Submission of manuscripts
Authors are encouraged to submit to MAR by e-mail. For submissions, please send a single file containing the entire manuscript in either PDF, Word or PostScript format.
E-mail address:
mar@elsevier.com
If submitting by post two copies of any manuscripts (with disk or cd) should be sent, for consideration to:

Editorial Office
Elsevier Ltd
Stover Court
Bampfylde Street
Exeter EX1 2AH
UK

It is essential to give a fax number and e-mail address when submitting a manuscript. Articles must be written in good English. Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the Publisher.
All papers submitted will normally only be published subject to double blind review. In the interests of a fair review, authors should try to 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, whilst covering style and quality of communication, may also cover academic and scholarly content. The editors make every effort to give a decision on manuscripts within 12 weeks of receipt.

Role of corresponding author
The corresponding author of a manuscript for Management Accounting Research has the duty to ensure that all the named authors have seen and approved the original and any revised version of the paper and are in agreement with its content before it is submitted to the Editorial Office. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content. The corresponding author should also ensure that all those who have contributed to the research are acknowledged appropriately either as a co-author or in the Acknowledgements. In addition, the corresponding author has the prime responsibility for ensuring the paper is correctly prepared according to the Guide for Authors. Submitted manuscripts not complying with the Guide for Authors may be returned to the authors for possible revision and resubmission.
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to transfer copyright (for more information on copyright see http://authors.elsevier.com). This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. A letter will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript. A form facilitating transfer of copyright will be provided. If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s)in the article. Elsevier has preprinted forms for use by authors in these cases contact: ELSEVIER, Global Rights Department, P.O. Box 800, Oxford, OX5 1DX, UK; phone: (+44) 1865 843830, fax: (+44) 1865 853333, e-mail: permissions@elsevier.com

Electronic format requirements for accepted articles
Electronic manuscripts have the advantage that there is no need for rekeying of text, thereby avoiding the possibility of introducing errors and resulting in reliable and fast delivery of proofs. Elsevier is now publishing all manuscripts using electronic production methods, and therefore needs to receive the electronic files of your article with three hardcopies of the accepted version. We accept most wordprocessing formats, but Word, WordPerfect or LaTeX is preferred. An electronic version of the text should be submitted together with the final hardcopies of the manuscript. The electronic version must match the hardcopy exactly. Always keep a backup copy of the electronic file for reference and safety. Label storage media with your name, journal title, and software used. Save your files using the default extension of the program used. No changes to the accepted version are permissible without the explicit approval of the Editor. Electronic files can be stored on 31 2 inch diskette, ZIP-disk or CD (either MS-DOS or Macintosh).

Wordprocessor documents
It is important that the file is saved in the native format of the wordprocessor 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 wordprocessor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. Do not embed 'graphically designed' equations or tables, but prepare these using the wordprocessor's facility. 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 (see also the Guide to Publishing with Elsevier: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorshome.authors/howtosubmitpaper). Do not import the figures into the text file but, instead, indicate their approximate locations directly in the electronic text and on the manuscript. To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spellchecker' function of your wordprocessor.
Although Elsevier can process most wordprocessor file formats, should your electronic file prove to be unusable, the article will be typeset from the hardcopy printout.

Preparation of manuscripts

General
Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Italics are not to be used for expressions of Latin origin, for example, in vivo, et al., per se. Use decimal points (not commas); use a space for thousands (10 000 and above).

Language Editing
Authors who require information about language editing and copyediting services pre- and post-submission please visit http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorshome.authors/languagepolishing or contact authorsupport@elsevier.com for more information. Please note Elsevier neither endorses nor takes responsibility for any products, goods or services offered by outside vendors through our services or in any advertising. Fore more information please refer to our terms & conditions http://authors.elsevier.com/terms_and_conditions.html. Print the entire manuscript on one side of the paper only, using double spacing and wide (3 cm) margins. (Avoid full justification, i.e., do not use a constant right-hand margin.) Ensure that each new paragraph is clearly indicated. Present tables and figure legends on separate pages at the end of the manuscript. If possible, consult a recent issue of the journal to become familiar with layout and conventions. Number all pages consecutively.

