The International Academic Forum

What The International Academic Forum does

Founded in 2009 in Nagoya, Japan, The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) is a nonprofit scholarly association, research organisation, conference organiser, and publisher. It facilitates interdisciplinary discussion, intercultural awareness, and international exchange for academics, scholars, universities, and related organisations. IAFOR reports welcoming more than 50,000 academics to its global conferences across Asia, Europe, North America, and the Middle East. Primary

Its platform ecosystem includes the main IAFOR website, conference-management systems, the THINK academic content platform, the searchable IAFOR Research Archive, peer-reviewed Open Access journals, and conference proceedings. Journals cover education, cultural studies, arts and humanities, and literature and librarianship; the IAFOR Journal of Education is reported as indexed in Scopus and Clarivate's Web of Science. The IAFOR Research Centre at Osaka University supports research and consulting in education, peace-building and human security, and governance. Primary

IAFOR uses an event-driven and community-led business model. Revenue mechanics include conference registration fees, corporate sponsorship and exhibition packages, organizational and individual memberships, academic project management, research and consulting, and event services. Publication services are Open Access, and the supplied journal calls state that authors are not required to pay article processing charges; specific pricing tiers are not publicly disclosed, while sponsorship is invoice-based. Primary.

Name

The International Academic Forum

Legal name

The International Academic Forum (IAFOR)

Website

https://iafor.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The International Academic Forum is a Japan-based nonprofit scholarly association serving academics and institutions through global interdisciplinary conferences, Open Access journals, research programs, digital repositories, consulting, membership, and event services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Conference & Publishing Services

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Educational Support Services (611710), Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

University & Academic Conference Venues (THAHAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Research Collaboration & Joint Labs (International Partnerships) (EDAIABAC), Training, Enablement & Talent Development Summits (THAHAMAH)

Keywords

• Academic conference services
• Scholarly publishing
• Open access journals
• Academic research support
• Conference management

Headquarters

HQ city

Nagoya

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Conference Registration Fees: IAFOR generates revenue through academic conference attendance fees. Events are held globally in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East, welcoming thousands of academics annually to interdisciplinary conferences.
2. Sponsorship and Exhibition: Corporate sponsors can sponsor various conference elements including Conference Guide, Delegate Lanyard, Delegate Eco-bag, Sessions, and Exhibition booths. Offers multiple sponsorship levels for exhibitors.
3. Membership Subscriptions: Membership program offering stakeholder status in IAFOR's mission of facilitating international exchange, intercultural awareness and interdisciplinary discussion. Member-exclusive online events are offered.
4. Publication Services: Open Access journals and conference proceedings publishing. Authors are not required to pay article processing charges (APCs) according to multiple journal calls for papers.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) is an independent scholarly association and non-profit think tank founded in 2009 in Nagoya, Japan. It organizes international academic conferences across multiple disciplines, publishes peer-reviewed open access journals indexed in Clarivate's Web of Science and Scopus, and operates digital platforms such as the THINK platform and the IAFOR Research Archive to support interdisciplinary academic exchange among a global network of over 50,000 academics.

Product overview

The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) is a global interdisciplinary scholarly association offering a platform-based ecosystem of products and services centred on academic collaboration and knowledge exchange. The core offering consists of international interdisciplinary conferences held globally (in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East) and online, complemented by a portfolio of Open Access peer-reviewed journals (IAFOR Journal of Education, IAFOR Journal of Cultural Studies, IAFOR Journal of Arts & Humanities, IAFOR Journal of Literature & Librarianship), the IAFOR Research Archive digital repository, and the THINK academic publication platform. Supporting services include academic project management, research and consulting through the IAFOR Research Centre at Osaka University, the IAFOR Global Fellowship Programme, grants and scholarships, and membership. Since 2009, IAFOR has welcomed over 50,000 academics to its conferences and makes content freely available through Open Access publications and audiovisual media repositories.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• IAFOR Journal of Education: Open access peer-reviewed academic journal published by IAFOR, indexed in Scopus and Web of Science
• IAFOR Journal of Cultural Studies
• IAFOR Journal of Arts & Humanities
• IAFOR Journal of Literature & Librarianship
• THINK - The Academic Platform
• IAFOR Global Fellowship Programme
• IAFOR Research Centre
• IAFOR Research Archive

Products and services

• IAFOR International Conferences (The Global Conference Series)

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 50,000 academics engaged since 2009 through interdisciplinary conferences globally
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered key, core and minor.

