Recently passed a year of editing (well, slightly more at REHO) so wanted to share some #EconTwitter thoughts on what I've learned (take them with a grain of salt, as there are many more experienced editors out there!)
For authors: generally, cover letters can be extremely brief unless you are bringing something very specific to my attention. If the cover letter repeats what's in the intro, not necessary (I will look at the intro!)
For referees: please respond to requests (saying no is fine, a rapid no is better than a ghosting) Recs of other referees are a nice bonus. A short report that is on time or close to it is also very welcome (you don't have to wait until you have 2 whole pages written)
For authors: for a huge number of the papers I read, I can't easily tell what is different compared to existing papers (that's true both for those who cite a lot of other related papers, + those that don't - but I know the papers are there). This is hugely important
For authors: please be detailed in your response to R&Rs. Don't just refer vaguely to a section of the paper (when that happens, often it means the comment wasn't really addressed there). It's OK to disagree with some comments + not implement them; be specific as to why
Reflection for myself: I find it very helpful to everyone to provide detailed guidance on R&Rs (highlighting comments that are important + less often, some that I don't think are important or correct). Helpful to me to structure thoughts + I hope is helpful to authors
Another reflection for authors + myself: the faster you return the revision, the more likely I (and presumably others) are to remember the paper well + thus proceed quickly. What can I say, I'm aging :) Always happy to see revisions back within 2-3 mos
Final reflection for me: this is an amazing experience that I'm grateful to have + I have learned a lot. Going to follow up w/some of the most exciting papers over the last year from REHO and CER (which will generally not be papers I edited since I'm new!). . .stay tuned!
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
