Submission Preflight (aejmac-submission)

When to trigger

• "Submitting tomorrow" — last check before pressing submit on the AEA system
• Unsure which files, fees, and statements the AEA submission expects
• Confirming the format rules (PDF, length, abstract, JEL) are AEJ: Macro-compliant
• Confirming disclosure statements and data/code readiness are in order

Process facts (verified 2026-06; editor + fees re-verified 2026-06-22; re-confirm on the official AEA pages)

• AEJ: Macro is one of the AEA's four American Economic Journals (founded 2009; quarterly). Print ISSN 1945-7707 / Online ISSN 1945-7715. Submission is through the AEA submission system as PDF. Editor (re-verified 2026-06-22): Ayşegül Şahin (Princeton); coeditors Bianchi (Johns Hopkins), Kalemli-Özcan (Brown), Quadrini (USC) — re-verify the masthead on the AEA editors page before submission.
• Submission fee (membership- and income-scaled; 检索于 2026-06-22；以官网为准): AEA members US$200 (high-income country) / US$100 (middle-income) / US$0 (low-income); nonmembers US$300 / US$200 / US$0. Paid by credit card at submission. Papers rejected without review receive a 50% refund.
• Publication fee: US$15 per typeset page, assessed at page proofs (applies to papers submitted after Feb 1, 2024; 检索于 2026-06-22；以官网为准).
• Review: single-blind (author known to referee). JEL codes required. AI cannot be listed as an author.
• Data & code: governed by the AEA Data and Code Availability Policy; the AEA Data Editor runs a pre-publication reproducibility check; deposit at the AEA Data and Code Repository on openICPSR (see aejmac-replication-package). Field experiments register in the AEA RCT Registry.

Preflight checklist

Format & length

• One PDF; first page has title, byline, and complete affiliations
• Abstract ≤100 words
• JEL codes and keywords included
• Within length guidance: ~40 pages (11pt, 1.5 spacing) / ~45 pages (12pt, 1.5 spacing), including figures, tables, references, and appendices (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准)
• Figures/tables legible after AEA two-column typesetting; IRFs have stated confidence bands
• Online appendix prepared for material beyond the page limit

Files & fees for the AEA system

• Main manuscript PDF; online appendix file if any
• Fee tier determined (member/nonmember × income tier); card ready
• Replication package staged for the post-acceptance Data Editor check (incl. simulation/calibration code)
• Field-experiment registration link ready, if applicable

Declarations

• Separate disclosure statement from each coauthor (AEA policy; US$10,000 interested-party threshold; all funding sources, in-kind support, positions)
• Confirmed the paper is original and not under review elsewhere
• AI not listed as an author

Anti-patterns

• Abstract over 100 words (a hard AEJ: Macro constraint, tighter than most journals)
• Missing JEL codes
• Forgetting a per-coauthor disclosure statement (each coauthor, separately)
• Overrunning the ~40-page guidance instead of moving material to the online appendix
• Treating the $15/page proof fee as a submission-time charge
• Assuming double-blind anonymization (AEJ: Macro is single-blind)

Output format

【Format】PDF; title page; JEL + keywords? [Y/N]
【Abstract】≤100 words? [Y/N] (current: __)
【Length】within ~40pp guidance (incl. appendices) or appendix split planned? [Y/N]
【Fee】member/nonmember × income tier determined; card ready? [Y/N]
【Disclosure】separate statement per coauthor; $10k threshold checked? [Y/N]
【Data/code】replication package staged for the AEA Data Editor? [Y/N]
【Next step】submit via the AEA system → aejmac-referee-strategy for what to expect

Supplementary resources

• templates/checklist.md — 8-section pre-submission self-check
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — official AEA URLs behind every fact