A comprehensive preflight checklist designed for authors submitting manuscripts to JIMF via Elsevier Editorial Manager. It ensures all structural elements—including abstract length, Highlights, JEL codes, and required declarations (Competing Interest, CRediT), and data statements—are compliant with the journal's house style, minimizing the risk of desk rejection.
"Submitting tomorrow" — last check before uploading to Elsevier Editorial Manager
Unsure which files and declarations the Elsevier submission expects
Confirming the abstract, Highlights, keywords, JEL codes, and references are JIMF/Elsevier-compliant
Confirming the Data Availability Statement, competing-interest declaration, and CRediT statement are ready
Process facts (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准 — re-confirm on the live Guide for Authors)
JIMF is an Elsevier journal (ISSN 0261-5606 print; 1873-0639 online; founded 1982), hosted on ScienceDirect. Submission is through Elsevier Editorial Manager (待核实 if the journal has moved to a newer Elsevier submission system).
No society membership and no submission fee for a standard paper; an open-access APC applies only if the author chooses gold OA (exact fee 待核实).
Peer review: single-anonymized is the Elsevier default; whether JIMF uses single- or double-anonymized review is 待核实 — confirm before deciding whether to anonymize the manuscript.
Declarations required by Elsevier: Declaration of Competing Interest, CRediT author-contribution statement, funding sources, and a Data Availability Statement.
Editors (verified 2026-06-22): Joshua Aizenman, Menzie D. Chinn, John Beirne, and Donghyun Park. Note that some aggregators (IDEAS-RePEc, older caches) still list the late James R. Lothian — that is stale; do not use it. The board is volatile, so re-verify the sitting editors on the live Elsevier board page before naming one in a cover letter.
Preflight checklist
Manuscript & front matter
Title page with all affiliations and the corresponding author
Abstract ≤250 words, factual, with the headline magnitude
Highlights (3–5 bullets, each a finding); keywords; JEL codes present
Figures and tables with self-contained notes; consistent reference style (Elsevier/author-date — 待核实 exact style)
Acronyms defined on first use (UIP, ERPT, GFCy, FXI, NEER)
Online/supplementary appendix prepared and indexed (see jimf-internet-appendix)
Substantive checks done first (identification, robustness, positioning) — this is the mechanics pass, not a content review
References complete and consistent; in-text citations all resolve in the list
Files & declarations for Editorial Manager
Main manuscript (and a blinded version if double-anonymized review is confirmed)
Highlights file, and any supplementary appendix file(s)
Data Availability Statement; data/code deposit (Mendeley Data or repository link) ready
Suggested reviewers if the journal requests them; cover letter naming the international contribution
Blinded manuscript prepared if double-anonymized review is confirmed (待核实)
OA choice decided; APC not confused with a submission fee
Cover letter
One paragraph: the international question, the design, the headline finding, and why it is JIMF (not JIE/JME/JMCB/JFE)
Confirms the paper is not under review elsewhere and is original
Does NOT name a specific editor from memory (verify the board first)
Deciding on the Econometrica/transfer and OA questions
No transfer route like the society journals: JIMF is a standalone Elsevier journal; there is no fee-waived transfer of reports from a sibling. A paper rejected elsewhere is a fresh submission here.
Open access is a choice, not a requirement. JIMF is a subscription journal with an optional gold-OA route at an APC (exact fee 待核实). Do not treat the APC as a submission fee; standard submission carries no fee.
Anonymization depends on the review model: if double-anonymized is confirmed, prepare a blinded manuscript (no author names, scrubbed acknowledgments, neutral self-citations) and a separate title page; if single-anonymized, the author-visible manuscript is fine. Confirm before deciding (待核实).
Suggested/opposed reviewers: if Editorial Manager requests them, suggest international-finance specialists in the paper's sub-program and avoid conflicts.
Final-pass desk-reject screen
Before uploading, read the paper as an editor doing a 10-minute triage: Is the international contribution unmistakable on page 1? Is the abstract under 250 words with a number? Are Highlights, keywords, and JEL present? Is the cover letter saying why JIMF and not a sibling? Is the data/code deposit attached, not promised? A "no" on any of these is a common, avoidable desk-reject and should be fixed before submission, not after.
What this preflight does not do
This is a mechanics-and-compliance check, not a content review. It confirms the file set, front matter, declarations, and house style are submission-ready; it does not judge whether the identification holds (jimf-identification), whether the result is robust (jimf-robustness), or whether the contribution is staked (jimf-literature-positioning). Run those substantive checks first; a perfectly formatted submission with a weak design wastes a review cycle. The preflight's value is catching the avoidable rejections — missing Highlights, an over-long abstract, an absent data statement, a cover letter that never says why JIMF.
Anti-patterns
Uploading without Highlights, keywords, or JEL codes — a visible Elsevier-compliance gap
An abstract over 250 words or with undefined acronyms
Missing the Declaration of Competing Interest, CRediT statement, or Data Availability Statement
A cover letter that does not say why the paper is international money and finance specifically
Naming a current editor from memory when the board page is the source of truth
Treating the data/code deposit as a post-acceptance task instead of attaching it now
Output format
【Front matter】abstract ≤250w + Highlights + keywords + JEL? [Y/N]
【Declarations】competing interest + CRediT + funding + data statement? [Y/N]
【Files】manuscript (+ blinded if needed) + Highlights + appendix + deposit ready? [Y/N]
【Cover letter】states the international contribution; no editor named from memory? [Y/N]
【Review model】single/double-anonymized confirmed? [Y/N / 待核实]
【Source check】Elsevier process facts verified / 待核实 / 检索于 2026-06
【Next step】submit via Editorial Manager → jimf-referee-strategy for what to expect
