AEAweb: American Economic Journal: Economic Policy: Guidelines for Preparation of Accepted Manuscript

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy: Guidelines for Preparation of Accepted Manuscript

Your final manuscript should adhere to the instructions below. Please use Times New Roman font in 12 pt. type and maintain a 1-inch (2.5-cm) side, top, and bottom margin. Please, also, ensure that the file is not encrypted.

1. Email the following files to jenna@aeapubs.org; be sure to include the journal and manuscript number in the subject line of the email:

    * Your final manuscript in PDF format.
    * Your final in its NATIVE FILE (Scientific Word, LaTex, or Word).  LaTex authors must also provide the .aux file.
    * Any graphic file(s) in PDF and an EPS, TIF, or PPT. If there are variables (italics) or matrices and vectors (boldface) in figures, they should be designated as such.
    * A zip file containing your data set and a readme file.  See Data Availability Policy for more information
    * Any additional materials/appendices to be posted online (please label clearly as such)
   

2. DO NOT use a separate sheet for the title page. Title and byline should be placed at the top of the first page of text. A single asterisk should be placed following the (last) author’s name. (Note that the initial information block giving the complete mailing address for each author should not be treated as a footnote. It should be marked with an asterisk (*) and placed at the end of the document. The asterisk is followed by each author’s department, affiliation, address, e-mail address, and acknowledgements.)

3. ABSTRACTS are required for all articles and should not exceed 100 words.

4. DO NOT begin with “Introduction” as a section head. Section headings should be given Roman numerals (I., II., etc.); subsections should be lettered A., B., etc.

5. FOOTNOTES should be embedded and numbered consecutively.

6. REFERENCE TO INDIVIDUALS IN THE TEXT should include the first name, middle initial, and last name in the first instance. Subsequent references should give last name only. Do not refer to individuals as Mister, Doctor, Professor, etc. It is essential that this be adhered to.

7. REFERENCE TO ORGANIZATIONS OR GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES IN THE TEXT should give the name in full, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Subsequent references should give abbreviation only; for example: Social Science Research Council (SSRC) [first occurrence], SSRC [subsequently].

8. REFERENCE TO ARTICLES AND BOOKS IN THE TEXT: Give full name (first name, middle initial, and last name) of author(s) and year of publication in the first citation, with page number(s) where appropriate. When more than one work by the same author is cited, give the last name of author and year of publication in parentheses for each subsequent citation. When listing a string of references within the text, arrange first in chronological order, then alphabetically within years. If there are four or more authors, refer to the first author, followed by et al. and the year. If there is more than one publication referred to in the same year by the author(s), use the year and a, b, etc. (example: 1997a, b). References to authors in the text must exactly match those in the Reference section.

9. MATHEMATICAL EQUATIONS should be typed on separate lines and numbered consecutively at the left margin, using Arabic numbers in parentheses. USE ITALICS FOR SCALAR VARIABLES, USE BOLDFACE TO SPECIFY VECTORS AND MATRICES, AND USE SCRIPT FOR SETS.

Subscripts and Superscripts: Subscripts and superscripts must be easily distinguished from regular variables and from each other. Multiple subscripts or superscripts are separated with commas if there is no mathematical relationship. Use only two levels of sub- and superscripts.

Overscores and Underscores: Overscores (bar, caret, and tilde) may be used, but must be clearly distinguishable. If you use bar underscores (first time, please mark as such) do not use bar underscores elsewhere in your math to indicate italics.

Fractions: When equations in the text contain fractions, use a slash “/” or solidus and clearly denote numerator and denominator with parentheses. Display fractions that are too complicated to keep in the text on a separate line.

10. QUOTATIONS must correspond exactly with the original in wording, spelling, and punctuation. Page numbers must be given. Changes must be indicated: use brackets to identify insertions; use ellipsis dots (...) to show omissions. Also indicate where emphasis has been added. Only lengthy quotations (more than 50 words) should be separated from the text; such quotations must be double-spaced and indented at the left margin.

11. TABLES should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numbers. Each table must have a title. Do not use any vertical lines in tables to show space distinction; use only horizontal lines and additional blank space if necessary. Do not use any shading. Use Panel A and Panel B to denote sections of a table. Do not send reduced photocopies of tables.

Do not abbreviate in column headings, etc. Spell out “percent”; do not use the percent sign. Place a zero in front of the decimal point in all decimal fractions (i.e., 0.357, not .357).

For footnotes pertaining to specific table entries, footnote keys should be lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.); these footnotes should follow the more general table Note(s) or Source(s). Use asterisk (*) footnotes for the following: *Significantly different from 0 at the 5-percent level. Full citations of the sources are to be included in the References.

12. USE OF MATHEMATICAL APPENDIX: Authors are encouraged to use an Appendix for technical proofs and derivations that can be separated from the main text. The Appendix should begin on a new page following the text, preceding the references. Designate multiple Appendices A, B, C, as necessary. Number equations, theorems, propositions, etc., within the Appendix as (A1), etc. Alternately, authors may post their appendix on the Web site.

13. REFERENCE SECTION must begin on a new page following the text, giving full information. Use full names of authors or editors (last names first), using initials only if that is the usage of the particular author/editor. List all author/editors up to/including 10 names. Authors of articles and books and material without specific authors or editors, such as government documents, bulletins, or newspapers, are to be listed alphabetically.

14. OTHER STYLE POINTS: (1) In the affiliation/acknowledgement footnote, it is AEA policy not to acknowledge the co-editor. (2) Do not use Q.E.D. or an end-of-proof box (an extra line of space will be added instead). (3) Do not use the % sign; always spell out the word percent. (4) Apostrophes are used for possessives (e.g., Robert’s journal), generally not for pluralization (i.e., HMOs). (5) Hyphenate compound adjectives when they come before a noun, not after (e.g., a well-known author; an author well known). Generally, the following prefixes are not hyphenated: non, pre, post, over, under, intra, pro, re, semi. However, quasi and self are hyphenated whether they precede or follow the noun.

15. COPYRIGHT: EACH author/co-author will be sent a copyright transfer agreement along with the proof. A paper for which there is no signed copyright transfer agreement cannot be published. Please call the editorial office (412) 432-2300 if you foresee any problems involving this requirement.

Sample References