Submission Guidelines
Data Availability Policy
The Review of Economics and Statistics is implementing a strict data and computer code availability policy for empirical papers. Authors of papers accepted for publication will be required to
- post their code and programs;
- post and document their data (or document their data and include instructions for how other researchers can obtain the data when the data have been obtained under an arrangement that precludes the posting of the data);
- post detailed readme files on-line before publication.
The goal is to provide enough information to permit replication. In addition to meeting all of the standard scientific review procedures, all published papers will be required to comply with this policy. Authors should indicate upon submission in instances where papers use proprietary data.
In general we allow the use of proprietary data as long as (1) there exists some way to apply for the data, (2) it is expected that reasonable applications will be accepted, (3) the authors will provide all the information necessary to go from the raw data to the results of the paper (including code).
If you are using proprietary data and have remaining questions regarding compliance with this policy, please write to the editors about the specifics of your case.
The Board of Editors will consider publishing an "Expression of Concern" for accepted papers whose authors fail to comply with The Review's Data Availability Policy.
Manuscripts
Submission of a paper will be held to imply that it contains original unpublished work and is not being submitted for publication elsewhere. Mechanical limits will not be applied to the length of articles; however, a high priority will be assigned to concise and lucid exposition. Initial submissions should be prepared following the guidelines below:
- Papers should be in 12-point font.
- Papers should be double-spaced throughout: including the abstract, acknowledgments, footnotes and references.
- Papers should be in PDF format.
Manuscripts and cover letters, also in PDF format, should be submitted electronically via The Review's submission portal at Editorial Express. Editor assignments are determined by the submitted paper’s JEL codes.
As of January 12, 2021: Authors may request a specific editor in their cover letter at the time of submission. All requests will be considered but are not guaranteed.
Page Limit Policy
At acceptance, papers are required to be 45 pages or less (double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman or similar font with one-inch margins). This limit includes text, tables, figures, references, and all other parts of the manuscript intended to be in print. Authors are encouraged to take advantage of online appendices for which there are no size restrictions.
The 45-page limit is not required upon submission, but it is encouraged. In the past, we have found that doing so at the point of submission helps with the review process by enhancing the paper's readability.
Submission Fee
There is a nonrefundable $125 submission fee for each new submission. Please complete payment of this fee online at time of submission via credit card (MasterCard, VISA, or American Express).
The submission fee is waived:
- For papers for which one of the authors has a current year, individual subscription to The Review.
- For papers for which a majority of the authors primarily work in low income or lower-middle income economies as classified by the World Bank. Click here to see which countries qualify.
Short Paper Policy
Starting December 2019, the Review of Economics and Statistics will begin considering Short Papers for publication, in addition to full-length papers. Short Papers will be strictly held to a size limitation of 6000 words and 5 exhibits. For each exhibit before the maximum five, the authors may add up to 200 words toward the word limit; thus a paper with no exhibits must have <=7,000 words. Online appendix materials are allowed of modest length, no more than 20 pages, but the papers should be self-contained. Short Papers will be held to the same quality standard as regular-size papers, and undergo the normal review process and normal turnaround times.
The length limits of Short Paper submissions and revisions will be strictly enforced upon submission. Authors are required to obtain a word count by uploading a modified PDF of their submission to https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/word-count (courtesy of the American Economic Association). This PDF should INCLUDE only the main body of the text (including any equations) plus footnotes and endnotes. This PDF should EXCLUDE the title, author names, abstract, acknowledgement footnote, reference list, and exhibits. Other than these exclusions, the PDF should be identical to the submitted manuscript. During the submission process, the author will be required to provide the word count number calculated by https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/word-count. The author will also be required to upload both the PDF used for the word count (Word Count PDF) as well as the regular manuscript PDF (Manuscript), designating them as such. The word count PDF should be uploaded during Step 5 of the submission process as an “other file or document.” Word count will be verified upon submission.
Manuscripts that exceed the limit will not be reviewed and will instead be summarily returned to the authors. If authors wish to submit the paper again after complying with the size limitations, the paper must be submitted as a new submission and the authors must again pay the submission fee.
Conflict of Interest Policy
- Editors are prohibited from submitting papers to REStat during the time they serve as an editor.
- Editors should not handle the work of a colleague from the same institution.
- Editors should not handle papers by students that they have advised within the last 7 years.
- Editors are discouraged from handling papers submitted by co-authors.
- Reviewers should disclose if they have any personal conflicts of interest regarding a paper they have been assigned. Namely if an author is, or has recently been, a coauthor, institutional colleague, former adviser, or advisee. The decision on whether the reviewer will continue providing advice on the paper is determined by the assigned editor on a case-by-case basis.
Resubmissions
Resubmissions are by invitation only. Please resubmit the revised manuscript as instructed by the editor in the most recent correspondence.
Resubmitted manuscripts must adhere to our formatting guidelines. Resubmissions must be double-spaced, twelve-point Times New Roman or similar font with one-inch margins. These formatting guidelines apply to the entire manuscript, including the text, tables, figures, references, and all other parts of the manuscript intended to be in print.
Abstracts
Each submission must include an abstract of no more than 100 words in a form suitable for the Journal of Economic Literature and an appropriate classification number or numbers from the EconLit Subject Descriptors classification system.
Turnaround Times
The Review delivers decisions on over 90% of submissions within four months. For the most recent turnaround statistics please visit the Turnaround Times page.
Equations and Mathematical Symbols
It should be kept in mind that the Review has a fairly narrow (3") column size and long equations should be typed with an eye towards being easily divided. Similarly, long equations in the text should be displayed rather than run-in. Notations requiring small fonts should be limited, as they are more difficult to set and to read. This especially means eliminating subscripts or superscripts with more than one level. Within the text, fractions should be set on one line.
Abbreviations
All but the most common abbreviations should be spelled out the first time used in a manuscript.
Tables
All tables should contain a caption and be on a separate piece of paper. Vertical rules should be omitted. The captions and legends on tables and figures must be sufficiently descriptive that they are understandable without reference to the text.
Charts and Figures
Figures should have a caption and be on a separate piece of paper on a scale large enough to allow for reduction. They should be submitted as a clean, clear print on high quality paper in black and white. The dimensions of figure axes must be clearly labeled.
Footnotes
Footnotes should be numbered consecutively and be typed double-spaced in the same size type as the rest of the paper. It is preferable for them to be placed in a separate section at the back of the paper. Equations should be limited in footnotes because the small font used often makes them illegible.
References
Citations in the text or footnotes should give only name of author(s), year of publication, and possibly page numbers. At the end of the paper there should be a section for references. It should be complete with first and last names of authors. References to papers published in a journal should contain the name of publication, volume, month of publication, year and page numbers. References to books should contain the city of publication, publisher, year of publication, and editors or page numbers where relevant. A recent issue of the Review should be consulted for style.
Violations of Our Guidelines
Authors who are found to have violated our Data Availability Policy or our policy that the submission contains original unpublished work and is not being submitted for publication elsewhere will be banned from submitting a paper to The Review for a period of five years.
Peer Review Taxonomy
Identity transparency: Single anonymized
Reviewer interacts with: Editor
Review information published: Editor identities