The 2026 Editors-in-Chief Conference

From May 25 to June 9, 2026, the 2026 Editors-in-Chief  Conference in Economics was successfully held at Beijing Jiaotong University. The conference was jointly organized by the School of Economics and Management at Beijing Jiaotong University and Elsevier. Conducted online and livestreamed through Elsevier’s video and service platforms, the conference was themed “Publishing China Research in Top Journals: Insights from Global and Chinese Editors.” It focused on key topics including high-quality economic research, academic writing, journal submission strategies, and the peer-review process. Six editors-in-chief and co-editors from leading international economics journals were invited to share cutting-edge research findings and publishing experiences with scholars, researchers, and students from around the world.

The conference attracted 28,576 participants, accumulated more than 13,335 hours of viewing time, and recorded a 21% increase in registrations and a 78.6% increase in attendance compared with the previous year. Participants and speakers represented numerous prestigious universities and research institutions worldwide, including Beijing Jiaotong University, the University of Zurich, Carnegie Mellon University, the California Institute of Technology, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Monash University, Xiamen University, Harvard University, East China Normal University, Brown University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Chicago, Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, University College London, Wellesley College, Zhejiang University, Boston University, the University of Rochester, the University of Science and Technology of China, Sun Yat-sen University, the University of Hong Kong, Peking University, Washington University in St. Louis, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Dartmouth College, Cornell University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

The conference consisted of two major components. The first was the Editors’ Plenary Session, where five editors from top journals shared insights into journal positioning, research preferences, manuscript preparation, submission strategies, editorial processes, and recommendations for publishing China-focused research internationally. The second was a series of specialized editor seminars, in which six editors presented their latest research while distinguished scholars provided expert discussions and commentary. Together, these two components offered valuable guidance for Chinese scholars and early-career researchers seeking to understand publication standards at leading journals and showcased the latest advances in frontier economic research.

The Editors’ Plenary Session was successfully held on May 29, 2026. Invited speakers included Erzo F. P. Luttmer, Editor of American Economic Review and Chair Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College; Shanjun Li, Co-Editor of Journal of Public Economics and Steven and Roberta Denning Professor at Stanford University; Roberto A. Weber, Editor of Management Science and UBS Foundation Professor at the University of Zurich; Peter Hull, Co-Editor of American Economic Journal: Applied Economics and Professor at Brown University; and Jianjun Miao, Associate Editor of American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics and Journal of Monetary Economics and Tsingshan Chair Professor at Zhejiang University.

On behalf of the School of Economics and Management, Professor Hongchang Li, Vice Dean of the SEM, delivered welcome remarks and conveyed Dean Ming Guo’s strong support for high-level international academic exchange. Suzanne Abbott, Executive Publisher at Elsevier, delivered remarks on behalf of Bethan Keall, Publishing Director for Economics and Marketing Journals.

The editors then shared their perspectives under the theme “Inside Top Journals: Writing, Submission & Editorial Advice,” providing systematic insights into journal missions, research standards, innovation requirements, manuscript structure, editorial review processes, responds to referee comments, and ways for China-related research to contribute to international academic dialogue. During the Q&A session of the plenary, participants engaged in in-depth discussions on research topics, theoretical contributions, empirical strategies, journal selection, and manuscript revision.

The plenary session provided valuable professional guidance on understanding the preferences, writing standards, and review procedures of leading international journals while creating a high-level platform for discussing the international communication of China-related economic research. Drawing on their editorial and research experience, the editors emphasized that high-quality papers should combine important research questions, clear mechanisms, credible identification, rigorous execution, and effective communication. Participants reported gaining a deeper understanding of publication standards and peer-review systems at top international journals.

The series of specialized editor seminars comprised six sessions held between May 25 and June 9, 2026. The invited editors delivered presentations on topics including moral behavior in markets, China’s energy development and priorities for the 15th Five-Year Plan, causal inference with recentered instruments, inequality, innovation and growth, successfully navigating the peer-review process, and optimal electric vehicle tariffs with revenue-funded subsidies. These presentations provided valuable insights into behavioral economics, energy economics, applied econometrics, macroeconomics, and public economics while also offering practical advice on academic publishing.