• Chulalongkorn UniversitykeyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Chulalongkorn University visited the IAFOR Research Centre, providing a dynamic platform for knowledge exchange and future-facing dialogue with academic contributions and partnership opportunities expected.
• University of Hawai'i at MānoacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Co-organizer of The 10th IAFOR International Conference on Education (IICE2025) and The 5th IAFOR International Conference on Arts & Humanities (IICAH2025) held in Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Education Above All (EAA) FoundationkeyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Joint session led with EAA Foundation's Strategy, Policy, and Research Directorate and Al Fakhoora Programme at WISE12 in Doha, Qatar. Session titled 'From Camps to Campuses: Policy, Partnerships and Pathways for Higher Education Access'.
• Thammasat UniversitykeyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024MoU signing ceremony between LSED Thammasat University and IAFOR took place at SEACE2024, expanding symbolic and practical partnership within the Southeast Asia region through the IAFOR Global Partnership Programme.
• Nagoya UniversitykeyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024IAFOR supports the Nagoya University Model United Nations, with Dr Joseph Haldane delivering welcome address at NUMUN. Partnership showcases commitment to fostering academic growth and developing future policymakers and international relations leaders.
• HOPE International Development Agency JapanminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024IAFOR Vice-President and Director of Development ran charity in the 2025 Osaka Marathon on behalf of HOPE International Development Agency Japan.
• Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), Osaka UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIAFOR Research Centre is housed at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), a graduate school of The University of Osaka. This is a flagship research partnership providing the think tank function for IAFOR's international and interdisciplinary public policy research, especially in education, peace-building/human security, and governance.
• SOAS, University of LondonkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerConference venue partner for ECE/ECAH/EGen2025 in London, alongside University College London and supported by Birkbeck, University of London.
• University College London (UCL)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerConference venue partner for ECE/ECAH/EGen2025 in London, alongside SOAS and supported by Birkbeck, University of London.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES): WCCES is a global network of comparative education societies that organizes the World Congress of Comparative Education. It is comparable to IAFOR's international education convening function and academic research mission.

Direct peers

• Comparative and International Education Society (CIES): CIES is an academic association that hosts an annual international conference on comparative education research. It is directly comparable to IAFOR's education-focused conferences and its international, interdisciplinary positioning.
• European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR): ECPR is a membership-based academic association that organizes international political science conferences and events across Europe. Like IAFOR, it focuses on interdisciplinary academic exchange and convenes scholars globally through events and publishing.
• International Studies Association (ISA): ISA is an interdisciplinary scholarly association that organizes major international academic conferences and publishes journals in international affairs. It is directly comparable to IAFOR in combining global conference programming with peer-reviewed publishing for academic communities.
• British Educational Research Association (BERA): BERA is a UK-based membership association for educational researchers that organizes annual conferences and publishes academic journals. It shares IAFOR's combination of membership model, peer-reviewed publishing, and academic conference programming.
• IATED (International Association of Technology, Education and Development): IATED organizes EDULEARN and INTED, two major annual international education conferences. It is a direct competitor to IAFOR's education conferences, with similar focus on interdisciplinary academic exchange and Open Access publishing.
• EDULEARN Proceedings (by IATED): EDULEARN's online library serves as a digital repository for conference proceedings, similar to IAFOR's Research Archive. Both platforms provide indexed access to academic conference outputs globally.

Broad incumbents

• Association for Asian Studies (AAS): AAS is a major scholarly society that organizes the largest Asia-focused academic conference in North America and publishes leading journals on Asian studies. It overlaps with IAFOR's Asian geographic focus and interdisciplinary conference model.
• American Educational Research Association (AERA): AERA is the largest national professional society devoted to educational research, organizing the AERA Annual Meeting (one of the world's largest research conferences) and publishing peer-reviewed journals. It shares IAFOR's focus on education research conferences and Open Access publishing.
• International Association of Universities (IAU): IAU is a UNESCO-affiliated association of higher education institutions worldwide that organizes conferences and publishes on global higher education policy. It is comparable to IAFOR in facilitating international academic exchange and policy research.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/IAFOR
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/IAFORmedia
• Facebookfacebook.com/IAFORJAPAN
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/iafor
• Instagraminstagram.com/iafor.official

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The International Academic Forum