Contents
Provide the following data on the title page (in the order given): Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.Author names and affiliations
Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name, and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.Corresponding author
Clearly indicate who is willing to handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also postpublication. Ensure that telephone and fax numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address.
Present/permanent address
If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.
N.B. Acknowledgements.
Collate acknowledgements on a separate page at the beginning of the article and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise.
Abstract
A concise and factual abstract is required (approx. 150 words and must be provided on a separate page). The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separate from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. References should therefore be avoided, but if essential, they must be cited in full, without reference to the reference list.
Keywords
Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field should be used. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.
Abbreviations
Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field at their first occurrence in the article: in the abstract but also in the main text after it. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.
Appendices
If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: (Eq. A.1), (Eq. A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, (Eq. B.1) and so forth.
Figure legends, tables, figures, schemes
Present these, in this order, at the end of the article. They are described in more detail below. If you are working with LaTeX and have such features embedded in the text, these can be left, but such embedding should not be done specifically for publishing purposes.
Text graphics
Present incidental graphics not suitable for mention as figures, plates or schemes at the end of the article and number them 'Graphic 1', etc. Their precise position in the text can then be defined similarly (both on the manuscript and in the file). See further under the section.
Preparation of illustrations
If you are working with LaTeX and have such features embedded in the text, these can be left, but such embedding should not be done specifically for publishing purposes.

Specific remarks
Mathematical formulae
Present simple formulae in the line of normal text where possible. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line,
e:g:; Xp=Ym rather than Xp Ym
Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp.
Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separate from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).
Research Instruments and databases
Where research instruments, such as survey questionnaires or experimental material, have been used two copies (or an electronic version) must be submitted with the manuscript, even if they are not expected to be published. This is to enable the reviewers to assess the validity of the research design. Whenever possible authors are encouraged to make their data available to other researchers. Authors of papers using databases should indicate (in a footnote or in the text) whether their data is available to other researchers and, if so, how it can be obtained.
Case Studies
When submitting papers containing case studies of named companies and the data used is not in the public domain the author(s) must confirm that the companies concerned have given their permission for the material to be published and their name to be used. Alternatively, where case studies are reported anonymously the author(s) must confirm that they have permission to publish the material in this form. In all cases it is the responsibility of the author(s) to secure the necessary permissions from the companies concerned.
Footnotes
Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article, using superscript Arabic numbers. Many wordprocessors build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Should this not be the case, indicate the position of footnotes in the text and present the footnotes themselves on a separate sheet at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.
Table footnotes
Indicate each footnote in a table with a superscript lowercase letter.
Tables.
Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. Avoid vertical rules. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.
Preparation of supplementary data.
Elsevier now accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier web products, including ScienceDirect: http://www.sciencedirect.com. In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please ensure that data is provided in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions
References
Responsibility for the accuracy of bibliographic citations lies entirely with the authors.
Citations in the 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 should not be in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.
Citing and listing of web references
As a minimum; the full URL should be given. Any further information, if known (author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.
Text
All citations in the text should refer to:
1. Single Author: the Author's name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the year of publication;
2. Two Authors: both Authors' names and the year of publication;
3. Three or more Authors: first Author's name followed by 'et al.' and the year of publication.
Citations may be made directly (or parenthetically). Groups of references should be listed first alphabetically, then chronologically. Examples: ''as demonstrated (Allan, 1996a, 1996b, 1999; Allan and Jones, 1995). Kramer et al. (2000) have recently shown. . . '' List: References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters ''a'', ''b'', ''c'', etc., placed after the year of publication.
Examples
Bromwich, M., 1977. The use of present value valuation models in published accounting reports. Acc. Rev., July, 587-596.
Broadbent, J., 1992. Change in organisations: a case study of the use of accounting information in the NHS. Br. Acc. Rev., 24, 343-367.
Belkaoui, A., 1985. Accounting Theory, 2nd edition. Harcourt, San Diego.
The digital object identifier (DOI) may be used to cite and link to electronic documents. The DOI consists of a unique alpha-numeric character string which is assigned to a document by the publisher upon the initial electronic publication. The assigned DOI never changes. Therefore, it is an ideal medium for citing a document, particularly 'Articles in press' because they have not yet received their full bibliographic information. The correct format for citing a DOI is shown as follows:
doi:10.1016/j.mar.2005.01.003
When you use the DOI to create URL hyperlinks to documents on the web, they are guaranteed never to change.

