A few additional suggestions about the journal:
-I think we could have two publications: (a) the journal (refereed and
'published' a certain number of times per year), (b) the 'Political Economy
Letters', 'published' occasionally and according to the supply of papers;
each letter could be a separate 'issue' - short length, either rejected or
accepted outright; no requests for changes should be made. I am sure we could
have a very quick turnover, maybe only a couple of weeks between submission
and 'publication'. Of course, letters are not half-baked articles; they are
short, important contributions that can stand on their own.
-All members of OPE-L should be members of the editorial board of both
publications. All would be notified of every submission, and may volunteer to
referee whatever they want. A minimum number of referees (internal or
external) should be required to ensure quality. Subject to agreement by each
referee and the author, their subsequent debate about the paper should be
made available to readers at a specific internet site. The 'letters' should
follow a similar, but streamlined refereeing process.
-We should stimulate non-OPE-L members and non-Marxists to publish (eg, PK,
Kaleckian, etc, papers should be most welcome), in order to establish these
as important PE journals.
-These journals can rapidly establish themselves as academically respectable,
responsive to the authors and readers, and extremely flexible. This niche has
not been occupied by any of the existing journals.
alfredo.