Peer review process

Economic Thought is committed to openness in academic publishing and wishes to enhance the social and cooperative aspects of research. Once submissions have been vetted by the editors, those that fall within the journal’s remit and meet acceptable standards of professional quality will be assessed through the open peer review process. Papers (with named authors) will be posted on the journal’s Open Peer Discussion forum for a minimum of eight weeks in order to solicit comment and debate. The editors may also request further comments or reviews from experts in relevant fields.

Economic Thought operates a novel form of peer review using an Open Peer Discussion Forum or OPD. The OPD system is open in the following respects:

  • Papers are posted with the name of the author visible
  • Comments are welcome as well as solicited from experts in the field
  • Comments are screened by the editors and then posted with the name of the commentator (at the request of the commentators the comments may be posted anonymously)
  • Authors may respond to the commentators and their response will be posted
  • If a comment is received that is an extended commentary and of sufficient quality, the editors may, at their discretion, decide to publish it alongside the relevant paper
  • The decision process on whether to publish a paper is transparent

Once the Discussion Forum for a specific paper is closed, the editors reach their decision on whether to publish the paper and – if accepted – the author is invited to revise the paper for publication. At least two editors will be involved in the decision to publish or reject. The authors are expected to acknowledge the comments in the redraft of their papers.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.