jpe-writing-style

Writing Style & House Conventions (jpe-writing-style)

When to trigger

• The draft is wordy, hedged, or buries the result under qualifications
• Prose explains procedure before establishing economic purpose
• Citation style, notation, or formatting is inconsistent with JPE conventions
• This is the late polish stage — identification and model are already sound

The JPE voice

JPE prose is spare, precise, and economics-first. The writing carries an argument; every paragraph advances the economic case. Sentences are declarative and unhedged where the evidence supports the claim. Jargon is minimized; the economic intuition is stated in words before the algebra. A generalist economist should follow the argument; a specialist should find it rigorous.

Register rules:

• Lead with the economics, then the method. "Higher entry costs reduce competition; we estimate this using..." not "We run a regression of price on entry cost."
• State results plainly. Replace "our findings appear to suggest a potentially meaningful relationship" with "entry costs raise prices by X%."
• Active voice for what the paper does; reserve hedging for genuine uncertainty.
• Define notation once, use it consistently; explain each equation's economic content in prose.
• Cut throat-clearing ("It is important to note that...", "In this paper, we will...").

Structure conventions

• Sections: Introduction → (Model / Theory) → Data / Institutional setting → Empirical strategy → Results → Mechanisms / Robustness → (Counterfactuals) → Conclusion. Order theory before empirics when the model leads.
• Introduction does the heavy lifting (see jpe-literature-positioning): question, mechanism, gap, what you do, findings.
• Conclusion states what economics learned and the portable lesson — not a summary of every table.
• Footnotes for genuine asides, not for results that belong in the text.

House-style format

• References: Chicago author-date (e.g., "(Becker 1968)", "Black and Scholes (1973)"), with an alphabetized reference list — not numbered citations. This is a hard University of Chicago Press house convention and a frequent reason a JPE referee flags a mis-templated submission.
• Theory and empirics are integrated within the paper; proofs and heavy robustness go to appendices / online appendix.
• American spelling; consistent decimal and unit conventions; double-spaced manuscript; equations numbered and referenced as "equation (3)."
• Follow the Chicago Manual of Style conventions the University of Chicago Press uses. Verify the current author guidelines (including any abstract/length limits) on the journal's official page before submission, as formatting details are updated periodically.

Checklist

• [ ] Each paragraph advances the economic argument; throat-clearing removed
• [ ] Results stated plainly with magnitudes, hedging reserved for real uncertainty
• [ ] Economics stated before method in every key passage
• [ ] Every equation has a sentence of economic interpretation
• [ ] Citations are Chicago author-date and consistent; reference list complete
• [ ] Notation defined once and used consistently
• [ ] Conclusion states the portable economic lesson, not a table-by-table recap
• [ ] Spelling/format follow Chicago/UChicago Press conventions (verified against current guidelines)

Anti-patterns

• Hedged, passive prose that obscures a result the evidence actually supports
• Method-first writing that makes the reader hunt for the economics
• Numbered/bracket citations (wrong house style — JPE is Chicago author-date)
• Equations dropped in with no verbal economic interpretation
• A conclusion that recaps every table instead of stating what was learned
• Over-long sentences stacking qualifications; jargon where plain economics would do

Output format

【Voice】economics-first, unhedged where warranted? [y/n + fixes]
【Hedging removed】list of softened claims tightened
【Equations interpreted】all have prose meaning? [y/n]
【Citation style】Chicago author-date verified
【Format】Chicago/UChicago Press conventions checked (verify current guidelines)
【Conclusion】states portable lesson? [y/n]
【Next】jpe-referee-strategy