Pre-Submission Preflight (tar-submission)

When to trigger

• "We're submitting this week" — the last check before hitting submit on Editorial Manager
• Unsure what TAR requires (anonymized manuscript, AI disclosure, ORCID, COI, code/data)
• Verifying double-blind anonymization is complete in both file and prose
• Confirming you are within the per-author submission cap and the byline cap

Always re-verify current limits, the fee, and required files on the official TAR Editorial Policy, Guide for Authors, and the AAA Manuscript Preparation Guide before submitting — specifics change. As of 2026-06-01 the verified key specs are below; the fee and roster are flagged 待核实.

Verified TAR/AAA specs (confirm current values)

• Submission portal: Editorial Manager at editorialmanager.com/accr.
• Length: initial submissions should not exceed 55 pages, including references, figures, tables, and appendices.
• Format: 12-pt Times New Roman, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, serially numbered pages.
• Abstract: no more than 150 words, beginning the article file.
• AI disclosure statement: required — tools used, extent, and reasons — placed immediately after the abstract and before the body; must be updated on resubmission.
• Style: The Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.) for citations/references; Webster's Collegiate Dictionary for spelling.
• Review: double-blind — an editor plus a minimum of two reviewers; anonymity of authors and reviewers is a critical goal (among AAA journals, only the Journal of Financial Reporting is single-blind).
• ORCID: required for all authors.
• Conflict of Interest form: completed COI form (each author) at submission.
• Plagiarism screening: applied to all manuscripts.
• Submission caps: an individual author is limited to eight (8) first-round submissions over a rolling 24-month period (R&R papers do not count); no more than 10 authors on the byline.
• Fee (verified 2026-06-22): non-refundable submission fee of $285 AAA members / $680 non-members per the current Guide for Authors, paid via the AAA portal at submission (this is separate from the optional open-access Article Publishing Charge) — re-confirm the current amount before submitting.
• IRB: human-subjects documentation required for experimental/survey work.
• Data authenticity: code/data package per data type (see below) is part of submission.

Pre-submission checklist

Anonymization (double-blind)

• Manuscript file has no author names, affiliations, or acknowledgments
• Self-citations are third-person ("prior research (Author 2020)"), not "our earlier work"
• Acknowledgments, funding, and data-provider thanks are removed from the manuscript body
• File metadata/properties and file names scrubbed of author/institution identity

Format & front matter (AAA Manuscript Preparation Guide)

• Abstract ≤ 150 words begins the article file
• AI disclosure statement placed immediately after the abstract, before the body
• Chicago (16th ed.) citations and reference list; spelling per Webster's
• 12-pt Times New Roman, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, serially numbered pages
• Initial submission ≤ 55 pages including references, tables, figures, appendices

Data authenticity & code access (by data type)

• Public databases: precise data description + processing computer code prepared
• Abstracted public data: abstraction methodology + code prepared
• Privately collected data: sufficient detail / corroborating third parties documented
• Variable-definitions appendix and reproducible sample-selection steps included

Forms, ethics & caps

• ORCID linked for every author
• Conflict of Interest form completed for each author
• IRB/human-subjects documentation ready (experiments/surveys)
• Within the 8 first-round submissions / 24-month per-author cap
• ≤ 10 authors on the byline
• No concurrent submission; prior working-paper/conference versions disclosed

References & consistency

• Every in-text citation appears in the reference list and vice versa
• Hypothesis/prediction labels, variable names, and table/figure numbers consistent throughout

Editorial Manager operation notes

• Create/keep your Editorial Manager account and ORCID current; upload files into the slots the system designates and preview the built PDF before final submission.
• Select the article type and the keywords/area that route the paper to a fitting editor (a single Senior Editor oversees the process, with Lead Editors assigning editors and handling desk rejections; Ad hoc Editors cover specialized topics/methods).
• Pay the submission fee through the AAA portal at submission.

Anti-patterns

• Self-identifying language ("in our 2019 study") left intact, defeating double-blind review.
• AI disclosure missing or placed in the wrong location (it must follow the abstract).
• Reference list in APA or a reference-manager default rather than Chicago (16th ed.).
• No processing code prepared, violating the data-authenticity policy.
• Exceeding 55 pages by forgetting references/tables/figures/appendices count toward it.
• Submitting past the 8-in-24-months cap or with more than 10 authors.

Output format

【Anonymization】pass / fix: ...
【Format & front matter】abstract ≤150 / AI disclosure placed / Chicago refs: pass / fix ...
【Data authenticity】public-db / abstracted / private — code & description ready? yes/no
【Forms & caps】ORCID / COI / IRB / 8-in-24 / ≤10 authors: complete? ...
【Fee】paid via AAA portal? (amount 待核实)
【Article type & routing】selected ...
【Next step】await decision → tar-review-process; on R&R → tar-rebuttal

Resources

• ../../resources/external_tools.md — accounting data sources, archival/analytical software, and the data-authenticity package
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — official AAA/TAR URLs behind every verified fact (accessed 2026-06-01)