Research Papers in Economics (RePEc) is a collaborative effort of hundreds of volunteers in 57 countries to enhance the dissemination of research

Research

Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...

 in economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

. The heart of the project

Project

A project in business and science is typically defined as a collaborative enterprise, frequently involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim. Projects can be further defined as temporary rather than permanent social systems that are constituted by teams...

 is a decentralized database

Database

A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...

 of working paper

Paper

Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....

s, preprints, journal

Academic journal

An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...

 article

Article (publishing)

An article is a written work published in a print or electronic medium. It may be for the purpose of propagating the news, research results, academic analysis or debate.-News articles:...

s and software components. The project started in 1997. Its precursor NetEc dates back to 1993.

Using its IDEAS database, RePEc provides links to over 700,000 full text articles. Most contributions are freely downloadable, but copyright remains with the author or copyright holder. It is among the largest internet repositories of academic material in the world.

Materials to RePEc can be added through a department or institutional archive

Archive

An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...

 or, if no institutional archive is available, through the Munich Personal RePEc Archive (MPRA). Institutions are welcome to join and contribute their materials by establishing and maintaining their own RePEc archive.

Leading publishers, such as Elsevier

Elsevier

Elsevier is a publishing company which publishes medical and scientific literature. It is a part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has operations in the United Kingdom, USA and elsewhere....

 and Springer

Springer Science+Business Media

- Selected publications :* Encyclopaedia of Mathematics* Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebiete * Graduate Texts in Mathematics * Grothendieck's Séminaire de géométrie algébrique...

 have their economics material listed in RePEc. RePEc collaborates with the American Economic Association

American Economic Association

The American Economic Association, or AEA, is a learned society in the field of economics, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It publishes one of the most prestigious academic journals in economics: the American Economic Review...

's EconLit

EconLit

EconLit is an academic literature abstracting database service published by the American Economic Association. The service focuses on literature in the field of economics. EconLit covers articles and other materials dating back to 1969. It uses the JEL classification codes for classifying papers...

 database to provide content

Content (media and publishing)

In media production and publishing, content is information and experiences that may provide value for an end-user/audience in specific contexts. Content may be delivered via any medium such as the internet, television, and audio CDs, as well as live events such as conferences and stage performances...

 from leading universities' working paper or preprint series to EconLit. Over 900 journals and over 2500 working paper series have registered, for a total or 700,000+ articles, 600,000+ of which are online.

The information in the database is used to rank the almost 20,000 registered economists. Andrei Shleifer

Andrei Shleifer

Andrei Shleifer is a Russian American economist. From its inauguration in 1992 until it was shut down in 1997, Shleifer served as project director of the Harvard Institute for International Developments Russian aid project...

 is currently the highest ranked economist, followed by Joseph Stiglitz and Robert Barro

Robert Barro

Robert Joseph Barro is an American classical macroeconomist and the Paul M. Warburg Professor of Economics at Harvard University. The Research Papers in Economics project ranked him as the 4th most influential economist in the world as of August 2011 based on his academic contributions...

. The economics department of Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 is ranked first, followed by University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

 and the World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

. Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 is the top region, followed by the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. There are also rankings by country and subdiscipline.

Use RePEc

The following web sites offer various services provided by RePEc:

• EconPapers - EconPapers provides access to RePEc, the world's fourth largest collection of on-line Economics working papers, journal articles and software.
• IDEAS - the complete RePEc database. Working papers, journal articles, software components, author information, directory of institutions.
• NEP (New Economics Papers) - Free email notification of new downloadable working papers for over 40 specific fields. NEP Archives are available.
• RePEc Author Service - Author registration
• EDIRC - Economics Departments, Institute
  Institute
  An institute is a permanent organizational body created for a certain purpose. Often it is a research organization created to do research on specific topics...
  
  s and Research Center
  Research center
  A research center is a facility or building dedicated to research, commonly with the focus on a specific area. There are over 14,000 research centers in the United States...
  
  s in the World
  World
  World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....
  
  .
• LogEc - Detailed access statistics for RePEc items and authors.
• Citec - Citation
  Citation
  Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source . More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source (not always the original source). More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated...
  
  s from items in the RePEc database.
• WebEc - free information on economics on the web (WWW Virtual Library)
• MPRA (Munich Personal RePEc Archive) - Personal repository for working papers in economics.

See also

• Social Science Research Network
  Social Science Research Network
  The Social Science Research Network is a website devoted to the rapid dissemination of scholarly research in the social sciences and humanities. SSRN is viewed as particularly strong in the fields of economics, finance, accounting, management, and law. SSRN was founded in 1994 by Michael Jensen ...
  
  , another repository of economics papers and preprints
• Academic databases and search engines