jde-workflow

JDE Workflow Router (jde-workflow)

Overview

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

Default assumption: unless the user says otherwise, treat the target as JDE — the **leading field journal

in development economics, published by Elsevier and edited by Editors-in-Chief A. Foster** and

K. Macours. It is highly selective: roughly 1,300 submissions a year, only about a quarter sent

for review, and roughly 6-8% published. Submission is via Editorial Manager under

single-anonymized review, with a USD 50 non-refundable submission fee for original manuscripts.

JDE has three distinctive routes: a permanent pre-results review / Registered Reports track (run

with BITSS), an AER: Insights-style short-paper limited-revision track, and a standard full-length

track — plus a three-papers-per-author-per-12-months cap and a **mandatory replication / Option C

data-policy** regime.

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 empirics, framing, writing, and response letters
• A JDE decision letter arrived and the user needs to switch into revision mode
• The user is deciding between the full-length, short-paper, and pre-results routes

Routing table

| Current symptom | Next skill |

|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------|

| Idea feels small / not clearly a development-economics contribution | jde-topic-selection |

| Contribution relative to the development literature is fuzzy | jde-literature-positioning |

| The "so what for development" is undersold or buried | jde-contribution-framing |

| Empirics rest on OLS + controls; causal claim undefended | jde-identification-strategy |

| Estimation, heterogeneity, attrition, or inference choices are shaky | jde-data-analysis |

| Tables are dense; paper is not figure-forward enough | jde-tables-figures |

| Prose buries the idea; abstract/intro do not land the question | jde-writing-style |

| Need the data/code deposit, or pre-empting referee replication | jde-replication-and-data-policy|

| Unsure how JDE review works (routes, timelines, single-anonymized) | jde-review-process |

| Ready to submit via Editorial Manager; need a preflight checklist | jde-submission |

| Received an R&R; need a response-letter strategy | jde-rebuttal |

Default order

1. jde-topic-selection — lock a first-order development question
2. jde-literature-positioning — stake the contribution against the development frontier
3. jde-contribution-framing — make the development takeaway explicit
4. jde-identification-strategy — make the causal design credible in an LMIC setting
5. jde-data-analysis — estimation, heterogeneity, attrition, inference
6. jde-tables-figures — finalize figure-forward exhibits
7. jde-writing-style — polish prose (abstract + intro last)
8. jde-replication-and-data-policy — assemble the Mendeley Data deposit
9. jde-review-process — pick the right route and understand the pipeline
10. jde-submission — Editorial Manager preflight
11. jde-rebuttal — after the R&R

> If your design is prospective, route to jde-review-process early — the pre-results review track reviews and accepts the design before results exist.

Worked routing example (illustrative)

A user arrives with a fielded cluster-randomized agricultural-extension trial, results in hand, and an unfocused draft. Diagnose the bottleneck before sequencing:

• The causal design is sound (randomized at the village level), so skip ahead of jde-identification-strategy except to confirm clustering and attrition.
• The draft reports coefficients but no development lesson → the live bottleneck is jde-contribution-framing, then jde-literature-positioning to stake the increment.
• Because the result is sharp and self-contained (~5,000 words, illustrative), flag the short-paper route early via jde-review-process so the team writes to the 6,000-word / 5-exhibit cap rather than over-building.
• Only after framing and identification settle should jde-tables-figures and jde-writing-style polish.

Stage-to-symptom quick map

| Stage symptom | Route to |

|------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|

| "Is this even a development paper?" | jde-topic-selection |

| "Results exist but the lesson is fuzzy" | jde-contribution-framing |

| "A referee will call the design weak" | jde-identification-strategy |

| "An R&R letter just arrived" | jde-rebuttal |

| "Design not yet fielded" | jde-review-process (pre-results)|

Router output

【Current stage】topic / framing / identification / analysis / exhibits / writing / replication / review / submission / rebuttal
【Live bottleneck】one sentence
【Route now to】jde-<skill>
【Route candidate (full-length / short-paper / pre-results)】+ why
【Within 3-per-12-months cap?】[Y/N]

Anti-patterns

• Do not skip jde-contribution-framing — JDE referees judge the development contribution first
• Do not let jde-tables-figures polish exhibits while identification is still shaky
• Do not treat jde-replication-and-data-policy as optional — data/code can be requested at the review stage
• Do not submit a fourth paper inside a 12-month window — the cap is enforced