Will the BNE expect exclusive publishing rights to my
paper?
The BNE discourages the submission of previously
published work. It also rejects papers submitted
simultaneously elsewhere. However, it is possible to
substantially revise already published work and make a
submission of it to the BNE. Once published by the BNE,
permission to reproduce the paper in other media is
normally granted upon receipt of a written request.
Is 'publication' of a paper on the Internet compatible
with submitting a paper to the BNE?
Until such time as the paper remains under consideration
by the BNE your paper may remain on the Internet. Once
your paper has been accepted the BNE expects you to
remove the electronic version from the Internet. Besides,
there is a good chance that papers published in the
series will continue to appear on the BNE's own web site
as well. Short synopsis and any abstracts may remain on
Internet sources after publication by the BNE.
What types of papers stand the greatest chance of
being accepted for publication?
The overall principle is clarity of exposition. With this
as the over-riding guiding principle several other issues
are also taken into account. Those dealing with an
important policy oriented issue that is either relatively
recent, current, or forthcoming are always welcome.
Amongst empirical papers those with a regional focus are
preferred to those dealing with a specific national
economy (for example, papers on 'Central America' are
generally preferred to those on 'Costa Rica'). Having
said that good single-country papers are preferable to
poorer regionally focused work. Theoretical papers are
not discriminated against as long as they are well
written and not overtly technical. As a general rule
papers with several tables, unacceptable levels of
algebra and diagrams get rejected. Those that run on for
more than 2,500 to 3,000 words generally fail the
publication test also.
How long does it take for a decision on my paper to
reach me?
The BNE aims for a 6 month cycle. However, and generally speaking, the review process takes less time.
