Letter from the New Editor

Abstract

It is a tremendous honour and privilege to serve as the new Managing Editor of Australian Economic Papers. I am grateful for the opportunity to navigate the course of an Australian economics journal with a rich heritage that has spanned 60 years of publication of scholarly and applied economics research. Since its inception, Australian Economic Papers has published path-breaking contributions that have helped shape the advancement of the economics discipline nationally. Indeed, the journal's first issue in September 1962 featured the first econometric model of the Australian economy in John Nevile (1962), amongst other important offerings. The journal's history has also been graced with the work of international influencers such as Joan Robinson (1964) and Harry Johnson (1971, 1974), while consistently providing a friendly forum for emerging scholars to publish their research. To this day, the journal continues to feature a wide range of topics that are policy relevant, impactful and underpinned by robust economic analysis. Pleasingly, Australian Economic Papers' 2020 impact factor of 1.346 ranks the journal as fifth out of 14 Australian economics journals in the Web of Science's latest journal citation report. The journal's readership and global reach has been on a steady climb, as has the number of submissions received annually. Much credit goes to previous editorial teams for their careful stewardship of Australian Economic Papers over the years. I am thus presented with an exciting opportunity to steer a key Australian economics journal into new territory, building on the rich heritage that has shaped the journal's history and its growing visibility and impact across a number of metrics. In this regard, my near-to-medium-term focus will be two-pronged. The first has to do with diversification. While original research articles will contribute the bulk of the journal content, I look forward to increasing the categories of submissions received by the journal so we have a good balance of different article types within the journal. Furthermore, special sections featuring topics that are internationally appealing but nationally relevant will be planned. Themed contributions from emerging research communities in Vietnam and China were invited by the previous editor earlier this year (in volume 60 issue 1). The deadline for submitting these contributions is September 30, 2021. After this, I welcome proposals for other themed contributions within special sections that are strongly pertinent to Australian economic interests. Another important task is the welcome challenge of preparing for future expansion. Rigorous peer review is a vital component of our assessment of submitted articles, and the journal is fortunate to have a highly effective and active editorial support system in place. However, given the steady rise in the number of submissions to the journal in recent years, it is clear that the editorial team will have to grow. As such, I shall be inviting new associate editors to join the team very shortly. These will initially be experts in the fields of econometrics, economic measurement and development economics, which make up a significant share of current submissions to the journal. In the longer-term, I expect associate editors from other fields to the join the editorial team as the journal content further diversifies. Finally, I look forward to working with Australian Economic Papers' editorial board, who form a stellar cast of ambassadors for the journal. I am also grateful to the global community of expert peer reviewers, whose outstanding service and ongoing commitment to scholarly excellence have been vital for upholding the standards and integrity of the journal. Together, I am confident we can build on Australian Economic Papers' strengths to further increase its contributions to the advancement of the economics discipline nationally and internationally.