Comments on articles published in the JME
The Journal of Monetary Economics has an specific procedure for handling comments on articles that are published in the Journal, motivated by our view that must pass the opportunity cost test with respect to other use of journal pages. Therefore, we require that any comment is essentially a short paper on a topic closely related to a prior JME manuscript, although we frequently offer the author of the original paper the right to respond to the comment.
If a comment is submitted, then both the author of the new manuscript and the author of the original JME article receive the following communication that outlines our procedure:
"The Journal of Monetary Economics has received the attached manuscript to be considered for publication. It is a comment on a prior JME publication.
Relative to some other journals, the JME has an unusual policy with respect to comments, which is the reason that I am simultaneously contacting the author of the original JME publication (original author, below) and the corresponding author of the comment (comment author below)
Our policy is as follows.
As a first stage, we ask the that the original author read the comment and communicate his perspectives to the comment author via email, with a copy of this correspondence to Sue North at the Rochester JME office (north@simon.rochester.edu), within FOUR weeks of this email message. We do this to encourage the original author to become familiar with the arguments in the comment. We have also found that disagreements sometimes disappear with discussion between original and comment authors. Finally, we do not want to send a manuscript to a referee until the original and comment authors have resolved all matters of clarification etc.
Three important points to note about the first stage: If the original author does not respond within this time frame, then he forfeits his opportunity to respond to the comment if it is published. After eight weeks, the comment author has the right to discontinue the discussion unilaterally and ask for the paper to be sent to the referee. If the authors "agree to disagree" at an earlier point in the discussion, then they can ask for a referee assignment earlier by each sending emails to Sue North.
As a second stage, we review the manuscript using standard JME procedures that involve a referee report and an editorial evaluation. We do not use the original author as a referee, although the correspondence that he and the comment author have sent to Sue North concerning the manuscript will be part of the manuscript file. We publish comments only if they meet the test of making important contributions relative to the literature, since the opportunity cost of a page devoted to a comment is a page devoted to a regular journal article. Historically, we have published few comments.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about this matter.
The editors"