---
name: amr-submission
description: Use when running the final pre-submission preflight for an Academy of Management Review (AMR) manuscript — ScholarOne portal, AOM format and length, abstract, anonymization for review, references, ethics/originality, and required files. Theory-only journal; there is no data-availability or replication step.
---

# Pre-Submission Preflight (amr-submission)

> AMR is theory-only. There is no dataset, code, or replication package to deposit. The
> preflight centers on the *theory paper's* format, anonymization, and AOM ethics — not on
> empirical materials.

## When to trigger

- "I'm about to submit to AMR"
- Final check before clicking submit in ScholarOne
- Unsure which files the portal expects for a conceptual paper

## Pre-submission checklist

### Scope & fit
- [ ] The paper builds **new theory** (constructs / process model / reconceptualization), not an empirical study
- [ ] It enters and "challenges and extends" a specific theoretical conversation
- [ ] There is **no data, no measures, no statistical test** anywhere in the manuscript
- [ ] Fit confirmed against the current AMR aims & scope (verify on the official page)

### Format (verify exact current requirements on the AOM author page)
- [ ] Manuscript is a Word file using Times New Roman 12-point body text, double spacing, 1-inch margins, and no page numbers or running heads
- [ ] Title page separate from the manuscript body (for anonymous review)
- [ ] Abstract present and no more than 200 words
- [ ] Within the journal's overall length expectation (verify; AMR articles are full-length)
- [ ] Figures meet AOM resolution/format specs; each is a conceptual model/typology, not a data plot
- [ ] Propositions numbered consistently and matched to the figure

### Anonymization for double-anonymous review
- [ ] No author-identifying content in the manuscript body
  - Self-citations phrased neutrally ("prior work (Author, 2020)"), not "in our earlier paper"
  - Acknowledgments removed from the body (added after acceptance)
  - Funding/grant identifiers kept out of the body
- [ ] Document file properties scrubbed of author name/affiliation
- [ ] File names contain no author or institution name

### References & citations
- [ ] AOM author–date in-text citations; full reference list per the AOM Style Guide
- [ ] Every in-text citation appears in the reference list and vice versa
- [ ] The recent, live conversation in the target stream is cited, not only seminal works
- [ ] All references are real and accurately quoted (no fabricated or mis-cited sources)

### Ethics & originality (AOM Code of Ethics)
- [ ] Manuscript is original, unpublished, and not under review elsewhere
- [ ] Authorship reflects genuine intellectual contribution; order agreed by all authors
- [ ] Any prior conference/working-paper version is disclosed as required
- [ ] Similarity check run (institutional tool); overlap acceptable and self-overlap disclosed

### Portal files (ScholarOne)
- [ ] Anonymized main manuscript (body + figures + references), required format
- [ ] Separate title page with author info and corresponding author
- [ ] Cover note / response to editor if requested
- [ ] Any author-agreement or conflict-of-interest forms the system requires

## Desk-reject triggers to preempt

1. **It's an empirical study** (reports data, tests hypotheses) — the defining AMR desk reject.
2. **Incremental theory** — a minor extension with no new construct or mechanism.
3. **A literature review** with no original theoretical move (AMR is not a review journal).
4. **Construct proliferation** — relabeling existing ideas (cf. Suddaby, AMR 2010, DOI 10.5465/amr.2010.0419).
5. **Untestable-in-principle or tautological propositions** (AMR's scope demands "testable knowledge-based claims").
6. **Poor fit/scope** or anonymization/formatting failures.

## ScholarOne operation notes

- AMR uses **ScholarOne Manuscripts (Manuscript Central)** at `https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/amr`; register and submit through the AMR portal linked from the AOM author resources page.
- Enter author metadata only in the system, never in the anonymized manuscript.
- Suggested/opposed reviewers: provide only if the system asks and per its limits.
- Choose the correct submission/article type (theoretical/conceptual article).
- **Submission fee**: none — the Academy of Management does not charge submission fees. New users establish a ScholarOne account with name, affiliation, address details, and keywords before using the Author Center; check any portal-stage prompts at submission time.
- Keep within the file-size and file-type limits the portal states.

## Anti-patterns

- Submitting a paper that is really an empirical study or a literature review
- Author identity leaking through "our prior study," acknowledgments, or file properties
- Reference list missing the recent conversation reviewers belong to
- Figures that are data plots (impossible at AMR) or undefined boxes-and-arrows
- Forgetting to scrub document metadata after a final edit
- Over-length manuscript that ignores the current limit (verify before submitting)

## Output format

```
【Scope】builds new theory, no data: yes / fix
【Format】double-spaced / abstract within limit / figures conceptual: pass / fix
【Anonymization】body + properties + filenames clean: yes / fix
【References】AOM style; recent conversation cited; all real: yes / fix
【Ethics】original, not under review, authorship correct: yes / fix
【Portal files】anonymized MS + title page + forms: complete / missing [...]
【Next step】await decision → amr-review-process; R&R → amr-rebuttal
```

## Related resources

- [`templates/manuscript_template.md`](templates/manuscript_template.md) — Standard AMR conceptual-article skeleton (puzzle intro, theory development, propositions, conceptual model, discussion)
- [`templates/checklist.md`](templates/checklist.md) — 8-section pre-submission self-check (scope / format / anonymization / abstract / theory / figures / references / ethics & portal)
- [`../../resources/external_tools.md`](../../resources/external_tools.md) — Theory-building tools (citation mapping, reference managers, conceptual-diagram software, argument-logic aids)