MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSIONS

Initial submissions and resubmissions should be uploaded to the online submission system. Manuscripts (text, references, tables, figures, etc.) should be prepared in detailed accord with the current edition of The Chicago Manual of Style.

A LaTex template can be found here.

You will need to prepare two files; one with the paper's cover page (http://www.sfsrfs.org/SampleCoverPage.pdf) and one with the abstract and body (http://www.sfsrfs.org/SampleMainText.pdf).

The cover page should include the paper's title, the name and affiliation of each author, and each author's contact information. Please make sure to include each author's e-mail address, as this is the journal's primary means of communication. If an author does not have an e-mail address then, of course, you need not provide one. The first page of the second file should have the paper's title at the top followed by the abstract. The body of the paper should begin on the second page. Please make sure that you remove all identifying information from the paper. In Adobe Acrobat go to the "Document Summary" page by either hitting ctrl-d or by clicking on the "File" menu and then "Document Properties" and "Summary." Once you have reached the Document Summary page erase any identifying information click on "Ok," and then save the file.

Alternatively, three printed copies (and if possible a copy of the computer file used to create the manuscript) can be mailed to:

Revision papers with a 4-digit manuscript number
DO NOT submit via the web based submission system. Please send directly to tricia.cushing@yale.edu.

Manuscript preparation

Manuscripts should be typewritten using double-spacing throughout, including tables, references, and footnotes. Manuscripts (text, references, tables, figures, etc.) should be prepared in detailed accord with the current edition of The Chicago Manual of Style. Assemble sections in the following order: Title page, Abstract, Text, Figure legends, Appendixes, References, Footnotes, Tables, and Figures. Electronic submissions must be submitted via the journal's web page at www.sfsrfs.org. Electronic submissions must be submitted as PDF files and must be anonymous.

Authors should be aware that the electronic file is considered final material. Author changes may not be made during the copyediting stage (following acceptance, but prior to typesetting).

Please note that our submission fee structure has changed. Manuscripts should be accompanied by a submission fee of $175 for electronic submissions by members of the Society for Financial Studies. Nonmembers will be charged an additional $50 ($225); this will not include a free subscription to the journal. Any nonelectronic submission will be charged an additional $25. Payment may be made by Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and Diner's Club. Checks are also accepted for payment of the submission fees; please make them payable to the journal. The cardholder's name, credit card number, and expiration date must be included with the submission; also please note whether the author is a member of the Society for Financial Studies.

The Title page should include the title, name(s) of the author(s), and institutional affiliation for each author. It should also include name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address of the author responsible for correspondence as well as the name and address of the author to whom requests for reprints should be sent. Page numbering should begin on this page.

Each article should include an Abstract of no more than 100 words, beginning on a separate page. The Text should also begin on a separate page. The first numbered section should follow the introduction of the article. References should be cited in the text by author's last name and the year of publication. Footnotes should be kept to a minimum and placed at the end of the text, beginning on a separate page, double-spaced. They should not be placed at the bottom of the page on which they are cited. Do not number author affiliations or acknowledgments of support or assistance. Equations should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals.

Tables should be typewritten, each on a separate page, and numbered sequentially with Arabic numerals; each should have a brief, descriptive title; each should be designed to fit on a page without undue compression. Vertical rules should not be used. They should be as self-explanatory as possible, incorporating any necessary descriptive material in an unnumbered footnote.

Figures should also be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals. All explanatory material should be included in the legend and not in the figure itself. Submit review copies of each figure with the manuscript. All artwork and typography should be of professional quality. Typewritten or hand-drawn figures are not acceptable. Figure legends should be typed together on a separate sheet double-spaced. Starting July 1, 2005 The Review of Financial Studies will accept color figures. There will be a $600 fee per color figure file. This fee covers the journal's costs.

Orders from UK will be subject to a 17.5% VAT charge. For orders from the rest of the EU, we will assume that the service is provided for business purposes, please provide a VAT number for yourself or your institution and ensure you account for your own local VAT correctly.

Creation and format. Figures should be created as Encapsulated Postscript (.eps) or Tagged Image Format (.tif) files at resolutions of 300 dpi (dots per square inch) for photographic and color images or 600 dpi for black and white line drawings. Use CMYK colors only. PowerPoint may also be used for graphs only. Please use high-resolution original sources, such as scanned original artwork or original image files, to create your .tif or .eps figures, with fonts embedded. For EPS submissions, please use the following fonts only: Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Helvetica, and Symbol.

Even when saved as .tif or .eps files, graphics downloaded or saved from Web pages (and other low-resolution materials) will not meet print quality standards and are therefore unacceptable for figure creation. Blurry, illegible, or other low-quality figures will be returned to you for recreation and may delay publication of your paper.

We recommend that you produce your figures with high-quality graphics software, such as Adobe Photoshop, to help ensure appropriate resolution and workability. For instructions on how to use Photoshop and other supported graphics software to prepare figures, please visit http://cpc.cadmus.com/da/applications.asp. If the software available to you cannot generate .tif or .eps files, you may wish to print a high-quality copy of the figure, scan it, and then save it as a .tif. For instructions on scanning, please visit http://cpc.cadmus.com/da/scanning.asp.

