Submission tracks
Tracks
The four submission tracks, and the criteria applied to each.
Every journal accepts four kinds of paper, called tracks. The track records the form of the contribution a paper makes, and it determines the criteria against which the paper is assessed. The requirements that apply to a formal model differ from those that apply to an empirical study, and a paper is held only to those that fit its kind. The four tracks apply across every discipline. They are categories of contribution, not levels of quality, and reassigning a paper from one track to another does not raise or lower the standard it must meet. Authors nominate a track at submission. Where the nomination does not match the paper, the editors reassign it, at no charge, and the original submission date is retained.
Perspectives
Perspectives present a reasoned argument or a synthesis of existing work. They advance a position, frame a debate, or draw a body of literature into a coherent view. They contain neither an original dataset nor a formal model. Assessment turns on the strength and coherence of the argument, the fair treatment of prior work, and the clarity with which the author's position is stated. No empirical test is required.
Theory
Theory papers present a formal or conceptual construct: a model, a proof, a framework, or a set of propositions. The contribution is analytical rather than empirical, and no data are required. Assessment turns on internal consistency, the soundness of the derivation, the boundary conditions of the claims, and their falsifiability. A theory paper is complete without an accompanying dataset.
Empirical
Empirical papers present a measurement or a test. They use data to address a defined question and do not require a formal model, though an implicit model of behaviour usually stands behind the design and is assessed as part of it. Assessment turns first on identification: what the design recovers, the assumption it rests on, and the evidence offered for that assumption. Estimation, inference, the availability of the data, and the reproducibility of the result follow from it. Theoretical novelty is not required.
Integrated
Integrated papers advance a theoretical claim and test it with evidence in a single study. They combine a model with the data that evaluate it. Assessment applies the standards of both the Theory and Empirical tracks, together with the coherence of the link between the model and the evidence.