ectj-workflow

EctJ Workflow

Use this as the router for The Econometrics Journal (EctJ). Reopen the current RES/OUP instructions before deadline-ready advice because fees, editors, and policy wording can change.

Route map

• Fit unclear or too incremental: use ectj-topic-selection.
• Literature contribution fuzzy: use ectj-literature-positioning.
• Identification, assumptions, or asymptotics weak: use ectj-identification-strategy.
• Monte Carlo or empirical application thin: use ectj-data-analysis.
• Exhibits crowded or not self-contained: use ectj-tables-figures.
• Leading-case contribution buried: use ectj-contribution-framing.
• Prose too long for the 20-page constraint: use ectj-writing-style.
• Data/code not acceptance-ready: use ectj-replication-and-data-policy.
• Need to understand one-week screening and three-month target: use ectj-review-process.
• Ready for Editorial Express: use ectj-submission.
• Decision letter arrived: use ectj-rebuttal.

Resource loading rule

Use the resource layer when routing:

• resources/worked-examples/01-introduction.md for opening-page structure.
• resources/exemplars/library.md for benchmark style and verified examples.
• resources/code/README.md for methods-oriented simulation or replication smoke checks.
• resources/official-source-map.md before any deadline, fee, page-limit, proof-placement, or policy claim.

Never answer a volatile submission question from memory. If the source map marks a fact unresolved, say so and recheck the official page before advising a final submission.

Stop conditions

Pause the route and repair before moving forward if:

• the paper has no empirical application or applied-value demonstration;
• the theorem/result cannot be stated as a leading case;
• the simulations do not stress the assumption most likely to fail;
• the manuscript cannot fit the compact printed-paper discipline without hiding core proofs;
• the replication package has no command that recreates the main simulation/application exhibits.

Stage gates keyed to the RES pipeline

Gate	Pass condition	Skill that repairs failure
Fit gate	Leading case plus applied value both stated in one sentence each	ectj-topic-selection, ectj-contribution-framing
Theory gate	Target object, assumptions, and asymptotic claims traceable; proofs printable	ectj-identification-strategy
Evidence gate	Every asymptotic claim paired with a finite-sample exhibit; one DGP calibrated to the application	ectj-data-analysis
Compression gate	Printed paper within the 20-page norm; summary within 150 words	ectj-writing-style, ectj-tables-figures
Conformance gate	Template, fee, proof placement, and replication disclosure verified on live pages	ectj-submission
Post-decision gate	Response evidence objects assembled; resubmission clock tracked	ectj-rebuttal, ectj-review-process

A later gate never compensates for an earlier one: polished exhibits cannot rescue a paper whose method lacks an empirical use case at this venue.

Worked routing pass

Illustrative vignette: an author arrives with a machine-learning-assisted estimator for demand elasticities, strong theory, no application, and 28 draft pages.

• The evidence gate fails first: no empirical illustration, and the simulations use an i.i.d. design unrelated to demand data. Route to ectj-data-analysis with instructions to calibrate one DGP to a public scanner-data application.
• The compression gate fails second: 28 pages against the 20-page norm. Route to ectj-writing-style only after the application exists, because the application will consume pages and the compression plan must account for it.
• Conformance items (template, fee, summary) wait until the science gates close; checking them early wastes effort while sections still move.

Ordering principle: repair applied value before the page budget, and the page budget before portal mechanics.

Venue facts that gate every route

Keep these EctJ constants loaded while routing, reverifying volatile ones on live pages:

• A Royal Economic Society journal published by Oxford University Press; submission runs through Editorial Express with a flat fee plus VAT.
• Roughly 20 printed pages including the printed appendix; summary within 150 words; proofs in the main text or printed appendix rather than the online supplement.
• An empirical application is the norm even for theory-led methods papers, and simulation results are summarized within about a page of main text.
• The replication package — README, software versions, documented data, seeded code — becomes binding conditional on acceptance.
• One-week screen, three-month decision target, one-month normal resubmission window.

Output format

[Current stage] idea / theory / empirics / drafting / submission / review / R&R / accepted
[Next EctJ skill] <skill name>
[Main bottleneck] <fit, assumptions, application, compression, replication, or response>
[One-week screen risk] <highest conformance or scope issue>
[Next action] <single concrete task>