The Slowdown of the Economics Publishing Process

Over the last three decades there has been a dramatic slowdown of the publication process at top economics journals. A substantial part is due to journals' requiring more extensive revisions. Various explanations are considered: democratization of the review process, increases in the complexity of papers, growth of the profession, and cost and benefit arguments. Changes in the profession are examined using time-series data. Connections between these changes and the slowdown are examined using paper-level data. There is evidence for some explanations, but most of the slowdown remains unexplained. Changes may reflect evolving social norms.