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10. The Internal Politics of Journal Editing
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10 I have been invited to write an essay on my experiences as founder and editor of the Cambridge University Press journal Macroeconomic Dynamics . I have decided to focus the essay on my experiences in starting up the journal. Few economists who have not themselves started a new journal are aware of the nature of the process and its sometimes complicated academic politics. The Conflict As is known to many economists, there was a conflict between another well-known journal and its society at around the time that I started up Macroeconomic Dynamics (MD) in 1996 and 1997. The journal was the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control (JEDC). The society was called the Society for Economic Dynamics and Control (SEDC). I was a member of the society and knew people involved on both sides of the conflict. The society wanted to be able to select that journal’s editorial board, which presumably meant changing existing members. But the society did not own the journal. Elsevier owned the journal and wanted to retain control of the editorial board membership. Consequently, the society approached Academic Press with a proposal to start up a new journal, with the society being authorized to appoint the editorial board. Tom Cooley was to be the managing editor, and there was to be a heavier emphasis on real business-cycle theory than was the case with the JEDC. Academic Press turned down the proposal. There were bad feelings about this conflict, both within the society and on the journal’s editorial board. I called an eminent officer of the society regarding the society’s concerns, and I also called Steve Turnovsky , one of the JEDC journal’s editors at the time, regarding the journal’s concerns. I explained that I could start up a new journal that The Internal Politics of Journal Editing William A. Barnett 164 William A. Barnett would be purely scientific and neutral regarding the differences of opinion between the society and the journal. I explained that I could propose the new journal to Cambridge University Press, with which I had good relations as editor of one of that publisher’s monograph series. I was advised by the society’s officer and by Steve that it would be a good idea and that I should do it as a possible means of solving the problem. I was concerned about how much of a commitment of my time would be required and whether that commitment was justified. As a result, I asked the society’s officer whether the plans to try to start up another new journal by the society would stop if I produced a neutral scientific macroeconomic journal with the name Macroeconomic Dynamics. He said that, yes, it would stop and that the plans were only talk. First New Journal I proposed the new journal to Cambridge University Press,which accepted the proposal. Next, I needed to select a board of editors. I selected a group of advisory editors and associate editors with the intent of spanning all areas of good macroeconomic science without any prejudice or identifiable agenda in methodology, geography, or politics. Then the problems began. I was lobbied by various advisory editors and associate editors to make changes in the editorial board. The degree of factionalism surprised me. There were attempts to change the balance toward a particular methodological or political view and also to change the balance geographically, nationalistically, regionally, racially, or ethnically. There also were gender-based pressures. Sometimes the lobbying was directed at perceived underrepresentation of a particular group. When I found that the criticism was justified, I asked for suggestions of economists to be added and invited additional board members from that group. More disturbing were pressures to eliminate a minority from representation so that the journal would represent solely the interests of a particular group, as is the case with many other journals, such as the Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, and various regional economics journals (such as those published in languages other than English). I was particularly surprised by the lobbying from some of the European board members to discredit and thereby eliminate board members from other European countries. Because a fundamental purpose of this journal was to avoid becoming identified [44.199.225.221] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 08:54 GMT) The Internal Politics of Journal Editing 165 with any such faction or group, I often did the exact opposite by increasing the size of...