A Researcher-Focused Profile of the Journal
The Journal of Accounting and Economics is a specialist research journal for work that uses economics to explain accounting questions. Elsevier’s official aims and scope emphasize accounting within firms, the information role of accounting numbers in capital markets, financial contracting and agency relationships, accounting standards, disclosure regulation, and the economics of the accounting profession. That orientation matters: a paper can be about accounting yet still be poorly matched if its research question and contribution are not framed through a rigorous economic lens.
The journal is indexed in Scopus and the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), and its current ScienceDirect pages display a 2026-visible CiteScore of 11.7 and Impact Factor of 6.8. These metrics are useful signals of scholarly visibility, but they change by reporting year. Authors should always confirm live values in the relevant database when a university, PhD, promotion or funding policy requires a specific quartile or metric.
Quick Answer: What Is Journal of Accounting and Economics?
It is a peer-reviewed Elsevier journal, published under the North-Holland imprint, that concentrates on economic analysis of accounting problems. It is a current Scopus source (Source ID 29838) and is also listed by Elsevier as indexed in SSCI.
Researchers should consider it when their manuscript makes a substantial accounting contribution through economic theory, archival/empirical analysis, contracting, capital-market research or another rigorous economics-based approach. Before submission, verify the latest author instructions, live Scopus profile, fee information and current journal metrics.
Key Takeaways
- Publisher: Elsevier; the journal page identifies North-Holland as the imprint.
- Identifiers: Print ISSN 0165-4101; online ISSN 1879-1980; Scopus Source ID 29838.
- Core focus: economics-based analysis of accounting phenomena rather than accounting topics in the broadest sense.
- Indexing: Elsevier lists Scopus and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), plus SJR and SNIP services.
- Current metrics: ScienceDirect pages indexed in 2026 display CiteScore 11.7 and Impact Factor 6.8; 2025 SCImago data lists SJR 8.748 and Q1.
- Publishing model: hybrid—subscription publication or optional open access; the current listed OA APC is USD 4,180 excluding taxes.
- Editorial timing: Elsevier currently reports 3 days to first decision, 41 days to decision after review, 626 days to acceptance, and 7 days from acceptance to online publication.
| Field | Journal information |
|---|---|
| Journal name | Journal of Accounting and Economics |
| Abbreviation | Commonly JAE; verify citation abbreviation in your database/style |
| Source type | Scholarly journal |
| Scopus Source ID | 29838 |
| Print ISSN | 0165-4101 |
| Online ISSN | 1879-1980 |
| Publisher / imprint | Elsevier / North-Holland |
| Country in ISSN record | Netherlands |
| Language | English |
| Publication pattern | Elsevier Shop lists 2 volumes and 6 issues annually |
| Scopus status | Listed by Elsevier as indexed in Scopus; Source ID 29838 |
| Web of Science | Elsevier lists Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) |
| CiteScore | 11.7 displayed on ScienceDirect pages indexed in 2026 |
| Impact Factor | 6.8 displayed on ScienceDirect pages indexed in 2026 |
| SJR / quartile | 2025 SJR 8.748; Q1 in SCImago data |
| SNIP | Indexed as a metric source by Elsevier; verify the current numeric value in Scopus |
| Open access | Hybrid / supports open access |
| Open-access APC | USD 4,180 excluding taxes, as currently listed by Elsevier |
| Subscription publication fee | Elsevier states no publication fee for the subscription route |
| Official website | ScienceDirect journal page |
| Scopus profile | Scopus Source ID 29838 |
| Submission portal | Editorial Manager |
What This Page Covers
- Aims and scope
- Scopus and SSCI indexing
- CiteScore, Impact Factor and SJR
- Article and topic fit
- Open access and fees
- Submission planning
- Peer-review transparency
- Publication ethics
- Journal-fit examples
Journal Selection and Submission Guide
What the Journal Publishes and Why Its Economic Orientation Matters
The journal is not simply a general outlet for any accounting manuscript. Its defining feature is the use of economic reasoning to explain accounting phenomena. Officially identified subject areas include accounting, finance, and economics and econometrics, but the accounting question remains central.
Recent issues show research on disclosure, governance, tax, innovation, financial reporting, investor information and regulation. The presence of finance or economics does not make a manuscript suitable by itself; the paper should make clear what accounting mechanism, information problem, contracting issue or institutional feature is being explained.
Journal of Accounting and Economics Aims and Scope
Elsevier describes the journal as a forum for high-quality manuscripts that apply economic analysis to accounting problems. The official scope specifically includes accounting’s role within the firm, the information content and capital-market role of accounting numbers, accounting in financial contracts and agency monitoring, the determination of accounting standards, regulation of corporate disclosure and the accounting profession, and the theory of the accounting firm.
