Submission Preflight for RED (red-submission)

When to trigger

• "Submitting tomorrow" — last check before uploading to RED
• Confirming the fee, the submission route, and the required front matter
• Unsure whether to anonymize (you should not — RED is single-anonymized)

RED submission facts (verified; re-confirm on official pages)

• Fee gates review. The current Elsevier Guide lists a USD 195 standard submission fee; USD 100 if all coauthors are full-time students at submission; no fee for papers being resubmitted a second or later time. First invited resubmissions pay a new fee. The review process does not begin until the fee is received.
• Route. Submit via the journal's ScienceDirect page ("Submit your article"); the workflow runs through Elsevier Editorial Manager.
• Do NOT anonymize. RED uses single-anonymized review — author identity is visible to reviewers.
• Abstract ≤250 words, stand-alone, no internal references.
• Keywords: 1 to 6.
• References: author-year (Harvard) style.
• Generative AI: declare any use at submission.
• SSRN preprint: RED offers free SSRN preprint posting during submission; the manuscript is made public once it passes the initial desk screen — opt in if you want early visibility.
• Replication and data readiness: stage the RED data/code archive now and prepare the Elsevier Option C data statement/repository metadata (see red-replication-and-data-policy). Flag any proprietary-data exemption to the Coordinating Editor at submission.

Preflight checklist

• Fee path confirmed (USD 195 / USD 100 all-student / exempt second-or-later resubmission); ready to pay
• Submitting via ScienceDirect → Editorial Manager
• Manuscript not anonymized (single-anonymized model)
• Abstract ≤250 words, stand-alone; 1–6 keywords; author-year references
• Generative-AI declaration prepared
• Replication archive staged; Option C data statement/repository metadata prepared
• Proprietary-data exemption flagged if needed
• SSRN preprint opt-in decided

Anti-patterns

• Anonymizing the manuscript for a single-anonymized journal
• Assuming review starts before the fee is paid
• Paying a fee on a second-round resubmission that is actually exempt

Last-mile desk-risk scan

Run this scan after the mechanical preflight — it catches the substantive issues the fee cannot fix:

Paying USD 195 for a paper that will stall at the suitability screen is the most expensive formatting error at this journal: the fee is per submission and the screen happens before referees see anything.

Fee-path micro-decisions

• Mixed team (one student, one faculty): the USD 100 rate does not apply — every coauthor must be a full-time student at submission.
• Resubmission rounds: first invited resubmissions pay again; second-and-later resubmissions are exempt — confirm which round your revision counts as against Editorial Manager before paying again.
• Fee paid but desk-rejected: the fee is sunk; do not resubmit a cosmetic revision, since the same suitability screen applies.
• Source precedence: the SED author page still carries an older 175 US dollar amount, while the active Elsevier Guide/payment workflow lists USD 195; use the Guide amount for live preflight.

Upload-order note

Stage files so Editorial Manager builds a clean review PDF: manuscript with embedded exhibits for the first round (allowed under "your paper your way"), then appendices, then declarations. Check the system-built PDF renders all model equations, IRF figures, and fonts before approving the submission — a garbled Bellman equation at the desk screen is a self-inflicted wound.

Output format

【Fee】USD 195 / 100 (all-student) / exempt (2nd+ resubmission)? [which]
【Route】ScienceDirect → Editorial Manager? [Y/N]
【Anonymization】left non-anonymized (single-anonymized)? [Y/N]
【Front matter】abstract ≤250w / 1-6 keywords / author-year refs? [Y/N each]
【Declarations】AI-use declared? [Y/N]
【Data/replication】archive staged; Option C statement/repository metadata prepared; exemption flagged if needed? [Y/N]
【Next step】await desk screen → red-review-process → red-rebuttal on R&R

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — fee, route, and front-matter sources
• red-replication-and-data-policy — the archive to stage before submitting