Financial Planning Research Journal

Open Access Statement

The journal is an Open Access journal that allows free unlimited access to all its contents without any restrictions upon publication to all users.

Article Processing Charge (APC)

There is no article processing charge for articles accepted for publication in this journal.

Instructions for Authors

Authors should submit complete papers that do not exceed 5,000 words not including the title page, abstract, tables, figures, charts, footnotes and reference list. The word count must be stated on the title page. Papers should be original works that are not published or under review at another journal. Please submit your manuscript using the Editorial Manager.

Note: The journal does not have article processing charges (APCs) nor article submission charges. Authors are advised that if submitted papers are accepted for publication in FPRJ, then the authors will be required to complete a copyright assignment form.

Authors may also be requested to provide a 600-word synopsis of the paper for publication in Money & Life magazine.

Other submission requirements:

As the journal uses double-blind peer review, you will need to upload a blind manuscript as your main file – it is important that this file does not include any identifying information of the authors or affiliated institutions. It should include the title of your paper at the top of the first page.

Other documents for upload include:

1. Title page: this should include a concise and informative title; the names and affiliations of all authors; the name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address of the author (or corresponding author, if more than one author); word count; and any acknowledgments to those who assisted the authors, in a footnote asterisked to the title.
2. Abstract (not more than 100 words): this should highlight the paper’s relevance to financial planning, followed by up to five keywords. Do not include any author details.
3. Separate files for tables and figures: these must be labelled (e.g. Table 1) according to the order that they are to be presented in the manuscript.

The Editorial Manager system will ask you to enter all author information, including author affiliation. You will need to add all co-authors when you submit your manuscript to ensure they are fully acknowledged in the published article. Your abstract can be copied and pasted from your abstract file into the abstract box. Keywords can be single words or phrases and they need to be separated with a semicolon.

Once you have answered all questions and uploaded all the files, you need to click the “Build PDF for Approval” button and check your online submission. When you are happy with this proof, you can submit your paper and you will receive a confirmation.

Once submitted you cannot change your manuscript. You will have to contact the journal’s editorial team. If your manuscript is accepted and a revision is required, this will be handled through the online portal. The corresponding author will receive email alerts after online submission and be directed to log back into Editorial Manager to provide extra information or files. You can also contact the Editor through the system.

Formatting of documents

Manuscripts should be submitted in Microsoft Word format, use 1.5 spacing, A4 paper size, 11-point Arial font, 2.5 cm margins on all sides, and be left-aligned (not justified). Number all pages consecutively, beginning with the first page of the main manuscript.

Non-English words, such as et al., ex-post, ad hoc, per capita, Zeitgeist, or au fait, should be italicised.

Full stops and question marks should be followed by a single space.

Tables and figures should be located at the end of the article or uploaded as separate documents. Make it clear where tables are to be inserted in the text, for example, (Table 1 here).

The preferred referencing style is based on the Australian Government Publishing Service (AGPS) Harvard referencing system, which utilises an author-date style. Some examples of in-text and reference list elements are outlined below as a guide.

1. In-text citations

In-text citations Ideas and work referenced from other sources are indicated by placing the author’s surname and the date of publication in brackets. If possible, you should also give the page number. When an author has published more than one cited document in the same year, these are distinguished by adding lower case letters (a, b, c, etc.) to the year. For example, Jones (2010a) discussed the subject...

• Single author examples: Teachers help each student with their individual interpretation of understanding (Fetherston 2007, p. 61).
  
  Fetherston (2007, p. 61) claims that teachers ‘suggest ways of looking at the new material’.
  
• Two or three authors examples: The advantages of using proxy mode... (Kakadia & DiMambro 2004, p. 80).
  
  Douglas, Papadopoulos and Boutelle (2009, p. 11) dispute the claim...
  
• More than three authors examples: Industry best practice (Beer et al. 2012, p. 54) suggests that...
  
  Beer et al. (2012, p. 54), when discussing industry best practice...

2. Reference list

Place the reference list on a new page at the end of your paper and centre the heading of “References”. List references alphabetically A-Z by first author’s surname. List works with no author under the first significant word of the title and list multiple works by the same author from oldest to newest by date. Add a lower-case letter immediately after the year for multiple works by the same author in the same year, for example, (2000a, 2000b, 2000c).

Examples:

• Book—print: Fetherston, T 2007, Becoming an effective teacher, Thomson Learning, South Melbourne.
• Book chapter—print: Sherren, K 2006, ‘Pillars of society: the historical context for sustainability and higher education in Australia’, in W Filho & D Carpenter (eds), Sustainability in the Australasian university context, Peter Lang, Frankfurt, pp. 11- 32.
• Journal article—print: Leonard, V & LeBrasseur, R 2008, ‘Individual assignments and academic dishonesty: exploring the conundrum’, The Australian Educational Researcher, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 37-56.
• Web page: National Library of Australia 2010, About the National Library, National Library of Australia, viewed 30 March 2010, http://www.nla.gov.au.

Peer review process

Articles will be submitted to a double-blind review process by experts in the respective field.

Each submission is acknowledged by the editorial team before pre-selection where the editorial team chooses to either reject the article or to send it to the reviewers for a thorough review. The grounds for immediate dismissal (desk rejection) of a manuscript include poor English expression, plagiarism, or the article being outside scope of journal.

If the article passes pre-selection, then it is sent for peer-review to two experts in the respective field. This stage is expected to take 4-8 weeks, depending on the availability of reviewers. The final decision of the peer-review process includes one of the following:

Accepted with no changes – When the paper satisfies all requirements regarding originality, literature, methodology, theory, contribution to the field, and overall quality.

Accepted with minor changes – Where the paper in its present form, with minor amendments is suitable for publication. The corresponding author receives the decision followed by the suggestions of the peer reviewers and is asked to resubmit their paper after the minor amendments have been addressed.

Accepted with major changes – This indicates the paper shows potential for satisfying the requirements of the journal but needs further elaborate work. The corresponding author will receive the reviewer recommendations and is encouraged to revise the paper in accordance with the reviewer recommendations.

Rejected – These papers have major concerns over the quality of the material presented in the paper and the reviewers consider the paper is not able to be improved to a standard suitable for publication in FPRJ.

Where revisions are required, authors are expected to resubmit their amended papers within a reasonable timeframe as indicated by the revisions required. For example, minor revisions would be expected within 4-6 weeks while major revisions may require longer.

Where major revisions are required, articles may be returned to reviewers for further review and comment. After a second review of the corrected manuscript, a final decision is sent to the corresponding author.

The editors will consult with authors as closely as possible about changes and will make the final decision regarding acceptance of an article for publication.