Preparation of illustrations

Preparation of electronic illustrations
Submitting your artwork in an electronic format helps us to produce your work to the best possible standards, ensuring accuracy, clarity and a high level of detail.
General points
- Always supply high-quality printouts of your artwork, in case conversion of the electronic artwork is problematic.
- 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, Helvetica, Times, Symbol.
- Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
- Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files, and supply a separate listing of the files and the software used.
- Provide all illustrations as separate files and as hardcopy printouts on separate sheets.
- Provide captions to illustrations separately.
- Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.


A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website: http://authors.elsevier.com/artwork
You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.
Formats
Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalised, 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: Colour or greyscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi
TIFF: Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF: Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (colour or greyscale): a minimum of 500 dpi is required.
DOC, XLS or PPT: If your electronic artwork is created in any of these Microsoft Office applications please supply ''as is''.
Please do not:
- Supply embedded graphics in your wordprocessor (spreadsheet, presentation) document;
- Supply files that are optimised 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.
Non-electronic illustrations
Provide all illustrations as high-quality printouts, suitable for reproduction (which may include reduction) without retouching. Number illustrations consecutively in the order in which they are referred to in the text. They should accompany the manuscript, but should not be included within the text. Clearly mark all illustrations on the back (or -in case of line drawings - on the lower front side) with the figure number and the author's name and, in cases of ambiguity, the correct orientation. Mark the appropriate position of a figure in the article.
Captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions on a separate sheet, 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.
Line drawings
Supply high-quality printouts on white paper produced with black ink. The lettering and symbols, as well as other details, should have proportionate dimensions, so as not to become illegible or unclear after possible reduction; in general, the figures should be designed for a reduction factor of two to three. The degree of reduction will be determined by the Publisher. Illustrations will not be enlarged. Consider the page format of the journal when designing the illustrations. Photocopies are not suitable for reproduction. Do not use any type of shading on computer-generated illustrations.
Photographs (halftones)
Please supply original photographs for reproduction, printed on glossy paper, very sharp and with good contrast. Remove nonessential areas of a photograph. Do not mount photographs unless they form part of a composite figure. Where necessary, insert a scale bar in the illustration (not below it), as opposed to giving a magnification factor in the legend. Note that photocopies of photographs are not acceptable.
Colour illustrations
Submit colour illustrations as original photographs, high-quality computer prints or transparencies, close to the size expected in publication, or as 35 mm slides. Polaroid colour prints are not suitable. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable colour figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in colour on the web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://authors.elsevier.com/artwork. Please note: Because of technical complications which can arise by converting colour figures to 'grey scale' (for the printed version should you not opt for colour in print) please submit in addition usable black and white prints corresponding to all the colour illustrations. As only one figure caption may be used for both colour and black and white versions of figures, please ensure that the figure captions are meaningful for both versions, if applicable.
Proofs
When your accepted manuscript is received by the Publisher it is considered to be in its final form. Proofs are not to be regarded as 'drafts'. One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author, to be checked for typesetting/editing. No changes in, or additions to, the accepted (and subsequently edited) manuscript will be allowed at this stage. Proofreading is solely your responsibility. A form with queries from the copyeditor may accompany your proofs. Please answer all queries and make any corrections or additions required. Elsevier will do everything possible to get your article corrected and published as quickly and accurately as possible. In order to do this we need your help. When you receive the (PDF) proof of your article for correction, it is important to ensure that all of your corrections are sent back to us in one communication. Subsequent corrections will not be possible, so please ensure your first sending is complete. Note that this does not mean you have any less time to make your corrections, just that only one set of corrections will be accepted.
Offprints
Twenty-five offprints will be supplied free of charge. Additional offprints and copies of the issue can be ordered at a specially reduced rate using the order form sent to the corresponding author after the manuscript has been accepted. Orders for reprints (produced after publication of an article) will incur a 50% surcharge.
Author Enquiries
For enquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission where available) please visit this journal's homepage at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/mar. You can track accepted articles at http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle and set up e-mail alerts to inform you of when an article's status has changed, as well as copyright information, frequently asked questions and more.