Guide for Authors

Author Guidelines and Submission Information

Submission of Manuscripts

Authors are encouraged to submit their manuscripts through the Journal’s online submission system via the Journal website.

If authors experience difficulties with the online submission process, manuscripts may be submitted by email to the Editorial Office:

Email: jcaf@hvtc.edu.vn

The manuscript template and formatting guidelines can be downloaded from the Journal website.

Introduction

Scope

The Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Finance (JCAF) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes high-quality original research papers, review articles, and short research communications in the fields of economics, finance, accounting, auditing, and related disciplines.

The Journal aims to promote academic exchange between scholars, practitioners, and policymakers by disseminating research with both theoretical significance and practical relevance.

The Journal covers a broad range of topics including, but not limited to:

  • Economics
  • Public finance and fiscal policy
  • Corporate finance
  • Banking and financial markets
  • Insurance and risk management
  • Taxation and customs policy
  • Treasury and public financial management
  • Accounting and auditing
  • Corporate governance and financial reporting
  • Business administration and management
  • Financial technology (FinTech)
  • International trade and cross-border finance
  • Other related fields in economics and finance

Types of Papers

The Journal welcomes interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research as well as studies focusing on specific disciplines within the scope of economics and finance.

Original Research Articles (Regular Articles)

Original research articles present new theoretical developments, empirical findings, or methodological contributions relevant to the Journal’s scope.

The submitted work must be original and not previously published elsewhere, except in preliminary forms such as conference abstracts or working papers.

Review Articles

Review articles provide comprehensive and critical analyses of existing literature on topics of significant interest within the Journal’s scope. These may be submitted by authors or invited by the Editorial Board.

Research Notes / Short Communications

Short research notes report preliminary findings, methodological innovations, or concise analyses that are of interest to the academic community but may not require a full-length article.

These papers should be concise and focused while maintaining rigorous academic standards.

Before You Begin

Conflict of Interest

All authors are required to disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest, including financial, professional, or personal relationships that could influence the research results or interpretation.

Authors should declare any such relationships that existed within three years prior to the submission of the manuscript.

Submission Declaration and Verification

Submission of a manuscript implies that:

  • The work has not been previously published except in limited forms such as abstracts, theses, or preprints;
  • The manuscript is not under consideration by another journal;
  • All authors have approved the submission and agree to its publication if accepted;
  • The responsible authorities where the research was conducted have approved the work where necessary.

Once accepted for publication, the manuscript must not be published elsewhere in the same form without written permission from the copyright holder.

Author Contributions

Each author must have made significant contributions to the research and/or preparation of the manuscript.

Authors should clearly state their contributions to the article, such as:

  • Conceptualization or research design
  • Data collection and analysis
  • Manuscript preparation and revision

All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript before submission.

Language

Manuscripts must be written in clear and grammatically correct English (either American or British usage is accepted, but authors should use one style consistently).

The Editorial Office may provide limited language support to authors whose research is of high quality but requires language improvement.

Submission Process

The Journal’s online submission system guides authors step-by-step through the submission process, including:

  • Entering manuscript information
  • Uploading manuscript files
  • Providing author details

All correspondence regarding the manuscript, including editorial decisions and revision requests, will be communicated via email.

Changes to Authorship

Authors should carefully determine the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript.

Any changes in authorship (addition, removal, or rearrangement of author names) must be requested before the manuscript is accepted and must include:

  • A clear explanation for the requested change
  • Written confirmation from all authors agreeing to the change

After acceptance, changes to authorship will only be considered in exceptional circumstances and may result in publication delays.

If the article has already been published, approved changes will be documented through a published corrigendum.

Suggested Reviewers

Authors are encouraged to provide the names and contact information of three potential reviewers when submitting their manuscript.

Suggested reviewers should:

  • Be experts in the relevant research field
  • Have published peer-reviewed research related to the topic
  • Have no conflicts of interest with the authors

Reviewers should not be from the same institution as the authors or collaborators within the past three years.

The Editor retains the final decision regarding the selection of reviewers.

Manuscript Preparation

Peer Review

The Journal operates a single-blind peer review process.

All submissions are first evaluated by the Editor for relevance and suitability. Manuscripts that meet the basic criteria are sent to at least two independent expert reviewers for evaluation.

The Editor makes the final decision regarding acceptance, revision, or rejection of the manuscript.

Editors do not participate in editorial decisions for manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest.

Manuscript Formatting

Manuscripts should be prepared using a standard word-processing program (e.g., Microsoft Word).

