What gets published and what doesn't? Exploring optimal distinctiveness and diverse expectations in entrepreneurship articles.

The field of entrepreneurship has seen remarkable growth, increasing the expectations of academic audiences. Articles need to balance novelty with rigorous methodology, theoretical contributions, social implications, and coherent argumentation to succeed in the publication process. However, navigating these varied and sometimes conflicting expectations to achieve optimal distinctiveness in academic narratives is challenging for authors. To explore how authors can achieve optimal distinctiveness amidst these complex expectations, we studied academic narratives and related editorial decisions of two leading entrepreneurship journals, Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice (ETP, 4,151 papers) and Small Business Economics Journal (SBEJ, 4,043 papers), using computer-aided text analysis. Our study debunks common assumptions about what makes a successful entrepreneurship paper, providing an empirical basis for understanding actual versus perceived publication requisites. Furthermore, we extend optimal distinctiveness theory by demonstrating that high distinctiveness is not uniformly advantageous, meeting numerous expectations is not necessarily beneficial, and clear language is crucial for complex narratives. Our study underscores that crafting narratives is more nuanced than traditionally believed. Plain English Summary: Getting published in Entrepreneurship Journals: Less is more! How can entrepreneurship scholars increase their chances of getting published? Our study delves into scholarly articles in entrepreneurship journals, investigating which papers are published and which papers are not. We challenge the assumption that authors must fulfil as many expectations as possible and emphasize the importance of addressing specific audience expectations. By analyzing narratives and editorial decisions from Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice (ETP) and Small Business Economics Journal (SBEJ), we uncover the key to publication success: tailoring articles to meet the targeted audience's most pronounced requirements. Focusing on theoretical contributions when submitting one's work to ETP and focusing on empirical contributions when submitting one's work to SBEJ can increase the chances of getting your work published. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]