Review Process (jcf-review-process)

When to trigger

• Setting expectations for what happens after you submit
• Deciding how to handle the single-anonymized model and required declarations
• Planning for the desk-rejection screen and the reviewer round

How JCF review works (verified; re-confirm on the official guide)

• Single anonymized (single-blind) peer review. Reviewers see the authors' identities; authors do not see reviewers. There is no double-blind anonymization to perform — do not strip your name and affiliation.
• Suitable submissions are sent to a minimum of two independent reviewers.
• An active desk-rejection policy rejects a non-trivial fraction of papers without full review to reduce reviewer burden — the editor screen is real and fast.
• A competing-interest declaration is required via Elsevier's declarations tool, and a generative-AI disclosure is required at submission.

Implications for strategy

• Because review is single-anonymized, your reputation and prior work are visible — frame self-citations naturally, but do not assume name recognition substitutes for a clean design.
• Clearing the desk screen depends on a legible contribution and credible identification on page one (see jcf-contribution-framing, jcf-identification-strategy). Expect scrutiny of whether the paper is truly corporate finance and whether the mechanism is first-order.
• Two reviewers means two independent sets of demands at R&R — anticipate divergent asks (see jcf-rebuttal).

Pre-submission checklist

• [ ] Manuscript is not anonymized (single-blind — author identity expected)
• [ ] Competing-interest declaration and generative-AI disclosure prepared
• [ ] Contribution and identification legible up front (desk-screen ready)
• [ ] US$340 fee ready (paid at submission; see jcf-submission)

Desk-rejection patterns at this venue

The active desk screen filters predictable failure modes. Audit against each:

Pattern                                     | Why the JCF desk stops it
No firm decision at the center              | Reads as an asset-pricing / macro / accounting misroute
OLS-with-controls on an endogenous choice   | Identification bar unmet for empirical corporate finance
Contribution invisible on page one          | The editor screens fast; buried novelty is no novelty
Stale question, no new wedge                | A larger sample alone does not move a conversation
Mechanical replication on a new country     | Needs institutional variation doing real work
Scope mismatch with the JCF remit           | Even good papers get routed elsewhere

A desk rejection here is a routing-and-legibility verdict, not a referee report — fix framing or venue choice, not necessarily the analysis.

Reading the decision letter

• Desk reject with a scope sentence → re-aim the venue; the analysis was likely never evaluated.
• Desk reject citing identification → the design is visibly below the bar; rebuild before resubmitting anywhere comparable.
• R&R where the editor names two or three priorities → those outrank every reviewer point; structure the revision around them.
• Reviewer reports of very different depth → the editor weighs the thorough one; do not over-invest in the cursory report's minor points.
• "Major revision" demanding a redesign → decide early whether the redesigned paper is still your paper; a scope reply (see jcf-rebuttal) beats a grudging redesign.

Timing expectations (plan, do not rely)

Elsevier publishes journal-level speed metrics on the JCF homepage; they vary year to year, so confirm against the journal's current author guidelines rather than hallway numbers. Planning heuristics: budget for the desk screen to resolve quickly relative to full review; assume a complete round with two-plus reviewers takes meaningfully longer; never hang a hard deadline (job market, tenure file) on a single round resolving fast. The US$340 fee is sunk per submission — a premature submission that draws an avoidable desk rejection costs both the fee and the cleanest first impression at this venue.

Anti-patterns

• Double-blind anonymizing a single-anonymized submission.
• Assuming a desk decision means a thorough review — it often does not.
• Skipping the required declarations and stalling the submission.

Output

【Model】single-anonymized — author identity shown? [confirmed]
【Declarations】competing-interest + AI disclosure ready? [Y/N]
【Desk-screen】contribution + ID legible up front? [Y/N]
【Reviewers】expect ≥2 independent → plan divergent R&R