What Does it Take to Publish in the AJAE? Get a good idea. Turn the idea into a well-posed, answerable question. Do the research right. Write Effectively. Understand the review process.
Some Do’s Make sure the paper matches the focus of the journal. Follow journal submission guidelines. Communicate your contribution effectively. Be positive in your evaluation of existing literature. Explain details carefully. Make notation understandable, concise, and consistent.
More Do’s Pay attention to detail. Keep equations to a minimum. Focus on one idea per manuscript. Keep manuscripts as short and focused as possible. Remember that reading the manuscript has to be a “pleasurable” experience for a reviewer. Respond constructively to criticism. Learn to become a good reviewer.
Some Don’ts Spend any time on a cover letter. Spend any time trying to influence who your reviewers will be. Fight with reviewers. Submit too many papers to the same journal. Write nasty s to the editor asking why they are so incompetent. Get discouraged by rejection. Send in submissions without page numbers, with pages missing, no author contact information, etc.
More Don’ts Decline reasonable review requests from journals you are interested in publishing in. Get defensive. Write a paper on a topic and not place it within the context of the existing literature.