Submission Preflight (imfer-submission)

When to trigger

• "Submitting tomorrow" — last check before pressing submit on Editorial Manager
• Unsure which files IMFER expects (anonymized main file, separate title/bio file, supplementary appendix)
• Confirming house style: italicized abstract, JEL codes, Chicago citations, American spelling
• Confirming the double-blind requirements are met and no author traces remain in the main file

Process facts (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准)

• IMFER is the IMF's flagship scholarly journal, published by Palgrave Macmillan / Springer Nature for the International Monetary Fund (Online via Springer Nature Link, journal 41308); successor to IMF Staff Papers. Submission is via the journal's online system (Editorial Manager) — confirm the live portal on the official page.
• Editor (verified 2026-06-22): Jesús Fernández-Villaverde (Penn); Co-Editor: Emine Boz (IMF). Earlier Gourinchas/Kose listings are stale. Re-verify on the live Palgrave board before naming an editor.
• Double-blind review: the main article file and all table/figure files must not contain any author-identifying information; anonymize self-citations.
• Author information separate: full contact details and author biographies go in a separate file; biographies ≤80 words per author.
• Abstract + JEL: the paper opens with an italicized abstract followed by JEL classification codes.
• Style: essentially The Chicago Manual of Style; American spelling, punctuation, and syntax.
• Data & code: prepare a data-availability statement and replication package; restricted IMF/central-bank inputs handled with access instructions, not redistribution (see imfer-replication-package). Confirm exact deposit requirements on the official pages — 待核实.
• Fees / open access / exact length & abstract-word limits: 待核实 — not asserted here; confirm on the Springer Nature IMFER submission-guidelines page before relying on them.

Preflight checklist

Double-blind & files

• Main article file and every table/figure file are free of author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, and grant numbers
• Self-citations anonymized in text and references
• Separate file with full contact details (corresponding author) and author bios ≤80 words each
• Supplementary / online appendix prepared as a separate file if used
• Replication package / data-availability statement ready (restricted-data access instructions included)

Format & house style

• Abstract is italicized, compact, self-contained, with a policy-unit magnitude
• JEL codes present immediately after the abstract
• Chicago Manual of Style citations/references; American spelling
• Figures/tables: transparent country coverage; no significance asterisks; SEs/CIs reported
• Acronyms (CFM, DSA, GFC) defined on first use

Substance gate (before the portal)

• Policy "so what" explicit in intro and abstract; implication bounded to the evidence
• Identification + country-composition checks visible in the main paper
• Not under review elsewhere; AI not listed as an author

File-by-file upload map

Editorial Manager expects the manuscript split across files; have them ready and correctly typed before you start the session, because the system will not let you finish without them.

• Main manuscript (anonymized PDF): abstract (italic) + JEL + body + exhibits + references, no author traces
• Title / author file (separate): title, all authors, affiliations, corresponding-author contacts, ≤80-word bios, acknowledgments, grant numbers
• Supplementary / online appendix (separate): secondary proofs, reserve robustness, extended tables
• Replication / data-availability material: the statement plus package or access instructions (per imfer-replication-package)
• Cover letter: the contribution in two sentences and the policy relevance; suggested/excluded referees if invited

Anti-patterns

• Submitting a main file that still names the authors or institution (breaks double-blind)
• Putting bios/contact details in the main file instead of a separate file
• A non-italicized abstract or missing JEL codes
• Asterisks/boldface for significance; opaque country coverage
• British spelling / non-Chicago references against house style
• Asserting a fee, word limit, or deposit rule that is actually 待核实
• Leaving acknowledgments, grant numbers, or a self-naming working-paper footnote that de-anonymizes the file

The double-blind sweep (do this last)

Anonymization is the most common IMFER desk-return trigger, and it is easy to half-do. Before upload, sweep the main file and every exhibit file for: author names and initials; institutional affiliations; acknowledgments and thanks; grant and IRB numbers; "as we showed in [our prior paper]" self-references; working-paper series footnotes that name the authors; and file metadata/properties that embed the author. Self-citations should read in the third person. The title page, full contacts, and ≤80-word bios live in the separate file the system asks for — never in the manuscript.

Worked vignette (illustrative)

A paper is otherwise ready but the PDF's first-page footnote thanks a discussant "at our department seminar," the acknowledgments name the grant, and Table 1's note says "see Smith and Lee (2024), our companion paper." All three break double-blind. The fix: move acknowledgments and the grant to the separate title file, rewrite the companion-paper note in the third person, strip PDF metadata, and confirm the abstract is italicized with JEL codes beneath it. Now the main file is clean for Editorial Manager.

Output format

【Journal】IMF Economic Review
【Skill】imfer-submission
【Double-blind】main + exhibit files anonymized; self-cites blinded? [Y/N]
【Separate file】contacts + bios (≤80 words)? [Y/N]
【Abstract+JEL】italicized abstract + JEL codes? [Y/N]
【House style】Chicago + American spelling; no asterisks? [Y/N]
【Replication】data-availability statement + restricted-data access path? [Y/N]
【Volatile facts】fees / limits / deposit rules confirmed or 待核实
【Next step】submit via Editorial Manager → imfer-rebuttal after the decision

Supplementary resources

• templates/checklist.md — submission self-check
• templates/manuscript_template.md — lightweight manuscript scaffold
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — official URLs and volatile facts