PART I - Preamble
1.1 Bocconi Economic Journal (thereafter also “BEJ” or “the Journal”) is the student-edited economic journal at Bocconi University. It is sponsored by the Ettore Bocconi Department of Economics (thereafter also “the Department”) and is published by Egea (thereafter also “the Publisher” or “the Publishing House”).
1.2 The Journal serves the dual aim of promoting research among undergraduate and graduate students and providing an outlet to share valuable pieces of research written by Bocconi students.
1.3 The Journal publishes research in economics and strictly adjacent fields, both empirical and theoretical.
1.4 The authors must be current students at Bocconi University or must have completed their studies at Bocconi within two years before the call for submissions is announced for any specific issue. Such students are entitled to submit works written also outside their student status at Bocconi (including, but not limited to, thesis written by current Bocconi students over the course of their previous studies at other Universities).
1.5 The above clause shall not be binding should the call for submission specify differently, based on a joint decision taken by the Editorial Board together with the Scientific Director.
PART II - Governance
2.1 The governance of the Journal is established to ensure transparency, rigor, and fairness in all editorial operations.
2.2 The Journal is managed by an Editorial Team, which comprises one Editor, 4-5 Co-Editors, and 8-10 Associate Editors. The Editorial Team is charged with the responsibility of overseeing the management, review, and publication of submissions, ensuring that all activities align with the Journal’s mission.
2.3 A member of the faculty appointed by the Department of Economics shall serve as Scientific Director and represents the primary academic advisor for the Journal. The Scientific Director is responsible for overseeing the proper functioning of the Journal, ensuring adherence to established quality standards, and coordinating with faculty members during the final review process.
2.4 The Editor leads the editorial process, receiving submissions and coordinating with Co-Editors and Associate Editors to effectively manage the peer review process. The Editor shall be ultimately accountable for the quality and scope of published content.
2.5 Faculty members shall provide a final quality check on approved submissions, with this process facilitated by the Scientific Director, ensuring that all published content meets high academic standards.
2.6 Measures are instituted to address conflicts of interest and to uphold fairness throughout the editorial process. Upon receipt of a submission, if any potential conflicts of interest are identified, members of the Editorial Team are required to disclose such conflicts to the Editor and recuse themselves from the evaluation of the submission. The Editor shall bear ultimate responsibility for resolving conflicts of interest and for ensuring the objectivity and integrity of the evaluation process for all submissions.
2.7 Should any conflict arise with respect to the editor himself, the editor shall recuse himself and invite either the Scientific Director or a guest editor to coordinate the editorial process with respect to conflictual papers.
PART III - Editorial Process
3.1 BEJ is a peer-reviewed journal, with a two-staged editorial process aimed at ensuring the quality of publications: the first stage is carried out by the Editorial Team, solely composed by students, and it is followed by a further assay performed by a member of the Ettore Bocconi Departmernt of Economics, or an economist hosted by any other Department of Bocconi University.
3.2 The process shall be conducted in a double-blind fashion: neither the Editors will know the names of the authors of the manuscripts, nor the authors will know the names of the Editors in charge of their manuscripts.
3.3 All submissions are expected to be written in LaTeX, using the template provided by the Journal and compiled in .pdf format.
3.4 When a submission is received, the Editor either assigns it to herself or to one of the Co-editors for a desk review. At this stage, poorly redacted manuscripts that present excessive typographical errors or that are poorly written, can be directly rejected. Manuscripts that are outside the scope of the Journal are also rejected at this stage. Then, the manuscripts are assigned by the competent Co-editor to one or two Associate Editors who perform the peer review.
3.5 Once Associate Editors have conducted their review and provided relevant comments and recommendations, they return the manuscripts to the competent Co-editor, who is in charge of assessing whether to reject the submission or to send the manuscripts back to the authors for corrections and improvements. The authors are then given a fixed time window to modify their work according to the comments received by the Editorial Team and resubmit their manuscript.
3.6 Re-submitted manuscripts undergo the same review process outlined for the first revision, at the end of which the Co-editor in charge, possibly asking for input from another Co-editor of her choice, decides whether the manuscript is worthy of publication.
3.7 All the works which have been selected by the Co-Editors are collected and sent by the Editor to the Scientific Director, who then sends each of them to one member of the faculty for a final appraisal of the manuscript. This second revision is intended as an expedite check ensuring the quality of the work, rather than an additional in-depth review.
3.8 All decisions of the Editorial Team shall be regarded as definitive and the resubmission of previously-rejected manuscripts will be automatically rejected.
3.9 The order in which the finally selected papers are presented in the issue is decided by the Editor and the Co-editors, with the first, the “lead article,” being the one that the Editorial Team deems particularly worthy of attention.
PART IV - Recruitment of Editors
4.1 The Journal refrains from any form of discrimination in the selection of members of the Editorial Team. Students interested in joining shall submit an application in the form and timeframes decided and made public via the official website. Applicants must commit to comply with this statute in all its parts.
4.2 Recruitment for the Editorial Team of the Journal is conducted once every academic year by the outgoing Editorial Board. This process is designed to ensure continuity, uphold academic rigor, and maintain a commitment to the Journal’s mission.
4.3 Students eligible to apply shall be enrolled in their third year of BSc studies or in their MSc studies and shall demonstrate a strong interest in economics and economic research.
4.4 The selection process for new Associate Editors, Co-Editors, and the Editor shall be based on established criteria that include academic achievements, research aptitude, and a demonstrated interest in economics. The outgoing Editorial Board establishes these criteria and may consult with the Scientific Director regarding candidate evaluations.
4.5 The Scientific Director shall sign off the final composition of the incoming Editorial Team, ensuring that the selections align with the values and standards of the Journal. This endorsement serves to confirm that the selected members possess the qualifications necessary to contribute effectively to the Journal's objectives.
4.6 An organized transition shall be facilitated between outgoing and incoming Editorial Team members to ensure continuity in editorial operations. Outgoing editors shall provide guidance and resources to prepare new members for their roles and to familiarize them with the Journal’s editorial processes, standards, and governance practices.
PART V - Final Notes
5.1 In pursuing its goals and activities, the Journal pledges to not adopt potentially humiliating conduct (hazing) towards members or other persons. The association further commits to avoiding, both on and off campus, any conduct that could damage the mental or physical health of a student or any other person, undermine their dignity or put them in a situation of considerable stress.
5.2 For all matters not included in this Statute, the current regulations in force shall be valid.
5.3 The Statute was last edited and approved on November 4th, 2024.