Submission Preflight (jue-submission)

When to trigger

• "Submitting tomorrow" — last check before pressing submit on Editorial Manager
• Unsure which files, fees, and declarations the Elsevier submission expects
• Confirming format and the cover letter are JUE-compliant
• Deciding between a full JUE article and the JUE: Insights short-paper track
• The data is confidential and the exemption must be requested at submission

Process facts (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准)

• JUE is the Elsevier field flagship in urban economics (ISSN 0094-1190; bimonthly; founded 1974 by Edwin Mills). Submission is through Elsevier Editorial Manager.
• Review model: single-anonymized (single-blind) — reviewers are anonymous to authors; author identities are visible. Editors first assess suitability; suitable papers go to (typically ≥2) reviewers.
• Submission fee: a nonrefundable US$100 fee is charged on new submissions, paid during submission; the paper is considered only after payment (待核实 exact amount and any waivers live).
• Co-editors-in-chief: Nathaniel Baum-Snow (Toronto) and Kristian Behrens (UQÀM) (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准).
• Mandatory replication policy: data + code deposited to a major repository at acceptance, before publication; proprietary/confidential data requires an exemption requested in the submission cover letter (see jue-replication-package).
• JUE: Insights short-paper track: ≤6,000 words and ≤5 exhibits; each exhibit below five buys +200 words (a zero-exhibit paper ≤7,000 words); manuscripts must carry the "JUE: Insights" title prefix; same peer-review process (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准).

Preflight checklist

Format & style

• Manuscript follows Elsevier/JUE format; exhibits and notes self-contained; references complete
• Abstract present (re-check exact word limit live; references in abstract given in full) (待核实)
• Standard errors reported; follow the journal's significance-reporting convention (待核实 exact style)
• Maps/figures legible in grayscale; spatial units, scale, and CRS clear in exhibits
• If JUE: Insights — title carries the "JUE: Insights" prefix; ≤6,000 words / ≤5 exhibits respected

Files & fees on Editorial Manager

• Main manuscript uploaded; exhibits and any online appendix in the expected formats
• US$100 submission fee ready (nonrefundable; paper considered only after payment)
• Cover letter prepared: contribution, venue fit (why JUE not RSUE/JEG/JPubE), and any confidential-data exemption request
• Suggested/excluded reviewers per the form, if requested
• Replication folder prepared (deposit due at acceptance, but assembled now — see jue-replication-package)

Declarations

• Competing-interests / funding declaration per Elsevier policy
• Confirmed not under review elsewhere; authorship and contributions accurate
• Data-availability statement consistent with the replication plan (or the exemption)
• Cover letter answers "is this JUE?" and "is the design credible?" up front
• A single best exhibit (map + design figure) makes the result legible at a glance

Anti-patterns

• Submitting without the US$100 fee ready (the paper is not considered until it is paid)
• Treating the APC (open-access charge) as if it were the submission fee — they are different
• Forgetting the "JUE: Insights" title prefix on a short-paper submission, or exceeding its limits
• Confidential data with no exemption request in the cover letter
• Naive (non-spatial) standard errors left in the tables at submission
• A cover letter that does not pre-empt the "why not a sibling journal" question

What to expect after submitting

• Editor triage first. The co-EiCs (or a handling editor) assess suitability before any referee sees the paper; a poorly-fit or weakly-identified spatial paper is desk-rejected here. This is why the cover letter must pre-empt the "why JUE" and the obvious sorting/SUTVA objections.
• Then typically ≥2 referees under single-anonymized review. Expect the design referee and the urban-economics referee personas (see jue-referee-strategy).
• Outcomes are the usual reject / major or minor revision / accept; a major revision at a field flagship is a real opportunity, not a soft reject — route the decision to jue-rebuttal.
• Open-access option. If accepted, an APC applies only if you choose open access; this is separate from the submission fee and is not a condition of acceptance (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准).

Last-mile traps specific to JUE

• The submission fee is nonrefundable even on desk-reject — make sure the paper is genuinely JUE-fit before paying.
• Spatial standard errors and a map of the identifying variation are the two things a JUE editor scans first; do not submit without them.
• The replication folder need not be deposited at submission, but the data-availability statement and any confidential-data exemption must be in the cover letter now.

Output format

【Format】Elsevier/JUE format; SEs reported; grayscale-legible exhibits? [Y/N]
【Track】full article / JUE: Insights (prefix + ≤6,000w/≤5 exhibits)?
【Fee】US$100 nonrefundable ready? [Y/N]
【Cover letter】contribution + venue fit + confidential-data exemption (if any)? [Y/N]
【Replication】folder assembled (deposit at acceptance)? [Y/N]
【Declarations】competing interests / funding / data-availability? [Y/N]
【Next step】submit via Editorial Manager → jue-rebuttal when the decision arrives

Cover letter: the one document that does framing work

For a JUE submission the cover letter is not a formality — it is where you do the framing the manuscript format cannot. In a few tight paragraphs: state the spatial question and the headline magnitude; name the strand and why this is a JUE contribution rather than an RSUE/JEG/JPubE one; flag the identifying variation and that the obvious spatial confounds (sorting, SUTVA, spatial SEs) are addressed; and, if the data is proprietary or confidential, make the replication-policy exemption request here with the access path. Suggested/excluded reviewers, if requested, go in the form. A cover letter that pre-empts the editor's first two questions — "is this JUE?" and "is the design credible?" — materially lowers desk-reject risk.

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