Maximizing the Probability of Journal Article Acceptance By Ron C. Mittelhammer

Minimize Probability of Rejection Easy, definitive and unique solution to:

Maximize Probability of Acceptance Much more difficult problem to solve. No unique global solution … it is conditional on a number of factors.  Some factors you can control  Some factors you cannot control

The Factors Controllable Factors: X  Which journal?  Research topic  Quality/Rigor of the analysis, in terms of: Economic Theory Econometric/Statistical/Methodological technique  Relevance of the research  Advances the literature?  Organization and clarity of exposition

The Factors Uncontrollable Factors:   The Editor/Associate Editor overseeing the review  The Reviewers of your work  The time spent by reviewers reading and evaluating your work  Overall timing and length of review  Whether you are allowed to revise and resubmit

Production of Acceptance Probability The Production function The Optimization problem

Some Properties of Fit of article to journal + Popularity and novelty of research topic + Quality/Rigor of the analysis + Relevance of research to real world or peers + Advances the literature + Clarity of exposition and organization +

Some  Characteristics Editor actively and carefully examines reviews and paper Reviewers are properly matched to paper topic Time spent by reviewers when reviewing your work Long review time Length of review comments No revise or resubmit

Recommendations "It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn't." - Martin Van Buren ( , 8th U.S. President).

Recommendations Identify “appropriate” scope of topic areas for each journal, and submit your articles accordingly. Supply Chain Management in the PNW Fruit Industry Empirical Likelihood Combinations of Estimators of Structural Models

Recommendations Choose a novel or “hot” topic area for your paper. Avoid “shop-worn” topics.

Recommendations Develop a rigorous, logically defensible, and relevant conceptual context, followed by a tightly linked empirical analysis.

Recommendations Choose a research focus that:  many professional peers care about  has real world relevance and significance

Recommendations Where does the article fit into the literature?  Thorough literature review that identifies where your contribution fits historically  Be explicit in pointing out in what ways your paper advances the literature.

Recommendations The 3-R’s: Rewrite, Rewrite, and Rewrite until:  presentation of ideas and results are clearly organized  spelling and use of language are impeccable  theoretical and empirical stories are understandable to others, besides you and your co-authors  theoretical, methodological, and institutional logic is interconnected and internally consistent.  there are many more words than equations  conclusions actually follow from YOUR research

Structural Shifts and Breaks in the Process Don’t flood the journals with submissions that aren’t your best work…your reputation matters. Be respectful and polite in all communications with Journal Editors. Challenge unfavorable reviews when there is a question of fact, and you are sure you are right.

Concluding Comments The acceptance rate in Economics and Econometrics journals is very low. Don’t be dejected if you are rejected – all professionals are rejected some of the time. No matter what you initially think of an unfavorable review, there is generally always something useful in any review, so learn from it. Many articles are published in journals other than where they were first submitted.