E24 - How does an academic journal work? with Catherine Maclean

Jul 6, 2021

Catherine Maclean, an Associate Professor of Economics at Temple University and co-editor at JPAM, dives into the intriguing mechanics of academic journals. She clears the fog around the publishing process, shedding light on the roles of editors and the complexities of peer reviews. Topics include navigating the application process, the importance of aligning manuscripts with journal objectives, and strategies for effective feedback. Maclean also discusses managing research amidst personal commitments, including her life with five dogs!

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ANECDOTE

Editors Can Spend Hours On One Paper

Catherine prioritized JPAM handling and often reads new manuscripts immediately or the next day.
She sometimes spends hours re-reading a difficult paper before making a decision.

INSIGHT

Actionable Referee Comments Determine Fate

Editors look for action items in referee reports to judge whether a paper is salvageable.
Clear, specific critiques (e.g., bad pre-trends, missing robustness checks) matter more than vague complaints.

ADVICE

Tell The Editor The Bottom Line

In your private letter to the editor, synthesize your recommendation and key reasons.
Tell the editor clearly if you recommend accept, revise, or reject and list the main supporting points.

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In this episode, we talk with Catherine Maclean, a co-editor for the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (JPAM), on how a journal works? What is the hierocracy and process behind the inner workings of an academic journal? Catherine is an Associate Professor of Economics at Temple University. Professor Maclean's research uses health and labor economic theory to empirically explore the causes and consequences of substance use, mental health, insurance coverage, and labor market outcomes. Professor Maclean is a Research Associate in the Health Economics Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a Research Affiliate at the Institute of Labor Economics. She is a Co-Editor at the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. Professor Maclean's research is supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the American Cancer Society.

Sebastian Tello-Trillo is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.

Alex Hollingsworth is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University.

Show Notes:

Check out the "TOPS" Seminar series at this link: https://www.tobaccopolicy.org.

The Tobacco Online Policy Seminar (TOPS) goal is to provide a free multidisciplinary, international forum for research using experimental or quasi-experimental variation (i.e., a well-defined counterfactual) to study nicotine-tobacco policies, with a particular interest in emerging tobacco products and modified risk tobacco products.

Recommendations of the week:

Catherine's recommendation of the week is to follow David Powell on Twitter. His handle is @thedavidpowell. His account is primarily lighthearted, punny jokes that relax the feed. Catherine's second recommendation is to get into legos!

Alex's recommendation of the week is to have an email template to reply to emails from students' requests about classes. Make sure you have several templates that you can copy and paste when responding to emails.

Sebastian's recommendation of the week is to check out JPAM's closer look a podcast on the papers published on JPAM [link here]