The Costs of Critical Commentary in Economics Journals

Robert Whaples

Econ Journal Watch, 2006, vol. 3, issue 2, 275-282

Abstract: THE BENEFITS OF CRITICAL COMMENTARY ARE MANIFEST. Indeed, all of human understanding depends upon it. Coelho, De Worken-Eley, and McClure (2005) document that critical commentary declined as a share of the pages published in five highly-ranked economics journals between 1963 and 2004. They argue that this decline constitutes a negative trend, chastising journal editors for this mistake, while enumerating several benefits that arise from commentary—especially the discovery and advertisement of errors and limitations, but also allowing readers and researchers to achieve a broader and deeper comprehension, constraining editors’ self-serving behavior, and piquing readers’ interest. They argue that “an editorial posture that eschews critical commentary subjugates the spirit of scientific inquiry,†and suggest that editors’ ignorance of the benefits are at the root the problem (360).

Date: 2006
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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