Evolving Standards for Academic Publishing: A q-r Theory

Glenn Ellison ()

Journal of Political Economy, 2002, vol. 110, issue 5, 994-1034

Abstract: This paper develops models of quality standards to examine two trends: academic journals increasingly require extensive revisions of submissions, and articles are becoming longer and changing in other ways. Papers are modeled as varying along two quality dimensions: q reflects the importance of the main ideas and r other aspects of quality. Observed trends are regarded as increases in r-quality. A static equilibrium model illustrates comparative statics explanations. A dynamic model in which referees (with a biased view of their own work) learn social norms for weighting q and r is shown to produce a long, gradual evolution of social norms.

Date: 2002
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Working Paper: Evolving Standards for Academic Publishing: A q-r Theory (2000)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ucp:jpolec:v:110:y:2002:i:5:p:994-1034

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