Maximizing the Probability of Journal Article Acceptance

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Maximizing the Probability of Journal Article
Acceptance

• By
• Ron C. Mittelhammer

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Minimize Probability of Rejection

• Easy, definitive and unique solution to

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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

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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

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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

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Production of Acceptance Probability

• The Production function
• The Optimization problem

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Some Properties of
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Some ? Characteristics
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Recommendations

• "It is easier to do a job right than to explain
  why you didn't."
• - Martin Van Buren (1782-1862, 8th U.S.
  President).

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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
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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

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

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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.

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Recommendations

• The 3-Rs 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

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Structural Shifts and Breaks in the Process

• Dont flood the journals with submissions that
  arent your best workyour 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.

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Concluding Comments

• The acceptance rate in Economics and Econometrics
  journals is very low.
• Dont 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.