Due to the large number of submissions and the fact that appeals consume a disproportionate amount of editorial time, the JFE follows a formal policy for appeals. Because of the resources appeals consume, we require an appeal fee of $750. Effective January 4, 2022, all appeals must be initiated as new submissions. Please notify the editor-in-chief via email at jfinancialeconomics@gmail.com before you initiate an appeal. Editors will not offer preliminary assessments of the likelihood of the success of an appeal. You must submit your original, unchanged manuscript, along with an appeal document attached to the end of the pdf file containing your anonymous submission. Do NOT submit the appeal document as “Supplementary Material,” and DO NOT reveal your identity in the appeal document. Appeals in which the authors have changed any part of the original submission will be desk rejected.

The general principle has been and remains that our decisions are final. However, we recognize that there can be circumstances in which an appeal is justified. The appeal only has merit if the author can argue that material in the original manuscript, or possibly elsewhere in the literature, refutes points raised by the reviewing team that were material in the rejection decision. For example, refuting minor points in the referee report is not valid grounds for an appeal, nor are arguments that a revised version of the manuscript could address the issues that originally led to rejection. Moreover, the errors have to be mistakes concerning facts. Appeals based on subjective judgments about the contribution of the manuscript will not be considered. The editors reserve the right to desk-reject appeals based on minor points, the potential for revision, subjective assessments, or other related arguments. There will be no partial fee refunds for desk rejections of appeals.

No more than one appeal can be made every four years.

As a first step, the editor who handled the original submission will evaluate the appeal correspondence and assess the merits of the case. If the editor decides that the appeal and the authors’ arguments do not alter the decision, the editor will desk-reject the appeal, and the previous rejection becomes final. If the editor decides that a reconsideration of the decision is warranted, the manuscript will be sent to the original referees, to a new referee, or both. Based on the ensuing responses, the editor will make a final decision. No further appeal will then be considered.

Successful appeals will either be accepted outright or converted into revise-and-resubmits, with the appeal referee continuing to be assigned to the manuscript in subsequent rounds.