NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS

Electronic submission (preferred) in Microsoft Word of any manuscripts for consideration by BAR should be sent to THEBAR@cardiff.ac.uk. Alternatively, four hard copies may be sent to:
Jan Richards The British Accounting Review Editorial Assistant Department of Accounting and Finance,
Cardiff Business School
Colum Drive
CARDIFF, CF10 3EU
Tel.: +44 (0) 2920 874 959; Fax: +44 (0) 2920 874 419

Acceptance criteria. BAR is particularly concerned with the readability of papers. Prospective authors are asked to pay particular attention to the clarity of their communication. Authors are reminded that the most common root causes for the rejection of a manuscript are the failure to expose the material as widely as possible before submission and failure to comply with the Editorial Policy and Notes for Contributors. Authors are asked to use mathematics only if it contributes to the clarity and economy of presentation. Authors are encouraged to put the mathematics in an appendix whenever possible.

Submission of a paper to BAR automatically implies that the manuscript is not concurrently under consideration for publication elsewhere. All papers submitted to BAR will normally only be published subject to review by double blind referee. In the interests of a fair review, authors should try and avoid the use of anything which would make their identity obvious. Referees are asked to comment upon the originality, authority, comprehensiveness, contribution, interest and usefulness of a submitted paper. All papers are also subjected to editorial review which, covers style, quality of communication, and academic and scholarly content. The editors make every effort to give a decision on manuscripts as soon as possible.

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When supplying your final article please submit your manuscript electronically using Microsoft Word. Preparation of copy. Manuscripts must be typed in journal style on one side only of the paper (preferably A4 or 8_1-2 in _ 11 in), double spaced (including notes and references), with margins of at least 1 in. Essential notes should be indicated by superscript figures in the text and collected in a single section placed before the references under a heading 'Notes'. Tables and figures should be attached on separate sheets at the end of the manuscript: their position should be indicated in the text. A short abstract should be included at the head of the paper.

Citations in the text should read thus: Jones (1998), Jones and Jones (1998), or (Jones & Jones, 1998), Jones, Anderson, and Douglas (1998) or (Jones, Anderson, & Douglas, 1998). For 2-5 authors all authors are to be listed at the first citation. At subsequent citations use first author et al. When there are more than 5 authors, first author et al. should be used throughout the text.

The list of references should be arranged alphabetically by authors' names and should be as full as possible.

References should be listed in the following style:

Innes, J., Mitchell, F., Sinclair, D. (2000). Activity-based costing in the UK's largest companies: a comparison of 1994 and 1999 survey results. Management Accounting Research, 11(3), 349-362.

Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. London: Routledge.

Ritchie, J. (1991). Enterprise cultures: a frame analysis. In R. Burrows (Ed.), Deciphering The Enterprise Culture (pp. 17-34). London: Routledge.

Cohen, D., Dey, A., Lys, T. (2004). Trends in Earnings Management and Informativeness of Earnings Announcements in the Pre- and Post-Sarbanes Oxley Periods (Working Paper, Northwestern University), available on the internet at http://papers.ssrn.com/so13/papers/cfm?abstract_id=56892l. Accessed 13.03.08.

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