There will be an AERE-sponsored session on this topic at the Southern Economic Association meetings in November. Here is an example of, what I consider, best practices from Colby College. From the introduction to volume 1 of the Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby by the editor, Sahan T. M. Dissanayake:
Welcome to the first issue of the Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby (JEREC), an open access peer-reviewed journal publishing articles authored and peer reviewed by undergraduate students. The articles featured in this first issue of JEREC stem from senior seminar projects conducted by students in The Economics of Ecosystem services and Biodiversity (TEEB) Senior Seminar during Spring 2014.
The journal originated from efforts to help students understand and appreciate the research and publication process behind the journal articles they regularly read in classes. The learning goals for the senior seminar focused on students going through the full research process starting from identifying a research question, finding appropriate analytical methods, collecting or finding the data to answer the research question, answering the research question, discussing/getting feedback from peers, and finally communicating the results.
This journal helped facilitate the last two steps. The students submitted first drafts through the journal submission system, conducted blind reviews of each other’s work using the journal review system, and then finally submitted revised versions of the manuscripts. The peer-review process worked extremely well, with most of the students receiving substantial comments and on some occasions the referees writing five to seven page referee reports. The students also presented their work multiple times including at the Colby Liberal Arts Symposium. They incorporated the feedback from the presentations into the final manuscript.
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