him such an important part of this journey.
As a lasting expression of this recognition, the SBIR Editorial Board has agreed to appoint Carlos Martínez-Abarca Pastor as a member of the journal’s Honorary Committee. Through this gesture, we wish to state that his contribution forms part of SBIR’s editorial identity and of the living history of this project. His name will remain linked to a journal that he has helped build from its origins and to which he has devoted so many years of work, commitment, and affection.
SBIR cannot be understood without Carlos Martínez-Abarca Pastor. His work is present in the journal’s evolution, in its way of working, and in the gratitude of all of us who have had the good fortune to walk alongside him.
Carlos, thank you for your work, your generosity, your loyalty, and everything you have given to this journal from its very beginnings. This issue is also intended as a token of our recognition and affection.
Gregorio Sánchez Marín
Julio Diéguez Soto
Co-Editors-in-Chief of Small Business International Review

Aims & Scope

Small Business International Review (ISSN 2531-0046) is an international journal committed to the open-access publication of research articles that enhance knowledge and understanding of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The journal covers a wide range of topics related to SMEs

View full aims & scope

Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Growth and Development Strategies
Human Resource Management and Leadership
Finance and Capital Structure
Marketing and Communication
International Trade and Globalization
Family Business Dynamics and Governance
Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility
Technology and Digital Transformation
Knowledge Management
Organizational Culture and Diversity
Business Ethics and Corporate Governance

Small Business International Review encourages a diversity of approaches and methodologies that contribute to SME research, as outlined below.

Theoretical and Empirical Studies on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises:

Small Business International Review aims to be the leading publication outlet for high-quality theoretical, review, and empirical research on a broad range of topics influencing and shaping SMEs. The journal welcomes contributions from young researchers exploring new areas of SME research, as well as from more experienced researchers expanding on previous work or exploring new paradigms.

Interdisciplinary Approach to SME Research:

Small Business International Review publishes top-tier research on SME-related topics across various disciplines, including management, organizational behavior, sociology, anthropology, psychology, social psychology, and industrial relations. As an international platform, the journal transcends regional, geographical, and disciplinary boundaries to reach a wide audience.

A Range of Perspectives and Styles:

The journal publishes both quantitative and qualitative research, case studies, and mixed-methods studies. These contributions are designed not only to advance academic knowledge but also to influence public policy and business practice. Regardless of the methodological approach, all research published in Small Business International Review meets the highest standards of rigor and excellence. The journal's methodological orientations cover a spectrum from micro to macro analyses, conceptual frameworks, literature reviews, empirical studies, and experimental methods, all aimed at making a meaningful impact on public policy.

Additionally, Small Business International Review accepts research notes intended as brief, specific contributions to subtopics related to SMEs. These notes provide researchers with an opportunity to present preliminary findings or innovative approaches that could open new avenues for SME research.

Small Business International Review (SBIR) has been included in Scopus after successfully completing the evaluation process conducted by the Scopus Content Selection & Advisory Board (CSAB)

Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) has included Small Business International Review (SBIR) in its latest Academic Journal Guide (AJG2024)

Dialnet IDR (Índice Dialnet de Revistas)

Small Business International Review has achieved a C2 rating in the IDR Dialnet Journal Index.

34% Acceptance Rate
4 Days from Submission to First Editorial Decision
170 Days to Accept
21 Days form Acceptance to Online Publication

The Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), a public foundation under the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Government of Spain, has renewed the 'Seal of Quality for Spanish Scientific Journals FECYT 2025' for Small Business International Review.

Small Business International Review is a Diamond Open Access journal. This means no fees (APCs) are charged from submission to final publication.

Articles

Research Articles Full open access

Continuing the family business: Successor commitment and career choice in Finnish family firms

Tarja Römer-Paakkanen, Hannele Rautamäki

2026-07-15

Editors’ letter

Editors’ letter

Aims & Scope

Aims & Scope

Articles

Editor-in-Chief