A Report on the State of the Journal of Economics Teaching
Dear JET community,
Before I provide any details about the goings on at JET, I wanted to take a moment to personally thank you for reading, submitting, and participating in what we do here. As editor, I have been encouraged by the continued growth and exposure of the Journal of Economics Teaching. The reason for our expansion is the contributions from excellent economics teachers at all levels. Thank you for sharing your teaching techniques and ideas with the greater economic education community.
Now, let me tell you a little bit about what we have been up to this past year…
Submissions are up!
In 2023, we set another new record for submissions, but you know what they say about records: they were made to be broken. In the year to come, I hope we break this record again. Please continue to send us your teaching ideas. If you haven’t yet written anything up, maybe this will be the year. If you aren’t sure how to start the process, drop me a line. I am happy to help you get started. Better yet, come to JET SET (August 1-3, 2024 in Blacksburg, VA)!
JET SET presentations are future JET articles
The 2023 JET SET in Northern Kentucky was a rousing success. But as an editor, I look at it a little differently. This is where I get a first-hand look at the papers of the future. We’ve now had two years of post-pandemic JET SETs and presentations at the conference are becoming published articles. The people who come to JET SET are passionate about econ ed, and they want to see what others are doing in the classroom.
For those who can’t make it to the conference, the next best thing is to read the description of an activity, assignment, or method in the journal. Getting those articles in front of eager readers can start at JET SET. Of course, if you don’t want to present that’s fine. Soak in the exchanges and the vibe of the conference. You can’t help but be inspired by what your colleagues are up to.
Take Note of our Notes Section
Maybe the idea of a long article gives you pause. Sure, we have articles that are over 30 pages, but we also have some that are 10 pages (double-spaced!). But if that still sounds like too many pages, we now have another option called Notes. Notes are for papers that may be a short lesson plan, an explanation of a webpage, or a description of some other online content.
Our first example was published in the most recent issue and can be found on our website. We also have another note located in our “Online First” section. We have more notes coming out soon, giving our readers, and future authors, another example of what this looks like. If you or a colleague have an idea that you don’t think can become a full-length paper, maybe it will fit in the Notes section.
Special JET content coming soon!
We’re looking forward to another special issue coming out soon. Our next special issue will focus on teaching using video games. Be on the lookout for these papers that utilize one of the under-explored forms of media.
JET listed in Cabell’s and my article was rejected at JET
For those of you who have published at JET but missed the announcement, we are now listed in Cabells. For those of you who don’t know what this means, Cabells is used as a marker of journal quality. Being listed in Cabells is a notice to the world that a journal is reputable, meets industry best practices for publishing, and forthrightly reviews the articles submitted to it. In academic publishing, this is a big deal.
To give you an idea of what this means in practical terms, I submitted an article at JET earlier this year and it was rejected! That may sound harsh, but to me, it is a badge of honor. Don’t get me wrong, I would have rather had an easy ride through the review process and a publication to add to my resume, but that’s not how JET rolls. We take the review process seriously because our readers expect it. Being in Cabells means that others expect it too. When you get your work published in JET, you can be sure that it is on merit and that it will be published alongside other papers that deserve it too.
New JET authors
This year was a very good one for JET, and I expect great things in 2024. Let me leave you with one final statistic. In 2023, we published twelve articles in our three issues. In those twelve articles, there were thirteen new authors to JET. You know who you are. Welcome! I hope this is an indication that more economics educators are looking at JET as a place to publish great teaching ideas.
If you haven’t published at JET before, why not get your name on the list of new contributors this year? If you don’t know how to begin, please reach out to a member of the editorial board, the advisory board, or the board of directors. We’ll help get you started. If you have published with JET, why don’t you send us something else?
If you have any questions about the goings on at JET, please do not hesitate to ask. It continues to be an honor to serve in the capacity of editor, and I hope to see you at JET SET 2024 in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Most sincerely,
J. Brian O’Roark