Standardized format for academic papers?

[FredAnde]

Many academic papers in finance use the exact same format. I like its simplicity and prefer it to default format in MS Word, therefore I'd like to know how to go about to obtain the exact same format.

Examples:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1081337 (One-Click Download)
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1399323 (One-Click Download)

What I am wondering:
1. Is there a standardized template one can use to get the same format on regular text, headings, table of contens, equations etc.?
2. What is the name of the exact font?
3. Is it the same font that's used throughout both of the papers?
4. Could these papers possibly have been written in a different program than MS Word?

Thanks!

 

[Joy Pathak]

Goto Journal of Finance website and use their template. It's the standard.

 

[alain]

Could these papers possibly have been written in a different program than MS Word?

If things haven't changed, most of scientific papers are written in Latex or some form of Tex.

 

[Sherlock]

I am doing my Senior Theses (Mathematics&Economics) and I am using LaTeX. From my own research it is still widely used for most scientific papers. And it is free. Some journals have also templates for LaTeX that you can download and use.