The Appalachian Research in Business Symposium provides a venue for presenting new research, discovering contemporary ideas, and building connections among scholars at Appalachian State University, Eastern Kentucky University, East Tennessee State University, Marshall University, Radford University and Western Carolina University. The conference is held at each site, in turn. The Walker College of Business will host the 2026 ARBS on April 16-17.

Submission Guidelines

You are invited to submit your research to the 2026 Appalachian Research in Business Symposium (ARBS) to be held on April 16-17, 2026 at Appalachian State University in Boone. This year’s symposium will be hosted the Walker College of Business at Appalachian State. Participants will find opportunities for presenting new research, discovering contemporary ideas, and building connections. A welcome reception will be held on the evening of Thursday, April 16^th, and the presentations will be held on Friday, April 17^th. The registration fee for the conference is $125. We are pleased to also offer a discounted rate of $30 for student registration.

Submissions are encouraged from scholars who use different theoretical and empirical approaches to deliver the latest research results in different business fields (e.g., Accounting, Data Analytics, Business Education, Computer Information Systems, Communication, Supply Chain Management, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Hospitality and Tourism, Management, Marketing, Risk Management, Insurance, International Business, Technology/Information Systems, Business Law, Sports Management, Project Management, Healthcare Management and similar disciplines).

Submissions will be peer-reviewed for acceptance at ARBS 2026, and at least one author from each accepted submission is required to register for the conference and present the research. There are two options for submission:

Short Paper Submission: Submissions should have approximately 750-2000 words. Accepted short papers will be published in the ARBS 2026 proceedings, unless the author requests otherwise. All submissions are required to be formatted to the specifications of the template found here. Please fill out the required fields on the submission platform here and submit your paper without author information as a .pdf document.

Abstract Submission: Submissions should have approximately 300-500 words. Abstracts will not be included in the proceedings. All submissions are required to be formatted to the specifications of the template found here. Please fill out the required fields on the submission platform here and submit your abstract without author information as a .pdf document.

Committees

Program Committee

• Jason Xiong, Appalachian State University
• Tanga Mohr, Appalachian State University
• Donna Lindabury, Appalachian State University

Organizing committee

• Boniface Yemba, Marshall University
• Julia Graham, Eastern Kentucky University
• Prusun Bhattacharjee, East Tennessee State University
• Zachary Collier, Radford University
• Ethan Cheng, Western Carolina University

Contact

Tanga Mohr at mohrtm1@appstate.edu