Accounting Tracks

General

The general accounting track accepts papers that report the (empirical or theoretical) results of accounting research and/or explain the related research methodology. The objective is to promote high-quality research in general accounting areas, such as financial accounting, management accounting, auditing, taxation, corporate governance, accounting information systems (AIS), etc.

Fundamental Analysis

This track solicits papers focusing on the information content of financial statements and how such information can, or ought to be, put to use in financial market settings. Thus, in broad terms, it concerns the risk assessment and valuation of equities and financial obligations. Such topics naturally include concerns about how to identify relevant financial statement information which can be used to forecast firms' performance, such as earnings, sales, expenses, profit margins, cash flows, etc. Thus, financial analysis and forecasting are of great interest, and it extends to include the characteristics of analysts’ forecasts and their role in explaining market values and value changes. Papers that address practical issues, such as how to best exploit the accruals vs. cash flows dichotomy and financial statement ratios when forecasting financial performance, are also part of the subject matter.

Audit and Taxation

This track focuses on the theory and practice of audit and taxation with the goal of promoting present and future advances in knowledge. Research on external and internal auditing, other attestation or assurance services, tax avoidance, tax planning, and related issues will be considered. Submissions can be related to practices in China or in other countries.

Management Accounting

This track aims to explore the managerial decision-making process. Interesting and intellectually rigorous work using archival, case, experimental, field, and survey on managerial decision making (such as plan devising, resource adjustment, performance evaluation and etc.) in corporate strategy, operation, and finance are of particular interest.

Finance Tracks

General

The general finance track accepts papers that report the (empirical or theoretical) results of finance research and/or explain the related research methodology in different finance areas, such as assets pricing, banking and insurance, dividend policy, capital structure policy, capital markets, corporate social responsibility, financial intermediaries, firm performance, market efficiency, etc.

Asset Pricing

This track studies the applications of asset pricing theories, methodologies, and practices of how different financial assets, such as equities, debt, derivatives, and interest rate instruments, are priced.

Corporate Finance

This track targets for papers about corporate financial problems and decision making, especially related to shareholder value. Topics that include, but not limit to, capital structure, payout policy, debt and equity financing, cost of capital, and corporate restructuring are warmly welcomed.

Entrepreneurial Finance

This track brings together research on entrepreneurial finance undertaken by academics from different disciplines and conducted from various methodological and philosophical standpoints using a variety of research methods. It is a forum for communication between academic researchers, venture capital practitioners and policy-makers that raises the knowledge of different types of entrepreneurial finance (venture capital, private equity, angel investment, crowdfunding, etc.) on a global basis. Its coverage is international, focusing on not only established financial capital markets, such as the USA and the European Union, but also emerging markets.

Cross-disciplinary Tracks

Belt & Road

The Belt & Road Initiative (BRI)—The “Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road”—was a globalization project initiated by the Chinese Government in 2013. BRI will have far-reaching implications for trade, finance, investment, infrastructure, and logistics for countries along the BRI regions and beyond. This track focuses on original research exploring the impact of, relevant challenges from and responses to BRI.

Energy and Environment 

This track tries to provide a widely accessible yet scholarly source for the latest thinking on energy and environment related issues. Themes of particular interest cover (a) energy and environmental markets, including financialization, securities, and pricing; (b) energy and environmental disclosure, and other accounting issues; (c) energy and environmental taxation issues; (d) energy and environmental corporate finance including valuation, financing, real options, corporate environmental policy, etc.; (e) energy and environmental risk management; (f) financial economics of climate change, including climate derivatives and climate risk management.

Fintech and Data Analytics

This track discusses issues around technology-enabled innovation in financial services (Fintech) and its consequences for the financial system. Fintech is developing rapidly, reshaping certain areas of financial services and weakening the profitability of some financial institutions. Fintech presents both opportunities and risks to the financial system. Papers that aim to understand how the business models of existing financial institutions and the market structure are changing in response to the technology developments are of particular interest.

Politics, Law, and Economics

This track seeks to promote an understanding of many complex phenomena by examining such matters from a combined perspective of law, economics, and politics. It provides a forum for interdisciplinary research at the interface of law, politics, and economics. In this section, we are interested in original scholarships that include the economic analysis of law, the economic analysis of regulation and the behavior of regulated firms, industrial organization and antitrust policy, the political economy of legislation and legislative processes, law and finance, and governance.

