Get your Contemporary Accounting Research paper right the first time: a ready-made structure with the right abstract and citations, so editors see your science, not formatting slips.
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Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 7 August, 2026
Submitting to Contemporary Accounting Research goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Contemporary Accounting Research guide for authors before peer review, so formatting, structure, and required statements should be right on the first draft rather than repaired during upload. This template sets that structure up for you.
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Contemporary Accounting Research. It covers front matter, the abstract the journal expects, a body organized to the journal's article types, and a reference list in the journal's required style. Confirm current scope and article types on the Contemporary Accounting Research journal page before you draft.
Prepare the title, authors, affiliations, and ORCID iDs. Write the abstract to the journal's rule and word limit, organize the body to the article type, and apply the required reference style from the first citation. Complete every declaration (ethics, competing interests, funding, data availability) the Contemporary Accounting Research guide for authors lists, and cite figures and tables in order.
The common failure modes are formatting or reference style that does not match the guide for authors, missing required statements, and an incomplete portal checklist. Clear all three against the Contemporary Accounting Research guide for authors before you submit.
The shell mirrors what editorial staff check first: article-type fit, the abstract rules, required declarations, and the journal's reference style. For more detail see the author resources. When your draft is ready, upload it through Editorial Manager.
| Element | Contemporary Accounting Res requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Unstructured abstract of not more than 300 words. The abstract should include the: research question and why it is important, predictions (if applicable), research method(s) employed, principal findings and their key implications. The abstract must reflect fully the contribution of the paper and be easy for a non-expert to understand |
| Main text | Maximum of 30 pages of main text (12-point font, double-spaced, formatted for 8 1/2" x 11" paper with 1-inch margins on all sides). Overall page limit of 50 pages (excludes the title page, abstract, and references). Papers can occasionally exceed the 30 pages of main text guideline (especially for qualitative research papers), provided the overall page limit of 50 pages is maintained |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | Up to six keywords, to aid in indexing |
| References | Modified version of the author-date style in The Chicago Manual of Style. In-text citations use name and year in parentheses (e.g., Author 2024). URLs should be included for all sources, and DOIs should be provided in URL format |
| Peer review | Double-blind (double-anonymous). The manuscript file must be blind (no author-identifying information), and the title page should be produced in a separate file to allow creation of the blind copy for peer review |
| Submission | www.editorialmanager.com/car/ |
Read the Contemporary Accounting Research guide for authors once before drafting and once before upload. Draft the abstract after results are stable. Set the reference style before adding citations. Keep a cover letter that states your contribution and fit to Contemporary Accounting Research in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Contemporary Accounting Res papers to calibrate depth and figure style. Make the novelty clear in the first two pages. Deposit data and code when the policy on the Contemporary Accounting Research journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Contemporary Accounting Research guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through Editorial Manager.