Electronic Submission Information

All papers must be submitted electronically. Click here to enter the submission site.

Acceptable formats for electronic submission include Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Word, and RTF. In preparing Acrobat files, make sure that all fonts are embedded, and it is recommended that the document be created using Distiller.

Fees for submission are $70.00 for AFA members and $140.00 for nonmembers.

Submission fees will be paid via credit card (Visa, MasterCard or American Express) as part of the submission procedure.

The following style instructions should be followed in manuscripts submitted for publication in the Journal of Finance.

1. All submitted manuscripts must be original work that is not under submission at another journal or under consideration for publication in another form, such as a monograph or chapter of a book. Authors of submitted papers are obligated not to submit their paper for publication elsewhere until an editorial decision is rendered on their submission. Further, authors of accepted papers are prohibited from publishing the results in other publications that appear before the paper is published in the Journal unless they receive approval for doing so from the managing editor.

2. Manuscripts must be clearly typed with double spacing throughout. The pitch must not exceed 12 characters per inch, and the character height must be at least 10 points. All text should be double-spaced.

3. The cover page shall contain the title of the manuscript, and an abstract of not more than 100 words. The title page should not include the names of the authors, their affiliations, or any other identifying information. That information must be input separately as part of the on-line submission.

4. An abstract, of no more than 100 words, must be entered or pasted into a separate text box as part of the on-line submission.

5. The introductory section must have no heading or number. Subsequent headings should be given Roman numerals. Subsection headings should be lettered A, B, C, etc.

6. The article should end with a non-technical summary statement of the main conclusions. Lengthy mathematical proofs and very extensive detailed tables should be placed in an appendix or omitted entirely. The author should make every effort to explain the meaning of mathematical proofs.

7. Footnotes.
An initial acknowledgement footnote should not be included. Acknowledgements must be entered or pasted into a separate text box as part of the on-line submission. Footnotes in the text must be numbered consecutively and typed on a separate page, double-spaced, following the reference section. Footnotes to tables must also be double-spaced and typed on the bottom of the page with the table.

8. Tables.
Tables must be numbered with Roman numerals. Please check that your text contains a reference to each table. Indicate in the text approximately where each table should be placed. Type each table on a separate page at the end of the paper. Tables must be self-contained, in the sense that the reader must be able to understand them without going back to the text of the paper. Each table must have a title followed by a descriptive legend. Authors must check tables to be sure that the title, column headings, captions, etc., are clear and to the point.

9. Figures.
Figures must be numbered with Arabic numerals. All figure captions must be typed in double space on a separate sheet following the footnotes. A figure's title should be part of the caption. Figures must be self-contained. Each figure must have a title followed by a descriptive legend. Final figures for accepted papers must be submitted in native electronic form and uploaded as separate files on the submission site.

10. Equations. All but very short mathematical expressions should be displayed on a separate line and centered. Equations must be numbered consecutively on the right margin, using Arabic numerals in parentheses. Use Greek letters only when necessary. Do not use a dot over a variable to denote time derivative; only D operator notations are acceptable.

11. References.
References must be typed on a separate page, double-spaced, at the end of the paper. References to publications in the text should appear as follows: "Jensen and Meckling (1976) report that..." or "(Jenson and Meckling (1976))." At the end of the manuscript (before tables and figures), the complete list of references should be as follows:

For monographs:
Fama, Eugene F., and Merton H. Miller, 1972. The Theory of Finance (Dryden Press, Hinsdale, IL.).

For contributions to collective works:
Grossman, Sanford J., and Oliver D. Hart, 1982, Corporate financial structure and managerial incentives, in John J. McCall, ed.: The Economics of Information and Uncertainty (University of Chicago Press).

For periodicals:
Jensen, Michael C., and William H. Meckling, 1976, Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure, Journal of Financial Economics 3, 305-360.