ESG Investment, CSR, and Business Sustainability

This track brings together related research on sustainability, driving positive impact on society and the environment. Research papers on the latest sustainability and/or CSR reporting trends as well as their causes and consequences are of particular interest.

CAFR welcomes submissions that fall within the editorial policy of the journal. Submitted articles must be readable, well-organized and in good writing style. Submissions are accepted on the understanding that they have not been published previously and that they are not under consideration by any other journal. Authors are required to explicitly state that these conditions have been met in a covering message to the editors. The journal is published quarterly in March, June, September, and December of each year.

Submission of Manuscripts

Refereeing Process

Authors should indicate clearly which track in CAFR their manuscript is being submitted to. Authors can also indicate “General” track in case they cannot find a track suitable for their manuscript, and may suggest a Senior Track Editor (STE) to handle their manuscript. Authors are also welcome to suggest reviewers. The STE will first screen the submitted manuscript for whether its theme fits for the journal and/or the manuscript has sufficient potential for further review by referees. When the manuscript is decided for further review, the STE will then assign a suitable editor to handle the review process including assigning referees (editor may also serve as one referee) and providing recommendation to the STE for whether the manuscript should be accepted as is, revised, or rejected. CAFR adopts a policy of “immediate acceptance decision”; the STE may make a decision that the manuscript will be eventually accepted for publication when first submitted. The STE will help the authors to improve quality of their manuscript throughout the review process.

CAFR conducts double-blinded reviews, meaning that identities of the reviewers and authors are concealed from each other to make sure that the review process is anonymous. The text contents of manuscripts must not contain explicit indications of the authors’ names and institutional affiliations and any acknowledgments. The authors should avoid or try to minimize self-citations; if the authors consider that citing their own work is necessary, they should make sure that they have referred to their own work in the third person. For example, “We have previously demonstrated (Smith and Black, 2007)” should be rewritten as “Smith and Black (2007) have demonstrated”. Proper attribution of prior work, especially work done by the authors, is a must and takes precedence over maintaining anonymity.

Upon receipt of the review recommendation from the editor, STE or editor will notice the authors whether the paper should be accepted as is, revised, or rejected. After the manuscript is received by the Editorial Office, authors will receive the notification e-mail from the CAFR Editorial Office within 6 weeks on average regarding the acceptance decision and referee reports.

A “revise” decision means that authors can revise and resubmit their manuscript within 1 year; otherwise it is considered “withdrawn” by the authors. A revised manuscript submitted after 1 year will be treated as a new submission. Authors resubmit a revised manuscript must submit a summary document that mentions the changes that they have made and the response to each of the comments from the previous round of reviews.

CAFR does not allow resubmission of a rejected manuscript, except that the STE makes an exception and explicitly invites a resubmission. The authors should disclose this information during the submission process and state clearly in the submission cover letter why resubmission is justified.

Open Access

CAFR is an open access journal. All articles published open access will be immediately and permanently free for everyone to read, download, copy and distribute. Permitted reuse is defined by the terms under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited. Authors will retain the copyright alongside scholarly usage rights and CAFR will be granted publishing and distribution rights.

Please direct all enquiries to CAFR Editorial Office. Email: af.cafr@polyu.edu.hk

November 28 and December 1, 2020
CAFR Fundamental Analysis Symposium
Online

September 26-27, 2020
CAFR 2020 Virtual Annual Conference (Theme: Taxation)
Online

January 2, 2020
CAFR Research Workshop (Theme: Global Development in Fintech and Its Implications to Accounting, Finance, and Law Research) (Preliminary Program)
San Diego, U.S.A.

September 24-25, 2019
The New Silk Road: Shared Prosperity through Cooperation
Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

September 20-21, 2019
CAFR Knowledge Transfer Forum (photos, video)
Dongguan & Hong Kong, China

July 3-5, 2019
2019 Summer Research Boot Camp on Financial Intermediation and Markets
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

November 30, 2016
China Accounting and Finance Review (CAFR) 2016 Conference

May 15, 2015
The Joint China Accounting and Finance Review (CAFR) and Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance (JAAF) Conference