The Table of Contents of Economics Journals as Forecasts of Scientific Relevance

Abstract

How good are the editors of economics journals at predicting the scientific success and influence of the articles that they publish? Since the tables of contents of most major economics journals are not alphabetized, but are presumably ranked according to interest and importance by the editor(s), it is possible to gather some evidence on this question. Moreover, this is not a trivial issue. Since the journal system and its organization are at the heart of our profession, evaluating the scientific forecasting ability of editors is no small matter.