Strongly aligned themes
Capital-market consequences of accounting information; contracting and incentives; disclosure and regulation; standard setting; corporate governance where accounting information is central; tax and reporting interactions; economic analysis of auditing or the accounting profession.
Potentially weak fit
Purely descriptive accounting studies without an economic contribution, pedagogical accounting papers, practitioner guidance, general management research with incidental accounting variables, or technical finance work without a clear accounting question.
For researchers evaluating fit, the best practical test is to read several recent papers and identify whether your research question, mechanism, evidence and contribution would be intelligible to the same audience. Do not force a citation strategy or change terminology merely to imitate published papers.
Understanding Its Scopus Coverage and Journal Metrics
Elsevier lists the journal in Scopus and the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). The supplied Scopus Source ID is 29838. The ISSN Portal confirms the online ISSN 1879-1980 and ISSN-L 0165-4101, helping researchers distinguish the correct title record.
| Indicator | Value / status | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| CiteScore | 11.7 on ScienceDirect pages indexed in 2026 | Use the live Scopus source profile for institutional reporting. |
| Impact Factor | 6.8 on ScienceDirect pages indexed in 2026 | Confirm the latest JCR year in Clarivate if a formal JIF requirement applies. |
| SJR | 8.748 for 2025 in SCImago | SCImago ranks the journal Q1; category placement should be read with the year. |
| Scopus | Indexed; Source ID 29838 | Verify current source status directly before submission if required. |
| SSCI | Listed by Elsevier | Confirm current Master Journal List status for formal evaluation. |
A journal’s quartile can vary by category and year. Avoid writing “JAE is Q1” without a date or category when the exact classification matters. A stronger statement is that SCImago’s 2025 data lists the journal in Q1, while current Scopus percentile/quartile details should be taken from the live Scopus profile.
Who Should Consider Submitting?
JAE is most plausible for researchers whose manuscripts combine a meaningful accounting question with rigorous economics-based reasoning and credible evidence. PhD scholars, faculty researchers and interdisciplinary teams may all be appropriate authors; career stage is less important than the research contribution.
- Your core research question is recognizably accounting-focused.
- You explain an economic mechanism rather than only document a correlation.
- Your design can support the causal, descriptive or theoretical claims you make.
- Your contribution is distinguishable from closely related work in accounting, finance and economics.
- The paper speaks to an audience that reads current JAE research.
- You can comply with current reporting, disclosure, data and ethics expectations.
A practical journal-fit test
Compare your abstract with five to ten recent JAE abstracts. Ask whether the problem, theoretical logic, empirical setting and contribution are of the same scholarly type—even if the exact topic is new. Novelty is valuable; being unrelated to the journal’s intellectual conversation is not.
Preparing and Submitting a Manuscript
Submissions are made electronically through Elsevier’s Editorial Manager portal. Because the full current Guide for Authors was not reliably retrievable in this research pass, this page does not invent word limits, anonymization rules, abstract limits or mandatory file types. Authors should treat the live Guide for Authors and the submission portal as the controlling instructions.
Before opening the submission system
- Confirm the paper is within the official aims and scope.
- Read recent JAE papers close to your topic and method.
- Download or open the current Guide for Authors from the journal page.
- Identify the correct manuscript/article type shown in Editorial Manager.
- Prepare the title page, manuscript, figures, tables, disclosures and supplementary items exactly as requested.
- Check references, data statements, funding, conflicts of interest and authorship information.
- Verify any submission fee displayed by the live system before payment.
Manuscript preparation priorities
Even when formatting is technically correct, a JAE-oriented manuscript needs a sharply stated accounting question, an economic explanation for why the phenomenon occurs, a defensible research design and a contribution that matters to the journal’s readership. As a publication-readiness step, make the abstract self-contained, define the economic mechanism early, separate results from interpretation, and ensure conclusions do not exceed the evidence.
References and language
Do not infer a reference style from a third-party template. Use the journal’s current author instructions and recent published articles to verify formatting. The publication language is English. Clear academic English helps reviewers evaluate the research, but language editing cannot compensate for weak theory, unsupported identification or a poor scope match.
What Happens After You Submit a Manuscript?
Elsevier’s current journal insights provide useful timing indicators but do not publicly expose every editorial step. The journal’s articles in press are identified as accepted, peer-reviewed articles, confirming external scholarly review as part of publication. However, the specific current anonymity model was not verified from an authoritative accessible page, so this guide does not label the process single- or double-anonymized.
Elsevier currently reports 3 days to first decision, 41 days to decision after review, 626 days from submission to acceptance, and 7 days from acceptance to online publication. These figures are historical journal-level indicators. An individual paper may take substantially more or less time depending on editorial screening, reviewer availability and revision cycles.
