Worried about the dreaded rejection without a request for revision–which is practically useless in terms of improving a paper–I sat on that stack of first drafts far longer than I should have. I knew I had a publication problem, so I signed up for a workshop sponsored by the Koch Foundation and led by Josh Hall at APEE 2017, held at Maui that year. I like to tell people that it took going to Hawaii to get the publication process going, but really, all it took was taking a bit of common sense to heart. Hopefully, I can save a few of you the trip to Hawaii by imparting the wisdom that got the publication process going for me.
Without missing a beat, the eminently professional Josh Hall replied, “Just send your best paper out, and let the review process take care of quality problems.”
Brain asplode. Of course! Why hadn’t I thought of that? Just start sending stuff out. Maybe do a last pass to make sure it’s tight. But, like, just send stuff out and use the publication process as an opportunity to improve my paper rather than seeing it as some hard and fast barrier. Josh reminded us that lots of journals took a lighter hand to papers submitted by grad students, and were willing to work with promising grad papers and papers submitted by young faculty.
Finally, I understood what Josh meant: the review process is part of the writing process.
To use myself as an example: JASSS is a good journal for what I’m doing, but it’s not a good fit for most economists. I’m very proud of my pub at The American Economist, but their ranking is not super-high. I’m really, really hopeful about my papers out at JOIE and JEM right now, but even they aren’t ranked super-high. Someday, I’m hopeful the kind of stuff I’m doing could be a good fit for Science. I could certainly envision a paper of mine at JEP, JPE, or JEL, though perhaps not at AER or Econometrica. I would love to have a top-tier pub by the time I’m on the job market and will endeavor in that direction, but I feel good about my mid-tier pubs, too.
The takeaway? It’s a magical thing to have editors and referees willing to read your (never perfect enough!) papers. You don’t get this opportunity in fiction writing unless you pay dearly for it. Utilize the system you have at your fingertips. If you’re really uncertain about a pub, send it to a fellow student who has a teeny bit more publication experience, or wheedle a friendly faculty member into taking a look. Spend time developing an understanding for “good” and “high-tier” journals before you polish your first drafts, so you can tailor them. Start higher-tier and work your way down if rejected. Take up the challenge of revision if offered, especially in the early pubs. See failure as the goal, not success, so that you’re always challenging and extending yourself. And don’t sweat it. There are humans on the other end of a review process, all who have been where you are now.
Good luck.
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