In the first seminar, Roberto A. Weber, Editor of Management Science and UBS Foundation Professor at the University of Zurich, presented “Moral Behavior in Markets.” Professor Lan Yao of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and Professor Erte Xiao of Monash University served as discussants. Weber explored the role of moral considerations in market participation and examined how consumers, workers, and firms make moral trade-offs in market transactions. He highlighted self-governance mechanisms through which market participants voluntarily establish constraints on profit-seeking activities that generate negative externalities.

In the second seminar, Boqiang Lin, Editor of Energy Economics and Chair Professor at Xiamen University, presented “Recent Energy Developments in China and the Key Energy Work Priorities for the ‘15th Five-Year Plan.’” Professor Jianglong Li of Xi’an Jiaotong University and Xiaoling Ouyang of East China Normal University served as discussants. Lin argued that the key priorities of China’s energy development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period will center on new energy infrastructure, particularly energy storage systems and renewable energy integration capacity.

The third seminar featured Peter Hull, Co-Editor of American Economic Journal: Applied Economics and Professor at Brown University, presenting “Causal Inference with Recentered Instruments.” Assistant Professor Lihua Lei of Stanford University and Liyang Sun of University College London served as discussants. Hull introduced recent methodological advances for addressing causal identification challenges involving multiple shocks, complex instrumental variables, and non-random exposure. He explained how recentering procedures can improve the use of exogenous shocks for causal and structural identification.

In the fourth seminar, Jianjun Miao, Associate Editor of American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics and Journal of Monetary Economics and Tsingshan Chair Professor at Zhejiang University, presented two recent studies. Assistant Professor Xiaomei Sui of the University of Hong Kong, Associate Professor Lijun Zhu of Peking University, and Assistant Professor Zhang Chen of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology served as discussants. The first study, “Transforming Luxuries into Necessities: How Inequality Affects Growth?”, examined how products diffuse from high-income to low-income households as prices decline and market penetration expands, and how income inequality influences economic growth through firms’ innovation choices. The second study, “Asset Bubbles, R&D, and Endogenous Growth,” analyzed how asset bubbles can relax credit constraints in the R&D sector and thereby influence innovation and growth.

The fifth seminar featured Erzo F. P. Luttmer, Editor of American Economic Review and Chair Professor at Dartmouth College, presenting “How to Successfully Navigate the Peer Review Process.” Drawing on the perspectives of authors, referees, and editors, Luttmer outlined the key elements of successful publication, emphasizing important research questions, clear contributions, transparent research design, and high-quality writing. He also offered practical advice on abstracts, introductions, empirical transparency, research ethics, journal selection, revision strategies, and communication with editors and referees.

In the final seminar, Shanjun Li, Co-Editor of Journal of Public Economics and Steven and Roberta Denning Professor at Stanford University, presented “From Trade War to Green Transition: Optimal Electric Vehicle Tariffs with Revenue-Funded Subsidies.” Associate Professor Jianwei Xing of Peking University and Assistant Professor Qinshu Xue of Shanghai Jiao Tong University served as discussants. Li explored how the United States could promote energy transition through a policy mix of import openness, tariff adjustments, and domestic production subsidies. Combining theoretical modeling with market-equilibrium simulations based on global automobile sales data, he examined how demand curvature, product substitution, and market power affect optimal tariff design.

The 2026 Editors-in-Chief Conference in Economics received highly positive feedback from invited guests and participants and concluded successfully. Speakers praised the professionalism and efficiency of the conference organization, while discussants highlighted the frontier nature and policy relevance of the research presented. Participants noted that the conference expanded their understanding of cutting-edge economic research and provided highly practical guidance on research design, academic writing, submission strategies, revision processes, and international publishing.

This conference marked the sixth edition of the Editors-in-Chief Conference in Economics since its inaugural session in June 2021 and continued the “Editors-in-Chief” academic initiative launched by the School of Economics and Management at Beijing Jiaotong University in 2018. Guided by the university motto of “Zhi Xing,” the conference remains committed to promoting academic dissemination and public service while advancing high-quality research, international scholarly exchange, and innovation in academic publishing. Looking ahead, the School of Economics and Management at Beijing Jiaotong University will continue to build a high-level platform connecting scholars worldwide with editors of leading economics journals, supporting China’s integration into the global academic community and contributing to the international influence and scholarly voice of Chinese economics.