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Qje Submission

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qje-submission

Qje Submission is an Agent Skill for documents published in the brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills repository on GitHub: a SKILL.md instruction file an AI agent can load to do this task.

Use when running the final pre-submission preflight for the Quarterly Journal of Economics (QJE) via Editorial Express — single-PDF format, double-blind anonymization, author-date references, the no-fee policy, and supplementary files. Final checks; it does not draft content.

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How to use this skill

Bring this guide into your coding agent with a prompt tailored to the tool you use.

  1. Open your project in Codex.
  2. Copy and paste the prompt below.
  3. Review files and risks before approving any action.
Prompt to paste
Inspect the Agent Skill at https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills/blob/HEAD/Quarterly-Journal-of-Economics-Skills/skills/qje-submission/SKILL.md and all supporting files. Report provenance, permissions, scripts, dependencies, and security risks. Propose an exact installation into .agents/skills/qje-submission, but wait for my approval before writing files or running scripts.

Copying this prompt does not install or run the skill. Review third-party files before use.

Submission Preflight (qje-submission)

When to trigger

  • "Submitting tomorrow" — last check before pressing submit on Editorial Express
  • Unsure which files Editorial Express expects at the initial-submission stage
  • Confirming the single-PDF format, double-blind anonymization, and author-date style are QJE-compliant
  • Checking declarations and supplementary-materials requirements

Process facts (verified; re-confirm specifics on the official page)

  • QJE is published by Oxford University Press and edited at Harvard University's Department of Economics — the oldest English-language economics journal (founded 1886) and one of the top-5. Source: academic.oup.com/qje; Wikipedia.
  • Submission is through Editorial Express at editorialexpress.com/qje — the same Express platform used by several econ journals, not OUP's ScholarOne. Admin contact: [email protected].
  • There is no submission fee. This is unusual among top-5 journals (AER, JPE, REStud all charge); do not budget for one. QJE is hybrid open access, so an optional OA charge applies only after acceptance if you choose it.
  • Initial submission is a single PDF containing the full manuscript, tables, figures, and appendices. No Word files, no LaTeX source, no separate figure files at this stage — source files are requested only after acceptance.
  • QJE uses double-blind refereeing — the manuscript must be fully anonymized.
  • The editorial team — five Editors, all at Harvard (Robert J. Barro, Lawrence F. Katz, Nathan Nunn, Andrei Shleifer, and Stefanie Stantcheva, masthead re-verified 2026-06-22; re-check before submitting) — makes fast desk decisions (roughly two weeks), the quickest among the top-5 flagships, so a clean, complete submission is part of clearing the first screen. (Acceptance runs ~1-4%; desk-reject ~60%+.)

Preflight checklist

Format & style

  • One single PDF with manuscript, tables, figures, and appendices embedded (no Word, no separate figure files)
  • References in author-date (Chicago) style; reference list alphabetical by surname
  • Abstract is short (target ~150 words)
  • Tables and figures numbered, called out in order, with self-contained notes
  • Long manuscripts are fine (no hard page limit); an extensive online appendix is expected
  • PDF compiles cleanly; figures legible at print resolution

Anonymization (double-blind — required)

  • No author names, affiliations, or acknowledgments in the PDF
  • Self-citations phrased neutrally ("Smith (2020) shows", not "in our earlier work")
  • PDF metadata/properties scrubbed of author identity
  • Acknowledgments and funding info kept out of the body, supplied separately

Files for Editorial Express

  • Main manuscript as a single PDF (figures/tables/appendix embedded)
  • Cover letter (concise: question, design, headline result, general-interest fit)
  • Suggested / excluded referees prepared (expert, fair, conflict-free)
  • Replication materials staged for the accepted stage (see qje-replication-package)

Declarations

  • Conflict-of-interest / disclosure statement consistent with the AEA Disclosure Policy
  • Funding and data-source disclosures prepared
  • Confirmed the paper is not under review elsewhere

Final content sanity

  • Abstract states the finding with a number (see qje-writing-style)
  • Identification diagnostics complete (see qje-identification, qje-robustness)
  • No over-claiming beyond what the design supports

Anti-patterns

  • Uploading a Word file or separate figure files at initial submission (QJE wants one PDF)
  • Mixed/inconsistent reference styles instead of clean author-date
  • Leaving author identity in self-citations or PDF metadata under double-blind review
  • Budgeting for a submission fee that does not exist at QJE
  • A defensive, multi-page cover letter instead of a tight pitch the editors can read in two weeks
  • Submitting a thin appendix to a journal that expects an extensive one

Output format

【Single PDF】one file, all exhibits + appendix embedded? [Y/N]
【Reference style】author-date (Chicago), consistent? [Y/N]
【Anonymization】body + PDF metadata clean (double-blind)? [Y/N]
【Files staged】PDF / cover letter / referees? [Y/N each]
【Declarations】AEA disclosure / funding prepared? [Y/N]
【Content sanity】abstract states finding; identification complete? [Y/N]
【Next step】await ~2-week desk decision → qje-rebuttal on R&R

Supplementary resources