As editors of the SSRN’s /ERN History of Economics eJournal,/ we have
recently been made aware of a paper written in a style so aggressive and
uncivil that several members of our community have questioned how we
could have allowed it to be circulated and why we have not forced it to
be withdrawn.We have decided, therefore, that this is a good opportunity
to clarify the nature of the/ERN History of Economics eJournal /and our
role as editors.
We should say at the outset, that we do not condone papers that engage
in /ad hominem /attacks or other forms of personal disparagement –
especially when it is directed at younger scholars or others whose
positions are not secure.Surely, one can challenge analysis,
interpretation, evidence, or methods while remaining within the bounds
of civil discourse.We urge everyone in our community to respect those
bounds.
Having said that, we nonetheless do not believe that it is our role as
editors, nor that we would have the capacity, to police civil discourse
on the ERN History of Economics eJournal.Contrary to what many people
appear to think or to urge, the /ERN History of Economics eJournal /is
not a journal in any ordinary sense and, equally, our role as editors is
not the role that we have had as editors of /History of Political
Economy/(Hoover) and the /Journal of the History of Economic Thought/
(Medema).The ERN History of Economics eJournal is a
subject-matter-specific working paper archive – no more, no less.Papers
are submitted to SSRN by their authors, and the authors choose which
eJournals that they would like them to be listed under – up to 12 are
allowed. The editors of the eJournals may reject a paper as
inappropriate for the eJournal – e.g., if the eJournal belongs to a
department or a society, then editors may pick and choose the papers
according to departmental or society rules.But if a paper is rejected
from an eJournal, it still remains accessible on SSRN. Editors are not
empowered to “reject” a paper from being posted, but only to insist on
its being appropriately classified.
Being listed in the/ERN History of Economics eJournal/ is not an
endorsement or a mark of approval on the part of the editors.
When the/ERN History of Economics eJournal /was first set up, it was
sponsored by the History of Economics Society.But last year, HES decided
to terminate its sponsorship of the eJournal at the end of the current
term.Its authority over the eJournal will soon transfer completely to
the publisher.
Our policy from the beginning is that as editors we are merely
facilitators, conveying working papers to the audience of historians of
economics. We do not make decisions about quality or content. We are not
gatekeepers. Our policy is to assume that papers submitted to the /ERN
History of Economics eJournal/ are appropriate and to disqualify them
only when we cannot believe that any historians of economics /qua
/historian might find the paper of interest.That is a very permissive
policy, and we, in fact, disqualify only a few papers.But we do not
believe that it is our role either to separate the wheat from the chaff
or to enforce social norms, which, in any case, would not be universally
agreed.
Our policy is motivated in large part by the desire to keep an open
forum.But it is not only that we favor free speech; it is also the
practical matter that we could not read and assess the large number of
papers that are posted to SSRN.
Promoting and maintaining civility and collegiality within our community
is up to all of us, but it cannot be done successfully by our becoming
gatekeepers of what can be posted on the /ERN History of Economics
eJournal./Indeed, we worry that our trying to do so might undermine
rather than promote those values.
Kevin D. Hoover <[log in to unmask]>
Steven G. Medema <[log in to unmask]>
Editors,/ERN History of Economics eJournal/
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