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be withdrawn.We have decided, therefore, that this is a good opportunity 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/