JME Workflow Router (jme-workflow)

Overview

This is the router. It does not replace any specialized skill. It tells you which jme- skill to use at the current stage* of a manuscript aimed at the Journal of Monetary Economics (JME).

Default assumption: unless told otherwise, treat the target as JME — Elsevier's leading outlet for monetary economics and macroeconomics broadly defined (monetary theory and policy, central banking, business cycles, growth, financial intermediation, fiscal interactions, expectations), in both quantitative/DSGE and empirical/applied-policy modes. Operational tells you are at JME and not a generic top econ journal: submission via Elsevier Editorial Manager (editorialmanager.com/monec/); a US$350 fee (US$200 for full-time PhD students) charged up front (no fee on resubmission; half refunded on a direct return); single anonymized (single-blind) review with at least two reviewers; the distinctive "up or out" first-revision rule and the ~50% publication-likelihood threshold for an R&R; a strict 40-page / ≤10 tables-and-figures cap on accepted papers; a 100-word abstract that may not begin with "This paper" or "We"; and the annual Carnegie-Rochester-NYU Conference Series on Public Policy issue. Editors are S. Borağan Aruoba (Maryland) and Eric Swanson (UC Irvine). Re-verify volatile specifics on the official page.

When to trigger

• The user asks "what should I do next?"
• The user hands over a draft and needs the current bottleneck diagnosed
• Work is ping-ponging between the model, the empirics, writing, and the response letter
• A JME decision letter arrived (reject / revise-and-resubmit) and the user needs to switch modes

Routing table

Default order

1. jme-topic-selection — confirm a first-order monetary/macro question and JME fit
2. jme-literature-positioning — stake the contribution against the frontier
3. jme-contribution-framing — sharpen the "what's new + policy lesson" claim
4. jme-identification-strategy — make the shock/mechanism identification credible
5. jme-data-analysis — VAR / local projections / DSGE estimation and robustness
6. jme-tables-figures — fit IRFs and tables under the ≤10 cap, online appendix for the rest
7. jme-writing-style — JME house style; 100-word abstract; author-date references
8. jme-replication-and-data-policy — ScienceDirect/Mendeley deposit + AI declaration
9. jme-review-process — understand single-blind, two-referee, "up or out", 50% threshold
10. jme-submission — Editorial Manager preflight (fee, 40 pages, line numbers, JEL codes)
11. jme-rebuttal — after the R&R (the resubmission must end in accept or reject)

jme-writing-style is a late-stage polish. Do not rewrite the intro before the model and identification are settled — the argument will change.

Decision shortcuts

• "Is my question monetary-macro enough for JME?" → jme-topic-selection
• "My TWFE/VAR shock is not really identified" → jme-identification-strategy
• "Should I report VAR and local projections?" → jme-data-analysis
• "I have 14 figures" → jme-tables-figures
• "My abstract starts with 'We'" → jme-writing-style
• "Editor may require my Dynare code" → jme-replication-and-data-policy
• "Submitting tomorrow; do I pay the fee now?" → jme-submission
• "Got an R&R — what does 'up or out' mean for me?" → jme-rebuttal

Routing snapshot (copy, fill, keep at the top of the working notes)

JME MANUSCRIPT ROUTING SNAPSHOT
================================================================
Venue          : Journal of Monetary Economics (Elsevier)
Portal         : Editorial Manager — editorialmanager.com/monec/
Editors        : S. Borağan Aruoba (Maryland) | Eric Swanson (UC Irvine)
Issue track    : [ ] regular   [ ] Carnegie-Rochester-NYU policy issue
Review model   : single-blind, at least two referees
Revision rule  : first revision is "up or out" — resubmission ends in
                 accept or reject; R&R only if publication likelihood
                 is judged roughly >= 50%

STAGE GATES — mark exactly one line CURRENT
[ ] G1  scope        question is aggregate/monetary ... jme-topic-selection
[ ] G2  positioning  frontier delta staked .......... jme-literature-positioning
[ ] G3  framing      "new + policy lesson" pitched .. jme-contribution-framing
[ ] G4  identification  shock/mechanism defended .... jme-identification-strategy
[ ] G5  estimation   VAR/LP/DSGE stress-tested ...... jme-data-analysis
[ ] G6  exhibits     IRFs/tables fit the cap ........ jme-tables-figures
[ ] G7  prose        house style applied ............ jme-writing-style
[ ] G8  deposit      replication package staged ..... jme-replication-and-data-policy
[ ] G9  process      review rules understood ........ jme-review-process
[ ] G10 submission   Editorial Manager preflight .... jme-submission
[ ] G11 rebuttal     up-or-out response drafted ..... jme-rebuttal

SUBMISSION PREFLIGHT (all must be Y before G10 closes)
[ ] Abstract <= 100 words; does NOT begin with "This paper" or "We"
[ ] Text + references + footnotes <= 40 pages (accepted-paper cap;
    online supplement exempt)
[ ] Tables + figures combined <= 10
[ ] Submission fee ready: US$350 (US$200 full-time PhD students),
    paid up front; no fee on resubmission
[ ] Generative-AI declaration included per Elsevier policy

BLOCKER LOG
- current bottleneck : ______________________________________
- routed sub-skill   : jme-__________________________________
- unverified fact to re-check on the official page: __________

Re-fill the snapshot after every decision letter: a reject closes the file; an R&R moves CURRENT straight to G11 with the up-or-out clock running.

Anti-patterns

• Do not skip jme-literature-positioning and jump to estimation — referees judge the contribution first
• Do not polish exhibits while the shock identification or model is still shaky
• Do not treat the 40-page / ≤10 exhibit cap as a final-stage edit — design for it from the start
• Do not let jme-rebuttal draft the response before the revised manuscript exists — and remember the resubmission is up or out, not another R&R round