Rebuttal & Response Letter (jf-rebuttal)

When to trigger

• A JF revise-and-resubmit (R&R) has arrived and you must respond
• You are deciding whether/how to answer a reject-with-encouragement
• The revision is drafted and you need to map every editor/referee point to a change

A JF R&R is rare — treat it accordingly

With ~5% acceptance and ~33–45% desk rejection (afajof.org editor reports, accessed 2026-05-30), an R&R from JF is precious. The path to acceptance runs through the handling editor (currently the team led by Antoinette Schoar (MIT) — verify the masthead): the editor's letter, not any single referee, defines what acceptance requires. Address the editor's framing first and most fully.

Structure

• To the editor: summarize the main changes and how you met the editor's synthesis of the decision.
• Per-referee, per-point: restate each point, then state exactly what changed and where (section/table/Internet Appendix), quoting revised text where useful.
• Disagreements: handle respectfully with evidence; never ignore a point — explain if you chose not to change something.

JF-specific moves