Referee Strategy & Objection Pre-Mortem (rfs-referee-strategy)

When to trigger

• The portal asks for suggested and opposed reviewers
• You want to anticipate the objections RFS referees will raise before they do
• A coauthor asks "who will referee this and what will they hate?"
• Preparing the cover letter's referee section

Two jobs: referee selection and objection pre-mortem

A. Suggesting and opposing referees

• Suggest referees who are active in your exact sub-field, have published the closest methods, and can evaluate both the novelty and the rigor. RFS referees are usually the authors you cite most.
• Aim for a balanced slate: not only your closest collaborators' circle, and not only theorists for an empirical paper (or vice versa).
• Oppose referees only with a brief, professional reason (active competing project, prior dispute, direct conflict). Do not over-exclude — editors notice and discount long oppose lists.
• Never suggest coauthors, advisors/advisees, or same-institution colleagues — these are conflicts the editor will strike.
• Do not suggest a current RFS editor as a referee. Know who handles your area (e.g., Viral Acharya, Xavier Giroud, Andrey Malenko, Anna Pavlova, Clemens Sialm, David Sraer, Jessica Wachter, under Executive Editor Tarun Ramadorai) — your suggested referees should complement, not duplicate, the editor pool.
• The editor chooses; your list is advisory. Make it easy for them to find qualified, fair referees.