For useful information on preparing figures visit http://dx.sheridan.com where you can also test whether your figures are suitable for production by using the preflight tool at http://dx.sheridan.com/onl/.

References should be typed entirely double-spaced and begin on a separate page. They should be in alphabetical order, unnumbered, and follow the current edition of The Chicago Manual of Style.

LICENSE TO PUBLISH

It is a condition of publication in the journal that authors grant an exclusive license to the Society for Financial Studies. Requests for permission to reprint material found in the journal should come to Oxford University Press. This ensures that requests from third parties to reproduce articles are handled efficiently and consistently and will also allow the article to be as widely disseminated as possible. As part of the license agreement, authors may use their own material in other publications provided that the journal is acknowledged as the original place of publication and Oxford University Press as the publisher.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY

Editors

• General policySubmission by Executive Editor
  New submissions by the Executive Editor are not permitted.
• Submission by author at same institution as one of the Editors
  A paper submitted by an author who is at the same institution as one of the Editors at the time of initial submission will be handled by an Editor who is not at that institution. The Editor who is at the same institution will have no involvement in selecting referees or making any decisions on the paper. Notwithstanding this restriction the Executive Editor retains final decision authority regarding publishing any paper in the RFS.
• An Editor may not handle any paper submitted by a family member.
• General policy
  If any of the Editors feel that there is likely to be a perception of a conflict of interest in relation to their handling of a submission, they will inform the Executive Editor.

Referees

Potential conflict of interest for referees
The invitation letter to referees will include the following wording: ‘If you feel there is any potential conflict of interest in your refereeing this paper because of your relationship with the author (e.g. in terms of close friendship or conflict/rivalry) or for any other reason, please declare it. By accepting this invitation, it is assumed there is no potential conflict of interest.’ Standard policy will be not to use a referee if a conflict of interest has been declared, but the Editor may use his/her discretion after consulting with the Executive Editor.

Authors

Sources of funding
On acceptance, authors will be asked to provide a statement declaring all sources of outside funding relating to their paper, and the statement will be printed on the title page or at the end of their paper.

FUNDING

Details of all funding sources for the work in question should be given in a separate section entitled 'Funding'. This should appear before the 'Acknowledgements' section.

The following rules should be followed:

• The sentence should begin: ‘This work was supported by …’
• The full official funding agency name should be given, i.e. ‘National Institutes of Health’, not ‘NIH’ (full RIN-approved list of UK funding agencies) Grant numbers should be given in brackets as follows: ‘[grant number xxxx]’
• Multiple grant numbers should be separated by a comma as follows: ‘[grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]’
• Agencies should be separated by a semi-colon (plus ‘and’ before the last funding agency)
• Where individuals need to be specified for certain sources of funding the following text should be added after the relevant agency or grant number 'to [author initials]'.

An example is given here: ‘This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [AA123456 to C.S., BB765432 to M.H.]; and the Alcohol & Education Research Council [hfygr667789].

LANGUAGE EDITING

Particularly if English is not your first language, before submitting your manuscript you may wish to have it edited for language. This is not a mandatory step, but may help to ensure that the academic content of your paper is fully understood by journal editors and reviewers. Language editing does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted for publication. If you would like information about one such service please click here. There are other specialist language editing companies that offer similar services and you can also use any of these. Authors are liable for all costs associated with such services

PERMISSION FOR ILLUSTRATIONS AND FIGURES

Permission to reproduce copyright material, for print and online publication in perpetuity, must be cleared and if necessary paid for by the author; this includes applications and payments to DACS, ARS, and similar licensing agencies where appropriate. Evidence in writing that such permissions have been secured from the rights-holder must be made available to the editors. It is also the author's responsibility to include acknowledgements as stipulated by the particular institutions. Oxford Journals can offer information and documentation to assist authors in securing print and online permissions: please see the Guidelines for Authors section. Information on permissions contacts for a number of main galleries and museums can also be provided. Should you require copies of this, please contact the editorial office of the journal in question or the Oxford Journals Rights department.

PRE-PUBLICATION POLICY

The Review of Financial Studies does not accept papers that have been previously published elsewhere with the exception of working papers series. The Journal’s policy regarding working paper series is:

1. Pre-publication in working paper series is allowed where submission to the working paper series is prior to acceptance by the Journal.

2. The working paper version may remain online after publication in the Journal.

3. The working paper version should NOT be updated after acceptance by the Journal.

4. Authors are requested to append the appropriate citation to the working paper version on acceptance by the Journal (if the working paper series allows this).

VAT CHARGES

Orders from UK will be subject to a 17.5% VAT charge. For orders from the rest of the EU, we will assume that the service is provided for business purposes, please provide a VAT number for yourself or your institution and ensure you account for your own local VAT correctly.