We investigate various performance indicators of ten leading journals in the field of Agricultural Economics and Policy over the period from 2000 to 2020. More specifically, we combine various data sources to derive a coherent record of indicators including acceptance rates, times between submission and first response and impact factors. We show that, for the discipline at large, the turn-around times have decreased, and impact factors have increased substantially over time. However, this has been accompanied by a sharp decrease in the proportion of accepted articles. Our analysis also reveals large differences across journals in all dimensions. Results show there is no free lunch, that is, authors face trade-offs. For example, submitting to a higher impact factor journal means on average longer turn-around time and lower acceptance rates. The dataset compiled and presented here gives the first coherent overview of relevant information to guide authors’ submission decisions, and inform our fellow professionals.

中文翻译：

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关于农业经济期刊绩效指标的说明

我们调查了 2000 年至 2020 年期间农业经济与政策领域的 10 种主​​要期刊的各种绩效指标。更具体地说，我们结合各种数据源来得出指标的连贯记录，包括接受率、提交和首次响应的时间和影响因素。我们表明，对于整个学科来说，周转时间已经减少，影响因子随着时间的推移而大幅增加。然而，这伴随着被接受文章的比例急剧下降。我们的分析还揭示了期刊在各个方面的巨大差异。结果表明没有免费的午餐，即作者面临取舍。例如，投稿到影响因子更高的期刊意味着平均更长的周转时间和更低的接受率。