General formatting requirements include:

  • 12-point font throughout the manuscript
  • Double line spacing for all sections (including references and captions)
  • Single-column text format
  • Page numbers included
  • Margins of at least 2.5 cm

The manuscript should include the following components:

  1. Title page
  2. Abstract and keywords
  3. Main text
  4. References
  5. Tables and figures (if applicable)

Authors are strongly encouraged to use spell-check and grammar-check tools to minimize language errors before submission.

Use of word processing software

It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the word processor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the word processor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts.  Note that source files of figures, tables and text graphics will be required whether or not you embed your figures in the text.

To avoid unnecessary errors, you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check' functions of your word processor.

Manuscripts should be prepared with main parts as follows:

Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, References should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

Keywords

Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, using American spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

Introduction

State the objectives of the work. The introduction should put the focus of the manuscript into a broader context.  Relevant controversies or disagreements in the field should be mentioned so that a non-expert reader can delve into these issues further. The introduction should conclude with a brief statement of the rationale for the study, the hypothesis that was addressed or the overall purpose of the experiments reported, and should provide a comment about whether that aim was achieved.

Background

Provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results. You should supply sufficient background information to allow the reader to understand and evaluate the results without referring to previous publications on the topic. As you compose the introduction, think of readers who are not experts in this field. Include a brief review of the key literature - use only those references required to provide the most salient background rather than an exhaustive review of the topic.

Material and methods

Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Protocols for new methods or significant modifications to existing methods should be included, while previously published or well-established protocols should only be referenced. Describe new methods completely and give sources of unusual chemicals, equipment, strains etc. Studies presented should comply with our recommendations for distribution of materials and data. In theoretical papers comprising the computational analyses, technical details (methods, models applied or newly developed) should be provided to enable the readers to reproduce the calculations. A Theory should extend, not repeat.

Results

Results should be clear and concise. This section should provide statistical analyses of all of the experiments that are required to support the conclusions of the paper. Reserve extensive interpretation of the results for the Discussion section. Details of experiments that are peripheral to the main thrust of the article and that detract from the focus of the article should not be included. Present the results as concisely as possible in text, table(s), or figure(s) (see below). Avoid extensive use of graphs to present data that might be more concisely presented in the text or tables. Graphs illustrating methods commonly used need not be shown except in unusual circumstances. Limit photographs to those that are absolutely necessary to show the experimental findings. Number figures and tables in the order in which they are cited in the text, and be sure to cite all figures and tables. Styles and fonts should match those in the main body of the article. Large datasets, including raw data, should be submitted as supporting files. The section may be divided into subsections, each with a concise subheading.

Discussion

This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature. The Discussion should provide an interpretation of the results in relation to previously published work and to the experimental system used. It should not contain extensive repetition of the Results or reiteration of the Introduction. This section should spell out the major conclusions of the work along with some explanation or speculation on the significance of these conclusions. The discussion should be concise and tightly argued.

Conclusions

The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.

Acknowledgments

This section should describe sources of funding that have supported the work. Please also describe the role of the study sponsor(s), if any, in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the paper; and decision to submit it for publication.

References

Citation in text

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the

journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Reference Style

The Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Finance (JCAF) follows a numbered citation style, similar to the referencing format used by leading international journals published by Elsevier and other academic publishers.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all references cited in the text appear in the reference list and that all entries are complete and accurate.

In-text Citations

References in the text should be indicated using numbers in square brackets corresponding to the numbered reference list.

Authors may refer to the names of the authors in the text; however, the reference number must always be included.

Examples

  • “…as demonstrated in previous studies [3,6].”
  • “Smith and Johnson [8] reported similar findings…”
  • “Recent research on financial markets [4] highlights the importance of regulatory frameworks.”

Reference List

References should be numbered sequentially in the order they appear in the text.
Each reference number should be enclosed in square brackets.

The reference list should appear at the end of the manuscript.

Reference Examples

Journal Article

[1] V. De Semir, C. Ribas, G. Revuelta. (1998). Press releases of science journal articles and subsequent newspaper stories on the same topic. JAMA, 280(3), 294–295.

Example (finance/economics):

[2] E. Fama, K. French. (1993). Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds. Journal of Financial Economics, 33(1), 3–56.

Book

[3] I.A. Leonard. (2020). Books of the Brave. University of California Press, USA.

Example (economics):

[4] P. Krugman, M. Obstfeld, M. Melitz. (2018). International Economics: Theory and Policy. Pearson Education.

Multi-Author Book

[5] H.J. Gilbert, G. Davies, B. Henrissat, B. Svensson. (1999). Recent Advances in Carbohydrate Bioengineering. Royal Society of Chemistry, Vol. 246.

Conference Proceedings / Book Chapter

[6] Q.-H. Nguyen, M. Hjiaj, X. Nguyen, H. Nguyen. (2015). Finite element analysis of a hybrid RCS beam-column connection. In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference CIGOS, pp. 11–32.

