How to get your manuscript accepted for publication: Insights from the referees

Abstract

A survey of nineteen referees for the Journal of Applied Business Research (JABR hereafter) revealed four major reasons for accepting finance manuscripts submitted to the JABR: excellent writing and presentation, sound research design, clearly stated contribution, and a viable economic story or motivation. In this paper, I discuss these tips for accepting a manuscript for publication and conclude with a few insights as the finance editor for the JABR. Although the context discussed in this paper focuses on finance manuscripts, the insights shared by the referees are quite applicable to authors in other business disciplines because a well written paper with important research questions that are analyzed using sound econometric analysis or afforded a well-reasoned analysis deserves consideration for publication in any academic journal. © 2011 The Clute Institute.