Call for papers goes out for inaugural issue of undergraduate online journal.

What began as an idea from two students has rapidly taken shape as the unique Journal for Global Business and Community (JGBC)—an outlet solely for scholarly articles by undergraduates from around the world. The initial call for papers has gone out; a web site, which includes submission guidelines, has been established at http://jgbc.fiu.edu/; an editorial board is in place; and the queries are flowing in.

Founders and editor have multiple purposes.

“We wanted to create a global voice for students interested in international business,” said Honors College graduate Aydin Bonabi (BBA ’05), who currently is a student in the College of Business Administration’s Master of Science in Finance (MSF) program and a program specialist in FIU Online. Bonabi, co-founder and former president of the International Business Honor Society (IBHS), thought of the idea, and along with Aadil Edoo (BS ’06), developed the business model.

Robert Hogner

According to Bonabi, the publication has additional goals.

“We wanted an academic endeavor to complement IBHS’s efforts to build socially-involved, ethical students,” he said. “We also wanted to establish the college’s leadership in the entire concept.”

“The publication aims to ‘put a human face on globalization,’” said Robert Hogner, associate professor, Department of Management and International Business, coordinator of the college’s Civic Engagement Initiative, and development director for undergraduate international business programs, who will serve as executive editor. “There are undergraduate journals, but none in international business, much less any focused on the issues of global business and community. This first-of-a-kind publication will cover the political, economic, social, moral, and technical issues associated with globalization.”

Aydin Bonabi

Driven by the undergraduate international business program—ranked 7th best in the nation in U.S. News & World Report, 2007— with support from the college’s Executive Dean Joyce J. Elam, Florida International University’s Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), the Honors College, and IBHS, JGBC will also help acquaint students with the greater dedication and work required to write a paper for submission to a journal.

The inaugural issue will appear this spring. Bonabi and Edoo plan to co-author and submit a paper with the working title “Developed and Developing Countries: Income Disparities and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).”