Competitive Paper
Submission Information
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Competitive Papers present developed research dealing with theoretical, substantive, or methodological advances in consumer research.
Evaluation
Competitive Papers are first evaluated by reviewers, then by an Associate Editor. Decisions are made by the Track Co-Chairs, in consultation with the Conference Co-Chairs. Reviewing will be blind and will evaluate submissions based on a) importance, b) quality, c) readability, d) completeness, e) predicted interest from ACR members, and e) fit of the papers with the conference theme (“Elevation”).
Based on reviews, accepted Competitive Papers can be invited for a 15-minute (CP 15) or 10-minutes (CP 10) presentation.
Authors of Competitive Papers will have the option to have their submission considered as a Working Paper (i.e., poster format) in the event they are rejected for oral presentations. Choosing this option will not influence the submission’s review process or decisions as a Competitive Paper.
Presentation
Competitive Papers will be presented in person in thematically organized sessions. The designated author is expected to present the paper, answer questions following talk and be available to discuss the research with members of the ACR community.
Submission Requirements
- Paper Title. This is the title that will be published in the conference program.
- Author(s). Provide official name, email, and affiliation for each author. Please indicate the author order and which author(s) will serve as corresponding author, presenter, or both. At least one author must agree to present the paper in person, if the paper is accepted. Authors will be anonymized for the reviewers.
- Short Abstract (50-word max). This abstract will be published in the conference program and should concentrate on the big picture contribution(s) of the paper.
- Extended Abstract (1000-word max; excluding references, figures, or tables; single-spaced). Please provide an extended abstract to be evaluated by the reviewers. The extended abstract should provide a summary of the research, including the conceptual framework, relevant prior literature, description of the method, data, results, and conclusions.
- References, if applicable. References do not count toward the word limit. References should follow the JCR citation style.
- Figures and/or Tables. Tables and figures are encouraged and should be properly labeled and included after the references. Tables and figures do not count towards the word limit.
Other Important Formatting and Submission Information
- If applicable, a submission should include a detailed description of the methodology, data, and results of each study (providing basic descriptive and inferential statistics) to aid in proper reviewer evaluation. Note that if the reviewers cannot understand what was done and what the studies found or concluded, then a paper will likely be rejected. We encourage authors to summarize their results in a table and use figures, when appropriate.
- Submissions should follow the current style sheet of the Journal of Consumer Research, except that the entire text should be single-spaced. Subheadings should be bolded or italicized and capitalized (no hard return necessary).
- Please adhere to high standards of spelling and grammar and consider having a copyeditor or peer review the abstract prior to submission.
- Submissions that do not adhere to the word and page limits will be rejected on that basis.
Submission on the Portal
Specific step-by-step submission guidelines will become available when the submission portal is open.
Deadline for submissions is 23:59 PST March 17, 2025
Submission on the Portal
Specific step-by-step submission guidelines is available on the submission portal.
Publishing of Accepted Competitive Paper Abstracts (both CP 10 and CP 15):
Authors of accepted proposals agree to revise their submission based on reviewers’ comments and upload their final 1000-word Extended Abstract (MS Word file) in July 2026. The most recent version submitted by the July due date will be published “as is” in the ACR Proceedings.
Publishing options for Accepted Competitive Papers (both CP 10 and CP 15)
Authors of accepted proposals agree to revise their sessions based on reviewers’ comments and upload their final proposal (MS Word file) by early July 2025. The most recent version submitted by the July due date will be published “as is” in the ACR Proceedings.
Authors of accepted competitive papers must choose one of two publishing options:
- Option 1: Publish the full paper in the ACR Proceedings. If you choose this option, you must upload a (revised) 50-word abstract and the full 2500-word paper for final review, along with references, one table summarizing the results, and one figure (optional). Choosing this option implies that the paper will not be submitted for publication elsewhere. Author will upload their final accepted submissions via the submission system in MS Word format.
- Option 2: If authors wish to submit their accepted paper elsewhere for publication, they may choose to only publish the 1000-word max Extended Abstract in the ACR Proceedings. Authors of accepted papers will upload their Extended Abstract via the submission system in MS Word format.
