As editors of Agricultural and Resource Economics Review (ARER), we are excited to share with you information about four new opportunities at the journal. These changes were approved by the NAREA Board of Directors earlier this summer and we believe that these will help the continued growth and influence of the journal:

Special Expedited Review for Papers Co-Authored by Graduate Students. In recognition of the challenges that the lengthy publication process of most economic journals pose in getting high quality articles published when they are co-authored by graduate students, the ARER editors have established an expedited review process for manuscripts submitted that include graduate students as co-authors. The process is designed to take less than four months from submission to final decision. For example, a paper that is submitted at the start of a semester could go through the entire review process before the semester ends. The three-step process works as follows.

Upon submission, the manuscript will undergo an expedited review such that the authors will receive a decision and reviews within two months (60 days). The review process will have the same rigor as other ARER submissions.

If requested for a revision, authors will then be asked to complete their revisions and response to reviewers within 45 days.

Upon receipt of the revised manuscript, the ARER editor will make a decision on whether to publish the paper or not based on its current condition. In other words, there will not be a second or third round of revisions.

Authors wanting to be considered for this expedited review process should indicate a preference for the “Special Expedited Review” in the box entitled “Brief Comments/Instructions to Editor” that is part of the ARER on-line submission process and in the cover letter to the editors. 

ARER Young Scholar award. Starting in 2013, the ARER Young Scholar award will be given annually to the graduate student who co-authored the best paper in ARER in the preceding year. The ARER Young Scholar award includes a $1,000 and will be given out each year at the NAREA annual conference. To be eligible, the graduate students can be listed anywhere in the author list order, however, preference will be given to publications where the significant contributions of the graduate student are reflected in the author ordering.

ARER Advisor award. Starting in 2013, the ARER Advisor award will be given annually to the faculty advisor of the graduate student who won the ARER Young Scholar award for co-authoring the best paper in ARER that year.

ARER Fellows award. The ARER Fellows award is for authors who have demonstrated sustained excellence in research and commitment to the association’s journal. The ARER Fellows award is given to authors who have published five or more peer-reviewed articles in Agricultural and Resource Economics Review or under the journal’s former name Journal of the Northeastern Agricultural Economics Council. This group of ARER Fellows represents less than 1% of the total number of authors who have published in these journals.

Finally, we wanted to let you know that starting in 2013, ARER will be lowering its page fees to $65 per page (previously the fee has been $75 per page). This change will also coincide with a new look journal intended to make the journal easier to read by electronic devices.

We are happy to answer any of your questions regarding these four new opportunities and we look forward to receiving your submissions to ARER.