Topic Selection (ecopol-topic-selection)

When to trigger

• You are deciding whether a question is worth pitching to Economic Policy or developing for a possible commission
• A coauthor asks "is this an EP paper, or a field-journal paper dressed up as policy?"
• The topic is technically interesting but you cannot name the decision a policymaker faces
• The question risks reading as last decade's debate rather than a live European/global policy issue
• You need to know which of the two likely discussants (academic vs. policy) would find it worth their time

The EP topic bar: would the Panel commission this?

Since the 2025 relaunch, EP is commissioned and online-only — the Managing Editor invites papers on the journal's thematic priorities; unsolicited papers are not accepted (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准). In practice the realistic route is to become the obvious person to commission: circulate a working draft, pitch the Managing Editor, or get visible inside the CEPR/CESifo/Sciences Po networks. So topic selection is really Panel selection: would the Panel put this in front of two discussants and a room of economists and policymakers?

A topic clears the EP bar when it satisfies all four:

1. Timely and live. There is a current policy decision, reform, or debate on the table — not a settled question. EP's subtitle is Papers on European and Global Issues; a European or global policy hook is a strong signal.
2. Important. The stakes are first-order — money, welfare, institutions — large enough that a finance ministry or central bank would care about the answer.
3. Tractable with credible evidence. There is identifying variation or a disciplined model that can actually answer it, not just describe it.
4. A clear decision-relevant takeaway. You can state, in one sentence, what a policymaker should do (or stop doing, or reconsider) if your result holds.

Branch by what kind of policy question it is

How to sharpen a weak topic

• Write the headline policy sentence first: "Policy X raised/lowered Y by Z; therefore a policymaker should ___." If you cannot fill the blank, it is not yet an EP topic.
• Identify the two audiences in the panel room: name the academic discussant's subfield and the policy discussant's institution. A topic that excites only one is at risk.
• Pressure-test timeliness: is the decision being made now, or did it close? EP rewards papers that arrive while the debate is open.
• Separate the novel finding from the novel question. EP can reward a sharp answer to an old question if the policy moment is live, but the policy relevance must be unmistakable.

Checklist

• One-sentence headline that names a policy decision and a magnitude
• The question is live — a current European or global policy debate, not a closed one
• Stakes are first-order; a ministry/central bank/Commission would care about the answer
• There is credible identifying variation or a disciplined model, not just description
• Both panel personas (academic + policy discussant) would find it worth debating
• It is distinguishable from an AEJ:EP / J.Pub.E. field paper — the policy decision, not the method, is the point
• Process facts (commissioned-only, online-only) cited from resources/official-source-map.md or marked 待核实

Anti-patterns

• A clean estimate with no policy lever — EP is not a field journal that rewards identification for its own sake
• A topic pitched purely to economists, ignoring the policy discussant who will be in the room
• Branding a single-country study as "European" without a comparative or institutional payoff
• Reviving a settled debate with no live decision attached
• Assuming you can submit unsolicited — confirm the commissioning route (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准)
• Inventing editor names, conference dates, or fees instead of marking 待核实

Output format

【Journal】Economic Policy (EP)
【Skill】ecopol-topic-selection
【Headline policy sentence】<decision + magnitude + recommendation>
【Timeliness】live debate? (which current policy decision)
【Panel personas】academic discussant subfield / policy discussant institution
【Verdict】Panel-worthy / sharpen / reroute to field journal
【Sibling boundary】why EP not AEJ:EP / Brookings / J.Pub.E.
【Source status】verified URL / 待核实
【Next skill】ecopol-literature-positioning