There are several Special Issues and Special Sections of IJEC in preparation by Guest Editors at any given time. Experts in specific domains of e-commerce are invited to propose such issues or sections to the Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Vladimir Zwass, at zwass@fdu.edu.

Information on current special issues on Social Commerce and Mobile Commerce is provided below:

Special Issue on: Mobile Commerce (m-commerce)

Mobility represents a natural human state, hence mobile commerce (m-commerce) has been hailed as the complement, and in many aspects a natural successor to traditional desk-bound e-commerce. The proliferation of smartphones and wireless networks has brought the dream of seamless mobility and always-on connectivity closer to reality – albeit not without new challenges related to technologies, platforms, systems, applications, and business models to name but a few.

The goal of this special issue is to report frontier research addressing the current status and future prospects of m-commerce and to reflect on business innovation and social transformation through mobility. The issue aims to offer an integrated view of the field by presenting approaches originating from and drawing upon multiple disciplines.

Guest Editors:

• George M. Giaglis, Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece giaglis@aueb.gr

• Panos E. Kourouthanassis, Ionian University, Greece pkour@ionio.gr

Important Dates

The increased popularity of social media, such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, has opened opportunities for a new type of electronic commerce, often referred as social commerce. Social commerce involves using Web 2.0 social media that support online interaction and user contributions to assist in the acquisition of products and services. There are many different ways to take advantage of social commerce. For instance, individuals and merchants may solicit inputs from social communities to identify products with high market potential, or utilize the social networks to market their products. Many new social factors that have not been well-explored in e-commerce may become important in social commerce. The new social media provides not only a new platform for entrepreneurs to innovate, but also a variety of new research issues that require new theories to be developed by e-commerce researchers. This promises to become the most challenging research arena in the coming decade.

The primary goal of the special issue is to foster the production and dissemination of knowledge and findings in this new area. Our focus will be on the development of new theoretical foundation and insightful empirical findings associated with the commercial use of social networks.

• Ting-Peng Liang , National Sun Yat-Sen University and City University of Hong Kong (Email: tpliang@mail.nsysu.edu.tw)

• Efraim Turban , University of Hawaii (Email: efraimtur@yahoo.com)