When to Use
- The abstract has turned into a clichéd sentence of the "provides a new perspective for..." type
- The Chinese abstract is too long or too short (for the specific word count, refer to the official website's submission guidelines)
- The English abstract is not semantically aligned with the Chinese abstract
- Before submission, you find that the abstract does not mention the core method / data / findings
Five-Sentence Method for the Chinese Abstract
| Sentence | Task |
|---|---|
| Sentence 1 | Research background and question: state in one sentence thereal-world problem in China |
| Sentence 2 | Data and method: what data, what identification strategy |
| Sentence 3 | Core finding: what was used → what was found (numbers + direction) |
| Sentence 4 | Mechanism / heterogeneity: through what mechanism, and under what conditions the effect is stronger / weaker |
| Sentence 5 | Contribution and implications: why this finding is important (at the level of significance, do not write "should XX"） |
Word count: subject to the requirements of the official website's "submission guidelines" for the current year (Chinese abstracts in CSSCI finance and economics journals are usually standardized paragraphs of several hundred characters). Do not exceed or fall short.
Example
Tax and fee reductions have been an important policy lever for China's growth stabilization and for energizing micro-level entities in recent years. Based on matched data from the 20XX–20XX National Tax Survey and industrial enterprises, this paper uses a staggered difference-in-differences method to examine the impact of a certain structural tax reduction policy on corporate investment. The study finds that the policy significantly increased the corporate investment rate, by about X percentage points on average; mechanism analysis shows that this effect was mainly achieved by alleviating financing constraints and improving cash flow. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that the promoting effect was more pronounced for private and small and medium-sized enterprises with stronger financing constraints. This paper provides empirical evidence for understanding the micro-level transmission mechanism of tax reduction policies and promoting high-quality corporate investment.
English Abstract
The English abstract is not a sentence-by-sentence translation of the Chinese; the structure is adjusted to:
- Background & question(1–2 sentences, grounded in China's reality)
- Data & method(1 sentence)
- Main findings(2–3 sentences, quantitative results must appear)
- Mechanism / heterogeneity(1–2 sentences)
- Contribution(1 sentence, placed at the end of the abstract,avoid "this paper has important policy implications"）
The word count / character count of the English abstract is subject to the official website's submission guidelines; align it sentence by sentence with the Chinese abstract.
Self-Check List
- State the core research question in one sentence (and make it relevant to China's reality)
- Explain what data and identification strategy were used
- The core finding givesa specific direction + quantification(not just the four words "significant impact")
- Reflects mechanism / heterogeneity
- Reflects the article's unique contribution
- The Chinese and English abstracts are semantically aligned (matching sentence by sentence)
- The word count / character count meets the official website's requirements for the current year
Anti-Patterns (Blacklisted Phrases)
- ❌ "This paper has important theoretical value and practical significance"
- ❌ "Provides a new perspective for XX research"
- ❌ "Has important reference value for XX"
- ❌ "This paper enriches research in the relevant field"
- ❌ "This study helps deepen the understanding of XX"
Any sentence that, once deleted, causes the abstract to lose no information must be deleted.
Sentence-by-sentence polishing comparison (sentences 3 and 5 are the easiest to write badly)
Sentence 3 (core finding)
Before rewriting: The study finds that the policy has a significant promoting effect on corporate investment.
After rewriting: The study finds that the policy raises the corporate investment rate by about X percentage points on average, equivalent to X% of the sample mean, and the effect peaks in the second year after the policy.
Of the four information points—direction, magnitude, benchmark (as a proportion of the mean), and time path—give at least the first three; the four characters "significantly promotes" contain only one.
Sentence 5 (contributions and implications)
Before rewriting: The research conclusions of this paper have important reference value for improving related policies.
After rewriting: The evidence in this paper shows that the investment-stimulating effect of tax cuts depends on the financing environment in which firms operate, providing a basis for differentiated assessment of the micro-level effects of structural tax cuts.
Sentence 5 must be able to answer "what understanding does this finding change"; if you cannot write it, it means sentences 3 and 4 are not yet solid, so go back and revise the earlier ones first.
Alignment between keywords and the abstract
- The number and format of keywords shall be subject to the submission guidelines on the official website; candidate terms are extracted from sentences 1, 2, and 4 of the abstract—take one each of a real-world problem term, a policy/institutional term, and a mechanism term;
- Do not let a generic method name (such as "difference-in-differences") occupy a keyword slot on its own, unless the method itself constitutes a contribution;
- Keywords must not be repeated or be hypernyms/hyponyms of one another (keep only one of "tax cut" and "tax cut policy");
- Chinese and English keywords must correspond one-to-one and be in the same order.
Output format
【中文字数】X（对照官网要求）
【英文字符 / 词数】X（对照官网要求）
【五句法合规】是 / 否（缺哪一句）
【量化结果】有 / 无
【机制/异质性体现】有 / 无
【黑名单短语命中】[...]
【下一步】cfe-style
Operational reinforcement for Finance & Economics Research
Treat this skill as an acceptance-checkable pre-submission review, not as general polishing. First lock down the core question, identification chain, mechanism evidence, and actionable policy implications, then judge whether the current manuscript truly meets the reader expectations of Finance & Economics Research: Chinese finance and economics academic reviewers will simultaneously ask about the policy value of the topic, the credibility of identification, and fit with the journal's sections.
- Abstract pass：Compress to question, design/object, result, mechanism, and contribution; remove generic importance sentences that do not change target-venue fit.
- Evidence ledger: output three columns—"claim-evidence-risk"; each recommendation must point to a main-text paragraph, table or figure, appendix, or material to be supplemented.
- Sister-journal guardrail: if the manuscript is more like Economic Research Journal for stronger theoretical/national contributions, Management World for management practice and policy governance, or Journal of Financial Research for specialized financial topics, you must explain why it is still being submitted to Finance & Economics Research; otherwise, provide an alternative submission path.
- Stopping condition: if identification, mechanism, data reproducibility, or the official submission requirements have not been verified, do not give a "can be submitted" conclusion.