Report / Institutional Publication

[7] International Monetary Fund (IMF). (2022). Global Financial Stability Report. IMF, Washington DC.

Standard / Regulatory Document

[8] Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. (2017). Basel III: Finalising Post-Crisis Reforms. Bank for International Settlements.

Website

[9] World Bank. Global Financial Development Database.
https://www.worldbank.org
(accessed 13 March 2024).

Reference Management Software

JCAF provides reference style templates compatible with several popular reference management software programs.

Authors are encouraged to use tools such as:

  • EndNote
  • Mendeley
  • Zotero

Using citation plug-ins from these programs allows references and citations to be automatically formatted according to the Journal’s required style.

Before submitting the manuscript, authors should ensure that all field codes from reference management software are removed from the document.

Users of EndNote may download the JCAF reference style from the Journal website.

Appendices

If a manuscript includes more than one appendix, they should be labeled Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix C, and so on.

Equations, tables, and figures in appendices should be numbered separately.

Examples:

  • Equation (A.1), (A.2) in Appendix A
  • Equation (B.1) in Appendix B
  • Table A.1
  • Figure B.2


Supplementary material

Supplementary material such as applications, images and sound clips, can be published with your article to enhance it. Submitted supplementary items are published exactly as they are received (Excel or PowerPoint files will appear as such online). Please submit your material together with the article and supply a concise, descriptive caption for each supplementary file. If you wish to make changes to supplementary material during any stage of the process, please make sure to provide an updated file. Do not annotate any corrections on a previous version. Please switch off the 'Track Changes' option in Microsoft Office files as these will appear in the published version.

  • Other requirements

Abbreviations

Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field in a footnote to be placed on the first page of the article. Such abbreviations that are unavoidable in the abstract must be defined at their first mention there, as well as in the footnote. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.

Units

Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If other units are mentioned, please give their equivalent in SI.

Math formulae

Please submit math equations as editable text and not as images. Present simple formulae in line with normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., X/Y. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).

Footnotes

Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article. Many word processors can build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Otherwise, please indicate the position of footnotes in the text and list the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.

Figures

General points

  • Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
  • Save text in illustrations as "graphics" or enclose the font.
  • Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times, Symbol.
  • Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
  • Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
  • Provide captions to illustrations separately.
  • Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.
  • Submit each figure as a separate file.

Formats

Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please "save as" or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):

EPS: Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as "graphics".

TIFF, JPEG: color or grayscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 500 dpi.

TIFF, JPEG: Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000 dpi.

TIFF, JPEG: Combinations bitmapped line/halftone (color or grayscale): a minimum of 500 dpi is required. If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply "as is".

Please do not:

  • Supply files that are optimized for screen use (like GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution is too low;
  • Supply files that are too low in resolution;
  • Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

Present your figures and tables on separate sheets, not within the text. Please number your figures. Please remove all figures placeholder from within your text.

Color artwork

Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF (or JPEG), EPS (or PDF), or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures then Journal will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in color online (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version. Please indicate your preference for color: in print or online only. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork.

Figure captions

Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used. Figures captions can be placed next to the relevant text in the article at the end.

Tables

Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables can be placed next to the relevant text in the article at the end. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text and place any table notes below the table body. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in them do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules.

Submission checklist

The following list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item.

  • Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web)
  • Color figures are clearly marked as being intended for color reproduction on the Web (free of charge) and in print or to be reproduced in color on the Web (free of charge) and in black-and-white in print
  • If only color on the Web is required, black and white versions of the figures are also supplied for printing purposes

Copyright Notice

Authors submitting manuscripts to the Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Finance (JCAF) agree that, upon acceptance for publication, the copyright of the article (the “Work”) will be transferred to the Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Finance, Academy of Finance (AOF), Vietnam.

This transfer of copyright grants the Journal the exclusive right to publish, reproduce, distribute, transmit, and archive the Work, in whole or in part, in both electronic and printed formats, and in all forms of media currently known or developed in the future.

By assigning copyright to the Journal, authors acknowledge that any reproduction, posting, transmission, or distribution of the Work, in whole or in part, in any medium must include a full and proper citation to the original publication in the Journal.

Such citation should include the following information:

  • Title of the article
  • Author(s)’ names
  • Journal title: Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Finance
  • Volume and issue number
  • Year of publication
  • Copyright holder (Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Finance – Academy of Finance)
  • Digital Object Identifier (DOI), where applicable

Authors are encouraged to provide links to the final published version of the article on the Journal’s official website when sharing or referencing their work.

The author and their affiliated institution or employer agree that any copies of the final published version of the Work, whether distributed in print or electronic format, will clearly include the copyright notice and the full citation to the Journal as published on the Journal’s website.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.