General Tracks

Accounting

The 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 different accounting areas, such as financial accounting, managerial accounting, auditing, taxation, corporate governance, accounting information systems (AIS), etc.

Finance

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

Special Tracks

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 connection, 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 corporate finance and governance.

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.

Sustainability

This track brings together related research on sustainability, driving positive impact on society and the environment. To approach sustainability, corporations and other organizations should align its profits along social and environmental factors. In this connection, we are interested in research topics on the latest sustainability trends as well as their causes and consequences. 

Fintech

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. Hence, it becomes important to understand how the business models of existing financial institutions and the market structure are changing in response to these developments.

Belt & Road

This track focuses on original research exploring the impact of and relevant challenges from and responses to Belt & Road. The “Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road” (Belt & Road) was initiated by the Chinese Government in 2013, which is a globalization project that has far-reaching implications for trade, transport infrastructure, and logistics in the ASEAN region. It is expected to exert multi-dimensional impact on global supply chain routes and maritime connectivity.

Fundamental Analysis Study

This track concerns papers that assess the information content of financial statements, typically in a context of how to value equities and financial obligations. Research issues that can be addressed include the nature of effective performance forecasting (earnings, sales, expenses, profit margins, cash flows, etc.) that is potentially tied to analysts’ forecasts, and how statement-based forecasts can influence the identification of information that explains equity values and the change in equity values. Papers that aid practical issues, such as forecasting analysts’ excessive optimism/pessimism or over-/undervaluations, are of particular interest.

International Comparability

This track seeks to encourage studies using international data to replicate the classical/famous studies in accounting and finance disciplines that are mainly based on the USA data. This enables us to understand whether those well-known knowledge/phenomena/theories are generalizable to the global setting.

The editors welcome submissions that fall within the editorial policy of the journal. Articles submitted to CAFR 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.

Refereeing Process

Authors should indicate clearly which track in CAFR the manuscript is being submitted to. Authors may also provide additional materials that they feel will support the review process. The Track Editor (TE) and possibly Associate Editor (AE) 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. Otherwise, the manuscript will be returned to the authors. The TE will explain the reasons for the rejection. When the manuscript is decided for further review, the TE will select a suitable AE who will be responsible for assigning referees, following through the review process (including checking the revised versions for compliance with referees’ comments and suggestions), and providing recommendations for the TE to make a final decision upon the end of the review process. After the manuscript is sent out to referees, authors will receive a decision from the TE within 4 weeks on average.

CAFR conducts double-blinded reviews, meaning that identities of the authors and the reviewers are concealed from each other. 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 reports, the AE will provide a recommendation to the TE who will decide whether the paper should be accepted as is, revised, or rejected. Authors will receive a notification e-mail that contains all review results by the referees.

A “revise” decision means that authors can revise and resubmit their manuscripts within one year; otherwise it is considered "withdrawn" by the authors. 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. Revised manuscripts submitted after one year will simply be treated as new submissions.

Normally, CAFR does not allow resubmission of a rejected manuscript, except that the TE 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.

Guidelines for Submission of Manuscripts

Please direct all enquiries to:

CAFR Editorial Office
7/F, Li Ka Shing Tower
School of Accounting and Finance
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hung Hom, Kowloon
Hong Kong

Email: af.cafr@polyu.edu.hk