| Undergraduate Topic: | THE USE OF FINANCIAL AND NONFINANCIAL DATA IN PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT |
| Graduate Topic: | HOW SHOULD CHANGES IN FAIR VALUE BE REPORTED IN THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS? |
- General Contest Description
- Manuscript Contest Rules
Prepared by
Lola Rhodes
Director of National & International Programs
June 1999
I. GENERAL CONTEST DESCRIPTIONS
The National Council of Beta Alpha Psi has announced that two manuscript contests will be conducted during 1999-2000, one contest for undergraduate students and a separate contest for graduate students (for people in their fifth year of college work or beyond).
The subject of the 1999-2000 undergraduate contest is:
THE USE OF FINANCIAL AND NONFINANCIAL DATA IN PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT
The subject of the 1999-2000 graduate contest is:
HOW SHOULD CHANGES IN FAIR VALUE BE REPORTED IN THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
These contests are designed to encourage accounting research among student members of Beta Alpha Psi. The evaluation process will be discussed later under the heading PROGRAM FOR CHAPTER ACTIVITIES-POINT ASSIGNMENT. Three awards will be given for each contest.
Winners of both the graduate and the undergraduate contest will receive awards. Each author of a first place manuscript will receive a plaque, a cash award of $750 and an expense-paid trip to the annual meeting to be held in Washington, DC in August, 2000. Each second place winner will receive a $500 cash award and each third place winner will receive a cash award of $250. Honorable mention winners may also be named. First place papers will be published in The Journal of Accounting Education, only after having been reviewed and corrected for syntax, grammar, etc., by the author.
II. MANUSCRIPT CONTEST RULES
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
The contests are restricted to active student members of Beta Alpha Psi. Active members who graduate at the end of fall semester or fall or winter quarter, that complete the manuscript prior to graduation are eligible to compete in the contest. Co-authored manuscripts are not eligible. Manuscripts that have been published or submitted for publication other than to Beta Alpha Psi prior to February 1, 2000 are not eligible. So that credit may be received in the chapter activities programs, four copies of manuscript entries should be submitted to: Jodi Mutnansky, National Administrator, Beta Alpha Psi, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, Sixth Floor, New York NY 10036-8775.
Entries must be postmarked on or before February 1, 2000.
The following information must be attached to a Form A and submitted with the manuscript or the manuscript will not be considered for evaluation:
| (1) | Submittal sheet: |
| | | Manuscript title; author name; chapter; university; mailing address and telephone number during July, 2000; clearly indicate Undergraduate or Graduate contest; & author's signature. |
| (2) | Proof Readers: |
| | | Include on a separate page or on the submittal sheet the signatures of two proof readers (one active Beta Alpha Psi member and one faculty member). |
| (3) | Author biographical sketch: |
| | | An ideal submission would be the resume you will be preparing or may have already prepared for employment upon graduation. Normally this contains: name, career objective, degree(s), expected graduation date, honors and activities in or outside the university community, work experience, and other interests.
|
| | | Note: | Attach or staple a copy of the Form A your chapter submitted electronically, and Items 1, 2, and 3 above to one of the four copies of each manuscript submitted. |
The basic technical requirements do not include a photograph. If you would like to submit one along with your manuscript, it should be black and white and at least 2x3 inches. The author should retain a copy of the paper.
Format
All manuscripts should be typed on one side of 8 ½ x 11" paper and be double-spaced, except for indented quotations. Acceptable manuscripts must be no longer than 10 pages and should be as concise as the subject and research method permit. A page is defined as follows: (1) type not smaller than 12 characters per inch (standard elite type); (2) lines no longer than 6 inches; (3) no more than 27 lines per page. Except for the reference list, all materials presented are included in the 10-page limit (exhibits, figures, appendices, etc.). The reference list is to be single-spaced within individual entries and double-spaced between entries and presented immediately following the text. The title of the paper, but not the author's name, should appear on the first page of the text. All pages, including tables, appendices, and references, should be serially numbered. Manuscript documentation (citations and reference list) should be consistent with the guidelines in The Accounting Review, April, 1998, Pages 302-303, which are summarized below.
To assure an anonymous review, authors should not identify themselves directly or indirectly in the papers.
When not in lists, numbers from one through ten should be spelled out, except where decimals are used. All others should be written numerically. Hyphens are preferred to the compounding or to the joining of words. Single authors should not employ the editorial "we".
Citations
Work cited should use the "author-date system" keyed to a list of works in the reference list discussed on page 5. Authors should make an effort to include the relevant page numbers in the cited works.
