Editor's report.

• Author: Razzolini, Laura
• Position: Editorial

Editorial Statistics

From January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2008, the Editorial Office received 343 new manuscript submissions. Tables 1-4, provide information about the editorial process and the journal for the past year and some previous years.

Table 1 shows the time between submission and the journal's first response, whether to reject, ask for a revision, or accept a manuscript for the 343 manuscripts submitted during 2008. Noticeably, almost 50% of the manuscripts received a first answer in less than 3 months. More than 75% of submitted manuscripts received a first answer in less than 4 months. Finally, no manuscript required more than 9 months for a first answer.

Table 2 reports trends in the number of submissions and accepted manuscripts from 1997 to 2008. After an initial decline in the number of submissions from 1997, mostly due to the change in editorship, submissions have been steady. In the last few years, however, the Journal has experienced a significant increase in the number of submissions. Acceptance rates are steady, around 20%.

Table 3 shows the status of manuscripts submitted in the last four years as of June 1, 2009, and provides a more accurate account of the editorial process.

Finally, Table 4 shows the distribution of published papers in 2005-2008 by subject, using JEL codes. Considerable fluctuation appears in the number of papers in each category over the four-year period considered, which is acceptable for a general interest journal.

Editorial Process

Manuscripts are submitted to the Journal using Editorial Express, an Internet-based electronic system. Once submitted, papers are assigned by the Editor to one of the Co-Editors or to herself for the refereeing process. Papers are assigned on the basis of field of expertise of the Co-Editor, combined with a variety of other considerations, including equalization of work load and conflict-of-interest rules. All responsibility for handling the manuscripts, including the final decision, rests with the Editor to whom the manuscript was originally assigned.

Manuscripts are reviewed using a double-blind process: the name of the author is removed from the paper and not revealed to the reviewers, and the referees' identities are not disclosed to the authors.

Editorial Staff

The Editorial Board for calendar year 2008 consisted of Christopher Bollinger of the University of Kentucky, Robert Feinberg of American University, Kent Kimbrough of Duke University, John Pepper of...