Submission Preflight (geb-submission)

When to trigger

• "Submitting tomorrow" — last check before pressing submit on Editorial Manager
• Unsure what Editorial Manager expects, or how to handle a prior conference version
• Confirming the 250-word abstract, elsarticle format, and AI declaration are GEB-compliant
• Preparing the cover letter

Process facts (verify volatile items on the official Guide for Authors; some are 待核实)

• GEB is published by Elsevier and is an official journal of the Game Theory Society; founded 1989 by Ehud Kalai; Editor-in-Chief Hervé Moulin (University of Glasgow) since 2021 — re-confirmed current 2026-06-22 via ScienceDirect, the Game Theory Society page, and the Elsevier editorial-board listing (re-verify the full masthead before submission, as the seven-Editor roster is volatile).
• Submission is via Elsevier Editorial Manager (linked from ScienceDirect). Editable source files (Word or LaTeX) are required for final typesetting; LaTeX uses the elsarticle template; the published citation style is elsarticle-num. At initial submission, format is flexible (any consistent style; LaTeX or Word both accepted) — strict formatting is deferred until acceptance.
• No upfront submission fee is identified (待核实 — inferred from standard Elsevier practice, not an official quote). Optional gold open access carries an Article Publishing Charge last verified at USD 2,860 excluding tax (ScienceDirect GEB listing, 2026-06-22; a 2026-06-23 independent re-audit could not re-confirm the exact figure from a second authoritative source because Elsevier now serves APCs through its personalized submission flow rather than a static public number), only for accepted papers whose authors choose OA — confirm the live amount in the submission system before relying on it, as APCs change.
• Abstract must not exceed 250 words. No fixed manuscript length/word/page limit is specified (treat as "not specified," not "confirmed absent").
• The cover letter must explain how the submission differs from any conference version — GEB receives substantial CS/EC-conference-adjacent work, so prior conference publication is common and must be disclosed and distinguished.
• Any use of generative AI/AI-assisted tools must be declared in a section titled "Declaration of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies..." (待核实 — Elsevier uses both "...in the writing process" and "...in the manuscript preparation process"; copy the exact heading from the live Guide for Authors), placed before the reference list (basic grammar/spell tools exempt).
• Review is the Editor-in-Charge model: the chief editor assigns your paper to one of seven Editors (publicly known, final authority) over anonymous Advisory Editors and referees; ~one-third desk-rejected, ~15% published (see geb-review-process).

Preflight checklist

Format & files

• Manuscript in LaTeX (elsarticle) or Word, internally consistent
• Abstract ≤ 250 words, stating the contribution and main result
• References in a single consistent style (elsarticle-num is the published target)
• Theorems/lemmas numbered; proofs complete; appendix for long derivations
• Figures/tables (game trees, payoff matrices) self-contained and print-legible
• Generative-AI declaration present before the reference list, if AI tools were used

Cover letter (GEB-specific)

• States the contribution to game theory in one or two sentences
• Explicitly explains how the paper differs from any conference version (or states there is none)
• Notes the most relevant sub-field to aid routing to an Editor in Charge
• Confirms the paper is not under review elsewhere

Declarations & data

• Conflict-of-interest / funding disclosures prepared
• Data/code sharing plan ready — encouraged, not required at GEB (see geb-replication-and-data-policy)
• Suggested/excluded referees prepared if requested (expert, fair, conflict-free)

Final content sanity

• Page-one contribution legible to a specialist Editor (see geb-contribution-framing)
• Assumptions/results/proofs audited (see geb-identification-strategy)
• No over-claiming beyond what the proofs/experiment support

Anti-patterns

• Omitting the conference-version explanation in the cover letter (a GEB-specific must)
• An abstract over 250 words
• Mixed/inconsistent reference styles at submission
• Forgetting the generative-AI declaration when AI tools were used
• Budgeting for a mandatory data archive that GEB does not require, or for a submission fee not confirmed to exist

Output format

【Format】elsarticle/Word, consistent; abstract ≤250 words? [Y/N each]
【Cover letter】contribution + conference-version statement? [Y/N each]
【AI declaration】present before references (if used)? [Y/N / NA]
【Data plan】prepared (encouraged, not required)? [Y/N]
【Declarations】COI / funding / not-under-review? [Y/N each]
【Next step】submit on Editorial Manager → await Editor-in-Charge desk decision → geb-rebuttal on R&R

Supplementary resources

• templates/cover_letter_template.md — GEB cover letter with the mandatory conference-version paragraph
• templates/checklist.md — pre-submission self-check
• ../../resources/external_tools.md — solvers, experiment platforms, and typesetting tools
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — official GEB URLs behind every fact (with 待核实 flags)