Common reasons a manuscript may be unsuitable
The following are practical publication-readiness considerations, not official rejection statistics: weak alignment with the economics-based scope; an unclear incremental contribution; insufficient research-design credibility; claims that exceed the data; failure to engage the relevant accounting literature; poor disclosure of methods or conflicts; or non-compliance with submission instructions.
Open Access, APCs and Other Fees
JAE is a hybrid journal. Elsevier offers an open-access route and a subscription route. The official journal page currently lists an open-access APC of USD 4,180 excluding taxes, with possible reductions during submission where applicable. For the subscription route, Elsevier states that no publication fee is charged to authors and access is provided to subscribers.
A general current submission-fee amount was not verified from the official author guide accessible in this research. A 2026 JAE conference call listed a USD 650 fee for conference submissions, but conference rules can differ from regular submissions. Authors should confirm the amount shown in the live Editorial Manager workflow. APCs, institutional agreements, tax treatment and discounts can change.
Publication Ethics, Disclosure and Generative AI
Authors should follow Elsevier’s current publishing ethics and author policies as well as any journal-specific instructions. Core expectations include original work, no simultaneous duplicate submission, accurate authorship, appropriate disclosure of conflicts and funding, and no fabrication, falsification or misleading manipulation of research materials.
Generative-AI requirements are publisher-policy sensitive and can change. Do not list an AI tool as an author. Before submission, review Elsevier’s current AI and author policies for disclosure, responsibility and confidentiality requirements. Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality and integrity of their manuscript.
Need a journal-aligned manuscript review?
Contentxprtz can help improve clarity, structure, formatting and publication readiness while all editorial decisions remain with the journal.
Practical Journal-Fit Examples
Accounting disclosure and capital markets
A researcher studies how a disclosure rule changes investor information and market outcomes using a credible identification strategy. This aligns closely with the journal’s stated interest in accounting numbers, capital markets and disclosure regulation.
Corporate finance with incidental accounting data
A finance study uses accounting variables only as controls. Unless it establishes a substantive accounting phenomenon or mechanism, the paper may fit a finance outlet better.
Accounting classroom intervention
A teaching-method study may be rigorous but does not naturally match JAE’s economics-based accounting research scope. An accounting-education journal would likely be more aligned.
Two additional scenarios
Standard-setting study: a paper examining economic consequences of a new accounting standard may be promising if it explains the mechanism, identifies credible evidence and contributes beyond documenting before/after differences. ESL manuscript: a strong empirical paper with unclear prose may benefit from language editing, but editing should preserve the author’s meaning and cannot substitute for methodological quality.
Pre-Submission Checklist for Journal of Accounting and Economics
- Correct journal identity verified with ISSNs 0165-4101 / 1879-1980 and Scopus Source ID 29838.
- Official aims and scope reviewed on ScienceDirect.
- At least several recent JAE papers compared for topic, theory and method fit.
- Current Scopus and JCR metrics rechecked if needed for institutional rules.
- Current Guide for Authors reviewed rather than relying on old templates.
- Article type selected from the live submission system.
- Title, abstract and contribution clearly explain the accounting problem and economic mechanism.
- Research design, robustness and limitations are transparent.
- References and in-text citations are internally consistent.
- Funding, conflicts, authorship and data disclosures are complete where required.
- Current submission fee and/or APC verified before payment.
- Final files checked for accidental author-identifying information if the live guide requires anonymization.
How Contentxprtz Can Support Publication Readiness
Contentxprtz can support researchers preparing manuscripts for journals such as JAE through journal publication support, manuscript assessment, academic editing, proofreading, language polishing, journal formatting, reference consistency review, cover-letter editing and reviewer-response editing.
The purpose of this support is to help authors present their own research more clearly, accurately and ethically. Contentxprtz does not control reviewers or editors and does not guarantee acceptance, publication, indexing outcomes, citation counts or any journal metric result.
Summary: Journal of Accounting and Economics
Journal of Accounting and Economics is an Elsevier/North-Holland journal for economics-based accounting research. It is listed by Elsevier in Scopus and SSCI, with Scopus Source ID 29838, print ISSN 0165-4101 and online ISSN 1879-1980. Current ScienceDirect pages indexed in 2026 display a CiteScore of 11.7 and Impact Factor of 6.8; SCImago’s 2025 data lists SJR 8.748 and Q1.
The journal supports both subscription and open-access publication. Elsevier currently lists an OA APC of USD 4,180 excluding taxes. Researchers should verify the live author guide, current indexing, fees and submission requirements before submitting, and should prioritize scope, contribution and methodological fit over rankings alone.
Journal of Accounting and Economics FAQs
These answers separate verified journal facts from practical author guidance and flag information that should be rechecked before submission.
What is the Journal of Accounting and Economics?
