---
name: car-submission
description: Use when running the final pre-submission preflight for a Contemporary Accounting Research (CAR) manuscript — Editorial Manager files (blind manuscript, separate title page, author declaration, ethics-approval verification, proof of payment), the $250/$600 submission fee, length/abstract limits, and the Data Integrity items collected at submission. Checks readiness to submit; it does not handle the post-decision response (car-rebuttal).
---

# Pre-Submission Preflight (car-submission)

## When to trigger

- "We're submitting this week" — the last check before Editorial Manager
- Unsure which files CAR's portal requires or what the submission fee is
- Need to confirm the manuscript is blind and the title page is separate
- Verifying length, abstract, and Data Integrity items before upload

> Always re-verify current limits, fees, and required files on the official CAAA/CAR author-guideline pages and the CAR Style Guide before submitting — specifics change. As of 2026-06-01 the verified key specs are below.

## Verified CAR specs (confirm current values)

- **Submission system:** Editorial Manager (EM) at **editorialmanager.com/car**.
- **Submission fee:** **CA/US $250 for CAAA members, CA/US $600 for non-members** (Canadian funds in Canada, US funds elsewhere), paid by Visa or Mastercard; upload the receipt. Reviewer-earned **fee waivers** are uploaded as proof of payment. **Invited revisions pay no further fee.** Desk-rejected manuscripts on/after Apr 1, 2021 get a **50% refund**; otherwise non-refundable; no refund where a waiver was used.
- **Length:** **50 pages overall**, with a **30-page main-text maximum** (12-pt, double-spaced, 8.5"×11", 1-inch margins); the limit **excludes** title page, abstract, and references. Qualitative papers may modestly exceed the 30-page main-text guideline if the 50-page overall limit holds; overflow goes to an **online-only supplementary appendix**. Word or LaTeX; submit in Word or PDF.
- **Abstract:** **≤ 300 words** on an abstract page beginning the manuscript (question/importance, predictions, method, findings, implications) + **up to six keywords**. (CAAA translates the abstract into **French** for publication.)
- **Style:** footnotes (not endnotes); references on a new page in author-date style; each exhibit on a new page; accepted papers conform to the **CAR Style Guide**.

## Required Editorial Manager files

- [ ] **Blind original manuscript** — no author names, affiliations, or "our prior work" phrasing; file metadata and file name scrubbed of identifiers
- [ ] **Separate title page** — author names/affiliations, corresponding-author contact, acknowledgements, and the **data availability statement** (required if the paper uses data)
- [ ] **Author declaration form** — signed by all authors, including the **overlap-disclosure** of shared data/sites/materials/participants/modeling with any other paper
- [ ] **Ethics-approval verification** — for any human participants: institutional REB/IRB clearance, an REB-issued exemption, or a senior-administrator letter (a bare assertion is not accepted)
- [ ] **Proof of payment** (or fee-waiver document)
- [ ] Optional: cover letter, research instrument, related research article(s)

## Data Integrity items collected at submission (in EM)

- [ ] (1) Description of how data were acquired/produced and their sources; full instrument attached for surveys/experiments
- [ ] (2) For proprietary organizational data: agreement to provide a credible verification means on editor request; any NDA restrictions disclosed
- [ ] (3) Disclosure of which authors had data access and ran the analyses
- [ ] Any exception request to the policy attached to this initial submission (EIC-approved only in exceptional cases)

## Declarations & policy

- [ ] **Generative-AI** use declared and described in Methods (grammar/reference tools exempt)
- [ ] CAR Conference acknowledgement footnote added if the paper was presented there
- [ ] Conference/working-paper versions and any concurrent submission status disclosed
- [ ] Hypothesis labels, construct names, and table/figure numbers consistent throughout

## Anti-patterns

- Uploading a manuscript with author identifiers or "in our 2021 study" intact.
- Forgetting the submission fee/receipt, or assuming non-members pay the member rate.
- Asserting ethics approval instead of uploading documented REB/IRB verification.
- Letting main text exceed 30 pages (or the paper exceed 50) instead of using the online appendix.

## Output format

```
【System & fee】EM; $250 member / $600 non-member; receipt or waiver uploaded?
【Blind manuscript & title page】separate, scrubbed?
【Author declaration】signed; overlap disclosed?
【Ethics verification】REB/IRB clearance/exemption/letter uploaded?
【Data Integrity items 1-3】in EM; instrument attached?
【Length/abstract/style】30/50 pages; ≤300 words; footnotes; author-date refs ...
【Next step】await decision → car-review-process; on R&R → car-rebuttal
```

## Resources

- [`../../resources/external_tools.md`](../../resources/external_tools.md) — accounting-research data sources and analysis software
- [`../../resources/official-source-map.md`](../../resources/official-source-map.md) — official CAAA/CAR URLs behind every verified fact (accessed 2026-06-01)