- In the text, works are cited as follows: authors' last name and date, without comma, in parentheses: for example (Jones 1987); with two authors: (Jones and Freeman 1973); with more than two: (Jones et al. 1985); with more than one source cited together (Jones 1987; Freeman 1986); with two or more works by one author: (Jones 1985, 1987).
- Unless confusion would result, do not use "p," or "pp." before page numbers: for example, (Jones 1987, 115).
- When the reference list contains more than one work of an author published in the same year, the suffix a, b, etc. follows the date in the text citation: for example (Jones 1987a) or (Jones 1987a; Freeman 1985b).
- If an author's name is mentioned in the text, it need not be repeated in the citation; for example "Jones (1987, 115) says...."
- Citations to institutional works should use acronyms or short titles where practicable; for example, (AAA ASOBAT 1966); (AICPA Cohen Commission Report 1977). Where brief, the full title of an institutional work might be shown in a citation: for example, (ICAEW The Corporate Report 1975).
- If the manuscript refers to statutes, legal treatises or court cases, citations acceptable in law reviews should be used.
Footnotes
Footnotes are not used for documentation. Textual footnotes should be used only for extensions and useful excursions of information that if included in the body of the text might disrupt its continuity. Footnotes should be consecutively numbered throughout the manuscript with superscript Arabic numerals. Footnote text should be doubled-spaced and placed at the end of the paper.
Reference list
Every manuscript must include a list of references containing only those works cited. Each entry should contain all data necessary for unambiguous identification. With the author-date system, use the following format:
- Arrange citations in alphabetical order according to surname of the first author or the name of the institution responsible for the citation.
- Use author's initials instead of proper names.
- Dates of publication should be placed immediately after author's name.
- Titles of journals should not be abbreviated.
- Multiple works by the same author(s) should be listed in chronological order of publication. Two or more works by the same author(s) in the same year are distinguished by letters after the date.
- The reference list page(s) should be numbered in the same manner as the text, tables and appendices.
SCREENING CRITERIA
IF THE BASIC TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS OF MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION ARE NOT MET, THE EVALUATION PANEL MAY CHOOSE NOT TO READ THE MANUSCRIPT.
These technical requirements include:
| (1) | Submission date |
| (2) | Complete submittal sheet (See Page 3) |
| (3) | Author biographical sketch (See page 3) |
| (4) | Manuscript length and format |
| (5) | A page with the signatures of two proof readers (one active Beta Alpha Psi member and one faculty member) or include these signatures on the submittal sheet. (See Page 3) |
CRITERIA FOR USE IN THE EVALUATION OF MANUSCRIPTS
Content
- Manuscript covers specific topic area.
- Approach to coverage of topic indicates originality of thought.
- Relevant and meaningful issues and problems concerning both sides of the subject are discussed.
- Each subdivision of the paper is clearly segregated and is relevant to the discussion.
Presentation
- Organization of paper is logical and balanced.
- Clear, concise summary is provided which integrates presentation into a coherent whole and gives definite conclusion.
- Writing style clearly conveys meaning, with structurally correct sentences and effective use of words.
- Technical aspects of the paper, including word limit and references, are in good form.
Final selection of the winning manuscripts will be made by a panel of prominent accountants. The winning authors will be notified on or before July 14, 2000. Entrants exhibiting high scholarship will be designated Beta Alpha Psi Literary (undergraduate) and Research (graduate) Scholars. The manuscript winners will be featured in the Fall, 2000, Beta Alpha Psi Newsletter and first place papers will be published in The Journal of Accounting Education, only after having been reviewed and corrected for syntax, grammar, etc., by the author.
PROGRAM FOR CHAPTER ACTIVITIES - POINT ASSIGNMENT
Activity points will be assigned to manuscripts in category 2(a). A manuscript will earn points if it meets all of the evaluation criteria enumerated above. It will receive 300 points if it is evaluated as "honor" or 200 points if it is evaluated as "good". If the paper is evaluated as "weak" it will receive 100 points, and if it is evaluated as "unacceptable" it will receive zero points. Points awarded will be reduced if screening criteria are not met.
The following guidelines should be followed in submitting manuscripts:
- A maximum of four (4) papers may be submitted by each chapter.
- One (1) paper may be submitted to fulfill baseline requirements in Category 1 (h).
- A maximum of three papers in total may be considered for activity point accumulation. [(Category 2(a)]
If you have any questions about the Manuscript Contest Rules please contact:
Ms. Lola Rhodes
Southern Methodist University
Edwin L. Cox School of Business
Department of Accounting
P.O. Box 75033
Dallas, TX 75275
Phone: (214)768-3096
E-Mail: lrhodes@mail.cox.smu.edu
