jpube-review-process

Review Process (jpube-review-process)

When to trigger

• You want to know what happens after you press submit at JPubE
• You are deciding whether to post an SSRN preprint at submission
• You need to plan timelines and expectations around the review model
• A decision arrived and you are weighing whether to appeal

How JPubE review works (verified facts)

• Single anonymized review. Reviewers' identities are hidden from authors, but authors' identities are known to reviewers and editors. This is not double-anonymized — do not strip your name from the manuscript expecting blind review; write knowing referees see who you are. (Contrast: some venues use double-anonymized review.)
• Minimum of two reviewers. Suitable submissions are typically sent to at least two reviewers; expect substantive, specialist public-finance reports.
• Editorial leadership. The current ScienceDirect masthead lists Editors Nathaniel Hendren (MIT) and Wojciech Kopczuk (Columbia), supported by co-editors and advisory editors. A handling editor manages your manuscript and synthesizes the reports into the decision.
• Editorial Manager workflow. Submission and all correspondence run through Elsevier's Editorial Manager system; decisions (desk reject / reject / major or minor revision / accept) and revision uploads happen there.
• SSRN preprint option. At submission you may opt to have the manuscript posted publicly on SSRN after initial quality checks; this choice has no effect on the editorial process or outcome, so it is a free dissemination option, not a strategic lever.
• Generative-AI disclosure is required at submission and is part of the editorial-integrity screen.

Appeals (verified)

• Formal appeals are permitted under Elsevier's Appeal Policy, but only one appeal per submission is considered. Treat the appeal as a scarce, one-shot instrument: use it only for a clear factual or procedural error in the handling of the paper, with a calm, evidence-based case — not to relitigate taste. (See jpube-rebuttal for crafting the substance.)

Planning implications

• Write for named, specialist referees who can see your identity — frame contribution and self-citations accordingly.
• Do not over-invest in anonymization; invest in a transparent design two specialist reviewers can endorse.
• Decide the SSRN option deliberately (visibility vs. preferring to wait), knowing it does not change your odds.

Checklist

• Manuscript written for single-anonymized (identity-visible) specialist review
• Expect ≥ 2 reviewers; address the obvious public-finance objections pre-emptively
• Editorial Manager account and metadata ready
• SSRN preprint decision made deliberately
• AI-use disclosure prepared
• Appeal reserved for a clear error, used at most once

Anti-patterns

• Stripping author identity expecting double-blind review (JPubE is single anonymized)
• Treating the SSRN option as if it improved acceptance odds
• Burning the single appeal on a taste disagreement instead of a factual/procedural error
• Ignoring AI disclosure requirements during submission

Decision pathways after submit

What lands in your inbox, and what each outcome implies for a public-finance paper.

Outcome	What it means	Your move
Desk reject	Editor judged fit/contribution below bar before review	Re-route (jpube-topic-selection) or strengthen welfare framing
Reject after review	Specialists found a design or welfare gap	Appeal only on a clear error; else resubmit elsewhere
Major revision	Contribution viable; identification/welfare needs work	Route fundamentals to identification/data skills, then rebuttal
Minor revision	Close; clarifications and exhibits	Tighten, document, return promptly
Accept	—	Confirm data-availability and final source files

Worked vignette: deciding whether to appeal (illustrative)

A bunching paper is rejected; two specialist reports agree the excess-mass counterfactual is the weak point, while one aside claims "the elasticity (e = 0.4, illustrative) is implausibly high." The author wants to appeal the second remark. The review-process read: the binding objection is the counterfactual, which is a substantive design judgment, not a factual or procedural error — so it is not appeal-eligible. The single appeal is reserved; the better path is to rebuild the counterfactual and resubmit (or send elsewhere), not to spend the one-shot appeal contesting taste.

Calibration anchors

• Plan for named, specialist referees who see your identity: pre-empt the obvious public-finance objection (counterfactual, pre-trends, sufficient-statistic assumption) in the manuscript itself.
• Calibration: short-paper-track targets are published separately from the standard track; do not infer a fixed turnaround time for ordinary submissions from the short-paper 4-6 week target.

Output format

【Review model】single anonymized (identity visible), ≥2 reviewers — understood? [Y/N]
【Editorial Manager】account + metadata ready? [Y/N]
【SSRN preprint】opt-in decision: [yes/no]
【AI disclosure】prepared? [Y/N]
【Appeal status】reserved for clear error, ≤1 use — noted? [Y/N]
【Next step】jpube-submission