The Journal of Accounting and Economics is a specialist scholarly journal published by Elsevier under the North-Holland imprint. Its official scope emphasizes economic analysis of accounting phenomena, including accounting inside firms, capital-market information, contracting and agency relationships, standard setting, disclosure regulation and the economics of the accounting profession.
Who publishes the Journal of Accounting and Economics?
Elsevier publishes the journal, and the journal information page identifies North-Holland as the imprint. The journal has print ISSN 0165-4101 and online ISSN 1879-1980.
Is the Journal of Accounting and Economics indexed in Scopus?
Yes. Elsevier lists Scopus among the journal’s abstracting and indexing services. The supplied Scopus Source ID is 29838. Researchers should still verify the live Scopus source profile when indexing status is required for a university, promotion or funding rule.
What is the Scopus Source ID for the Journal of Accounting and Economics?
The Scopus Source ID supplied for this journal is 29838. Use the identifier together with the ISSN and publisher to avoid confusing it with similarly named accounting journals.
What are the current Journal of Accounting and Economics metrics?
Current ScienceDirect pages indexed in 2026 display a CiteScore of 11.7 and an Impact Factor of 6.8. SCImago’s 2025 data lists an SJR of 8.748 and Q1 status. Metrics are year-specific and can change, so authors should recheck Scopus, SCImago and Clarivate immediately before relying on them.
What subjects does the Journal of Accounting and Economics cover?
The journal covers accounting research grounded in economics, including accounting information in capital markets, financial contracting, monitoring and agency relationships, accounting standards, corporate disclosure regulation, the accounting profession and accounting within firms. Finance and economics are relevant when they illuminate accounting questions.
Is the Journal of Accounting and Economics open access?
It is a hybrid journal that supports both subscription publication and an open-access option. Elsevier states that subscription publication has no publication fee, while authors choosing open access pay the journal’s stated APC, subject to taxes and possible reductions.
What is the open-access APC?
Elsevier’s journal page currently lists an open-access article publishing charge of USD 4,180 excluding taxes. Because APCs, discounts and agreements can change, authors should confirm the amount shown during submission before making a funding decision.
Does the journal charge a submission fee?
A current general submission-fee amount was not verified from the accessible official author guide in this review. The 2026 JAE conference call stated a USD 650 fee for conference submissions, but conference terms should not automatically be treated as the permanent fee for every regular submission. Confirm the live Editorial Manager instructions before paying.
What types of manuscripts does the journal publish?
Recent issues visibly include research articles and discussion pieces, alongside editorial or announcement material. Authors should use the current Guide for Authors and submission system to confirm the formal article type that applies to a new manuscript.
What is the peer-review model?
The journal clearly publishes peer-reviewed work, but an authoritative statement confirming whether the current review is single-anonymized, double-anonymized or another model was not verified from the accessible official pages used for this guide. Authors should follow the current Guide for Authors rather than assume an anonymity model.
How fast does the Journal of Accounting and Economics make decisions?
Elsevier’s journal insights page reports 3 days from submission to first decision, 41 days to a decision after review, 626 days from submission to acceptance, and 7 days from acceptance to online publication. These are journal-level historical indicators, not promises for an individual paper.
What is the acceptance rate?
The journal does not appear to publicly disclose an official current acceptance rate on the accessible official pages reviewed here. This guide does not estimate one. Selectivity should instead be assessed through scope fit, recent published work and the journal’s editorial standards.
Is the Journal of Accounting and Economics suitable for PhD researchers?
It can be relevant for PhD researchers whose work makes a clear, rigorous contribution to accounting through economic theory, empirical economics or related analytical approaches. A doctoral manuscript should not be submitted merely because the journal is highly ranked; topic, contribution, design and audience fit are more important.
Can Contentxprtz guarantee publication in the journal?
No. Contentxprtz can support manuscript assessment, academic editing, proofreading, formatting, reference consistency, cover-letter editing and publication-readiness review. Editorial evaluation, peer review, acceptance and publication decisions remain entirely with the journal.
Planning to Submit Your Research to Journal of Accounting and Economics?
Start with the journal’s official aims and scope, then test your manuscript against recent papers and the current author instructions. A strong submission should make its accounting question, economic mechanism, research design and contribution clear without overstating results.
Professional editing can improve presentation and journal alignment, but only the journal can decide whether a manuscript proceeds through review and is accepted for publication.
Dr. Daniel Whitmore
Dr. Daniel Whitmore is a professional researcher and writer with expertise in developing content that connects research, industry context, and practical meaning. His writing is clear, precise, and authoritative, helping readers make informed sense of important business concepts.
Author verification note: Journal facts and fees are time-sensitive. Before acting on this guide, confirm current details on the official journal page, Scopus source profile, and the submission portal.