Ecta Rebuttal

Rebuttal and Revision (ecta-rebuttal)

When to trigger

• A decision letter with a handling Co-Editor recommendation and referee reports has arrived
• You need to plan a (typically major) revision and draft a point-by-point response
• A referee flagged a proof gap, a generality limit, or missing finite-sample evidence
• You reached conditional acceptance and must satisfy the Co-Editor's last conditions and prepare final files for the ES Data Editor's reproducibility check

Do not draft the response before the revised theorems, simulations, and code are actually done — promised fixes that are not yet real read as evasive to this referee pool.

Read the letter correctly

• The co-editor's letter is the controlling document. Identify which points the co-editor treats as essential vs. which are referee suggestions left to your judgment. Address the co-editor's essential points fully and first.
• An R&R at Econometrica is a genuine opportunity (the acceptance rate is ~6–9%, and R&R is the common path to publication) but signals substantial remaining work and likely another round, followed by conditional acceptance and the Data Editor stage. Plan accordingly; do not do the minimum.
• Sort every comment into: (a) genuine error / gap to fix, (b) request for added generality / evidence, (c) presentation, (d) a point you will respectfully push back on with argument.

Response-letter structure

Dear Editor / [Co-editor],

We thank you and the referees for [specific, sincere]. The main changes are:
(1) [most important fix — e.g., closed the gap in the proof of Theorem 2],
(2) [added the limiting-distribution / uniform result requested],
(3) [added Monte Carlo design X showing finite-sample size control].
All changes are marked in the revision; new proofs are in Supplemental Material §...

— Response to the Co-Editor —
[CE point 1] ... [CE point 2] ...

— Response to Referee 1 —
[R1.1] Comment: "..."
       Response: [what we did, where (section / theorem / appendix), why it resolves the point].
[R1.2] ...

— Response to Referee 2 —
...

Writing each response

• Quote the comment, then answer. Make it trivial for the referee to see you addressed it.
• Point to the exact location of each change (theorem number, appendix section, table).
• For a proof gap: state the corrected argument explicitly; do not just assert it is now fixed.
• For a generality request: either deliver the more general result, or argue precisely why the current scope is the right one (and add the boundary example that shows the limit binds).
• For more finite-sample evidence: add the requested design and report it; show the method's behavior even where it is less favorable — selective new evidence is transparent.
• Disagreement: allowed, but back it with a precise mathematical argument or a citation, framed respectfully. "We respectfully disagree, because [argument]; if the referee still prefers X, we are glad to add it."
• Consistency: never claim a fix in the letter that the revised manuscript does not contain.

Revision discipline

• Re-run the full replication package after every substantive change; numbers in the letter, text, and tables must agree (see ecta-replication-package). At conditional acceptance the ES Data Editor will re-run this code, so it must reproduce bit-for-bit.
• Watch the 45-page body limit: a revision that adds results can push the body over the cap — move the overflow (proofs, extra Monte Carlo) into the Supplemental Material rather than cutting content.
• Re-check theorem numbering and cross-references after reorganizing — added results shift numbers.
• If a fix changes a result, trace it through: identification → asymptotics → simulations → text.
• Keep a marked-changes version; keep a clean version; keep the response letter in sync with both.

Checklist

• Co-editor's essential points identified and addressed first and fully
• Every referee comment quoted and answered with a location
• Proof gaps fixed with the corrected argument written out, not merely asserted
• Generality / evidence requests delivered or precisely rebutted
• New Monte Carlo / results added where requested; reported fairly
• Disagreements backed by argument, framed respectfully
• Full package re-run; letter, text, tables, and code all consistent
• Theorem numbering and cross-references re-verified after reorganization

Anti-patterns

• Promising fixes in the letter that the manuscript does not actually contain
• Treating a referee suggestion the co-editor flagged as essential as optional
• "We have addressed this" with no pointer to where
• Patching a proof gap with another hand-wave instead of a complete argument
• Adding only the flattering new simulation and omitting the adverse design the referee implied
• Dismissive disagreement with no mathematical backing
• Forgetting to re-run the package, leaving stale numbers in the revision

Output format

【Co-editor essential points】[...]
【Comment triage】fix: [...] | generality/evidence: [...] | presentation: [...] | push-back: [...]
【Proof gaps closed】[Theorem N: ...]
【New evidence added】[design/result ...]
【Push-backs (with argument)】[...]
【Package re-run + consistent】yes/no (Data Editor will re-run at conditional acceptance)
【Body ≤45pp after revision】yes/no — overflow moved to Supplemental Material: [...]
【Status】response letter drafted → re-submit via Editorial Express

Source: brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills → Econometrica-Skills/skills/ecta-rebuttal/SKILL.md