Working Papers FAQ
Frequently Answered Questions about the ECGI Working Paper Series.
Only ECGI Fellows and Research Members may submit papers to the ECGI Series. Exceptions can be made for papers that have been delivered at academic conferences or workshops organised or endorsed by the ECGI, or for papers that are included in ECGI Research Newsletters.
The WP series editors will generally apply a broad definition of corporate governance and also include papers on the interface between corporate governance and other areas, or papers of which only a part touches on corporate governance. However, papers in other areas whose relevance for corporate governance is only indirect or methodological will not be included. Examples of papers that will be accepted include works:
- covering topics of financial regulation that have an impact on how firms are, or should be, governed/managed/owned;
- dealing with the financial crisis, when implications can be drawn on how financial institutions are, or should be, governed/managed/owned.
Examples of papers in other areas whose relevance for corporate governance is only indirect or methodological include:
- contributions to banking and financial institutions that do not address governance issues;
- macroeconomic discussions of the financial crisis, sovereign debt markets or related phenomena that do not explicitly address the governance of firms or financial intermediaries.
The ECGI Working Paper Series are intended for works in progress (i.e., not for already published pieces). The acid test for inclusion is whether the paper could be published in a scholarly journal. As such, the main focus is on research papers. Essays, longer surveys or handbook chapters will typically also be included. Comments, op-ed pieces, cases, or teaching notes will not be included.
If you are unable to find the answer to your question below, you can email the editors at wp@ecgi.org
Working Paper
Who can submit a research paper to the series?
The primary purpose of the two series is to publish research papers on corporate governance related topics that are authored or co-authored by ECGI Research Members(Link) and ECGI Fellows.
Can a paper be submitted by non-ECGI Research Members?
No, but exceptions can be made on two counts:
- For a paper that has been delivered at academic conferences or workshops organised or endorsed by the ECGI;
- For a paper that is included in an ECGI Research Newsletter.
How is a paper submitted?
A research paper is voluntarily submitted by its author or co-author to one of two Editorial Boards, Law or Finance. To do so, the authors or co-authors may submit it Using this form, stipulating for which series it intended.
How is a paper reviewed and accepted for inclusion in the series?
The Editorial Boards(Link) which comprise an Editor and a number of Consulting Editors drawn from ECGI's Research Membership then scrutinise the paper to determine whether or not it is suitable for inclusion in the Law or Finance series. The Editors do not referee the paper but merely screen it for general suitability.
Why might a paper be refused inclusion in the series?
A paper would be rejected if it is considered by the Editorial Boards to be an opinion piece i.e. not a true research paper or if the topic is not related to corporate governance, even in the broadest sense.
Will the WP series publish papers on corporate governance that comment on aspects of corporate governance without reporting on primary research?
The acid test for inclusion is whether the paper could be published in a scholarly journal. As such, the main focus is on research papers. Essays, longer surveys or handbook chapters will typically also be included. Comments, op-ed pieces, cases, or teaching notes will not be included.
Will the WP series also publish papers in other areas closely related to corporate governance, such as corporate finance, banking, financial regulation, or the financial crisis?
The WP series editors will generally apply a broad definition of corporate governance and also include papers on the interface between corporate governance and other areas, or papers of which only a part touches on corporate governance. However, papers in other areas whose relevance for corporate governance is only indirect or methodological will not be included. Examples of papers that will be accepted include works:
- > covering topics of financial regulation that have an impact on how firms are, or should be, governed/managed/owned;
- > dealing with the financial crisis, when implications can be drawn on how financial institutions are, or should be, governed/managed/owned.
Examples of papers in other areas whose relevance for corporate governance is only indirect or methodological include:
- > contributions to banking and financial institutions that do not address governance issues;
- > macroeconomic discussions of the financial crisis, sovereign debt markets or related phenomena that do not explicitly address the governance of firms or financial intermediaries.
What happens when a paper has been accepted for inclusion in the Working Paper Series?
Once approval to publish has been given on behalf of the Editorial Board by the Editor, the Editorial Assistant then takes a number of steps including:
- the addition of a cover page in the ECGI format.
- the paper is added to the SSRN collection as well as the ECGI website.
- an alert is sent to all the ECGI Members.
- the paper can be featured on the ECGI website.
All papers accepted to the series wil be entered into consideration for the Annual Working Paper Prize which is awarded eavh year et the ECGI Annual Members' Meeting.
Where is the Working Paper published?
A new addition to the ECGI series is announced in the Working paper section of the ECGI website and by the dispatch of a New Working Paper alert to all ECGI members. The paper's abstract and the paper itself can be downloaded free of charge from SSRN's Financial and Legal Research Institutes Papers Series.
How is the paper published on the SSRN?
When a paper is submitted to the ECGI, one of three things will then happen:
a - If the paper is not on the SSRN server already, the ECGI formatted paper will be added to the SSRN collection as a separate entry. See example(LINK)
b - If a "mimeo" version exists on the SSRN server it will be replaced by the ECGI paper. See example(LINK)(the ECGI paper replaced the older EFA conference version).
c - If a US Law School or another "generic" version exists on the SSRN server, a reference to the ECGI paper is added to the front page of this paper and a hyperlink to the ECGI formatted paper that will, in this case, reside on the ECGI server.
If the author submits the paper to a series that has the same status as the ECGI series on SSRN (e.g. a US Law School series), the ECGI paper on the SSRN server will be replaced by a "generic" paper and the ECGI version of the paper will be moved to the ECGI server. The hyperlink to the ECGI paper on the ECGI server is displayed on the front page of the "generic" paper on SSRN.
Multiple submissions to the ECGI, the CEPR and NBER electronic series do not fall under (b) or (c) because the CEPR and NBER series are fee based.
How can I find out how many times a paper has been downloaded from SSRN?
Statistics (Abstract Views, Downloads and Download Rank) are shown on a paper's SSRN Abstract/Download page. They can also be tracked from the ECGI specific reports on the SSRN eLibrary Search Results pages as follows:
Can I submit my paper directly via SSRN instead of sending it to ECGI?
No, ECGI is not alerted when you post a paper on SSRN, even when you select the ECGI RPS distribution.You must use the ECGI channels to submit a paper to the series (i.e. the submission form). You can do this before or after posting on SSRN.
Does publication in the series prevent me from publishing in a journal?
On the contrary, publication in the working paper series should support your endeavours to have the paper published in a journal. ECGI has no exclusivity policy.
Will you update my paper on SSRN or should I do this?
If your paper is accepted to the ECGI Series, we will publish it on SSRN and send you the link. If you have already uploaded it to SSRN, we will update the SSRN record with the ECGI details.
How do I submit a revised version of my ECGI working paper?
You can make revisions as usual to the paper on SSRN and ECGI will be notified (this only applies to papers in the ECGI series). We will then update the new paper on the ECGI website and re-add the ECGI cover page on SSRN.