The Pop-Up Journal Initiative

Open Philanthropy and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation are launching a new model of scholarly communication — pop-up journals, which curate and synthesize evidence around important, decision-relevant questions in economics.

We invite organizations to apply for a five-year contract to curate the first pop-up journal, focused on the "Griliches Question" (estimating the social return on R&D investment).

We also invite researchers to apply for support on research related to the Griliches Question. More on both opportunities below!

Curate a Pop-Up Journal

If your organization is prepared to curate a pop-up journal focused on returns from R&D, we invite you to apply for a five-year contract.

What curation entails:

  • Enlist a steering committee, consisting of expert scholars and prominent decision-makers.
  • Refine the "big question" by formulating and sharing testable hypotheses.
  • Inspire, locate, and facilitate work that contributes to answering the Griliches question.
  • Measure progress toward an actionable resolution.
  • Curate and distribute multiple issues of the journal.

Any organization that can demonstrate these capabilities is welcome to apply — including (but not limited to) professional societies, libraries, publishers, and academic institutions.

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Conduct Research on the Griliches Question

Alongside the launch of the pop-up journal, Open Philanthropy, the Sloan Foundation, and several other funders are looking to support primary research that can rigorously contribute to developing consensus estimates of returns from R&D.

If your research is relevant to this question, we encourage you to submit your ideas!

Learn More