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Leadership in Scholarship: Editors' Influence on the Profession's Narrative

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Academic journals disseminate new knowledge, and therefore can influence the direction and composition of ongoing research by choosing what to publish. We study the influence of editors and coeditors of the American Economic Review (AER) on the topic structure of papers published in the AER between 1976 and 2013 using a textual analysis of manuscripts. We compare AER's topic structure to that of the other top general interest journals. The appointment of new AER editors, while accompanied by a minor comovement of AER topics towards topics of editor's post-appointment publications, serves more to premediate trends in the other Top 5 journals.

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  • Onder, Ali Sina & Popov, Sergey V & Schweitzer, Sascha, 2018. "Leadership in Scholarship: Editors' Influence on the Profession's Narrative," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2018/2, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdf:wpaper:2018/2
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    Cited by:

    1. Raffaele Miniaci & Michele Pezzoni, 2020. "Social connections and editorship in economics," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(3), pages 1292-1317, August.
    2. Ali Sina Önder & Sascha Schweitzer & Hakan Yilmazkuday, 2021. "Field Distance and Quality in Economists’ Collaborations," Working Papers in Economics & Finance 2021-04, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth Business School, Economics and Finance Subject Group.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Text Search; Topical Analysis; Academia; Knowledge Dissemination; In- fluence; Journals; Editors;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights

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