What is Adopt a Paper?
Adopt a Paper is a new mentoring program aimed at providing feedback to junior scholars in the field of economics. Junior scholars submit a working paper to the program, and receive comments from a senior scholar who volunteers to provide constructive feedback on the content of the paper as well as publication advice.
Most early career scholars find it difficult to receive comments on their research outputs post-graduation, prior to submission for journal publication. Lack of feedback is exacerbated by limited access to prestigious conferences and workshops, and paucity of seminar invitations. The Adopt a Paper program aims to expand and diversify access to high quality feedback by allowing junior scholars to receive comments on a research paper from an expert in their field.
As social scientists, we believe that any program or policy should be evaluated for its effectiveness. For this specific program, we believe that understanding whether it is effective is necessary to decide on whether it should be made permanent and possibly run by a professional organization. We expect to conduct several cycles of the program over multiple years in order to evaluate its effectiveness. At this time, participation in the program involves participation in its evaluation. For additional information about the program and the evaluation see the FAQ page.
Most early career scholars find it difficult to receive comments on their research outputs post-graduation, prior to submission for journal publication. Lack of feedback is exacerbated by limited access to prestigious conferences and workshops, and paucity of seminar invitations. The Adopt a Paper program aims to expand and diversify access to high quality feedback by allowing junior scholars to receive comments on a research paper from an expert in their field.
As social scientists, we believe that any program or policy should be evaluated for its effectiveness. For this specific program, we believe that understanding whether it is effective is necessary to decide on whether it should be made permanent and possibly run by a professional organization. We expect to conduct several cycles of the program over multiple years in order to evaluate its effectiveness. At this time, participation in the program involves participation in its evaluation. For additional information about the program and the evaluation see the FAQ page.
Participate as a MentorIf you are a senior scholar, please consider providing this service to the profession. You probably recall feeling lost while working on a paper as a junior scholar. Receiving feedback from a senior scholar could have made (or did make) all the difference. We welcome participation from both male and female scholars.
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Participate as a MenteeIf you are a junior scholar navigating the transition between doctoral studies and a tenure track or a postdoctoral position in a research intensive US academic institution, we encourage you to participate in the program. See the eligibility criteria below. We welcome participation from both male and female scholars.
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What is my commitment as a Mentor?As a Mentor, you commit to read a working paper by a junior in your field, and to provide a "referee report" style summary of the paper's strength and weaknesses, and suggestions for improvements. Future follow-ups with the junior, up to the eventual publication of the paper, are encouraged but not required.
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What is my commitment as a Mentee?As a Mentee, you commit to submit a working paper to be "adopted" by January 17th 2021. This paper should be ready for circulation, but cannot be at the Revise and Resubmit stage and ideally not currently under submission. The paper should also preferably not be your job market paper.
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Who is eligible to be a Mentor?We invite participation from tenured (associate or full) professors at PhD granting (or with similar research expectations) universities or colleges, or senior economists at a non-academic institution (e.g., Federal Reserve Bank, World Bank etc) in the U.S. or abroad. Senior scholars with recent experience in publishing in top journals (top-field and above), and current or past journal editors are particularly encouraged to participate.
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Who is eligible to be a Mentee?To be a Mentee, you must have obtained a PhD in economics (or adjacent field) in 2019 or earlier. Moreover, you must currently hold a post-doctoral or tenure-track position at a U.S. academic institution that grants Economics PhDs or has similar research expectations, and you cannot be up for tenure in the current academic year (2020-2021).
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When will I hear about my match? |
Who is running the program? |
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Matched Mentors and Mentees will be notified of the match by the end of January 2021.
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Elira Kuka, George Washington University
Danila Serra, Texas A&M University If you have any questions about the program, please email us at adoptapaper@gmail.com |
