Jpube Writing Style

Writing Style (jpube-writing-style)

When to trigger

• The abstract exceeds 250 words or buries the policy finding
• The intro recites results before stating the public-economics question
• Estimates are reported without translation into welfare / revenue terms
• References are not in author-date format

JPubE house style

JPubE is an Elsevier field journal read by public-finance specialists internationally, and its conventions are concrete. Match them:

• Abstract: 250 words maximum. Write a concise, factual abstract stating the purpose, the principal results (with the key number), and the major policy conclusion. No literature, no equations.
• References: author-date (name-and-year) in-text, per Elsevier's economics formatting; reference list alphabetical by surname. Numbered/footnote citation styles read as off-template.
• Source files. Supply editable files: Word in single-column layout, or LaTeX (.tex) — double-column is permitted only for LaTeX submissions. Keep the manuscript in an editable format, not a flattened PDF only.
• AI disclosure. If generative AI assisted manuscript preparation, it must be declared at submission; AI may support but not substitute for your critical thinking and analysis.

Prose moves specific to public economics

• Lead with the policy question, then the answer. The first paragraph should name the government policy, the behavioral margin, and the welfare stake.
• Translate every headline estimate. Convert elasticities into deadweight loss, revenue, MVPF, or distributional language a policy economist reads instantly.
• State the design in plain words before the equations — JPubE referees reward transparent identification described verbally.
• Be precise about scope. Say which population and policy the estimate identifies; avoid implying a universal optimal rate from a local design.
• Discipline the claims. The conclusion must not exceed what the design and welfare assumptions support.

Checklist

• Abstract ≤ 250 words; states purpose, key result (with a number), policy conclusion
• Intro leads with the government-role question, then the answer
• Every headline estimate translated into welfare / revenue / distributional terms
• References in author-date format, list alphabetical by surname
• Editable source files ready (Word single-column or LaTeX .tex)
• Generative-AI use declared if applicable
• No over-claiming beyond the design and welfare assumptions

Anti-patterns

• A 300-word abstract crammed with caveats and no headline number
• Reporting elasticities the reader must convert to welfare themselves
• Numbered or footnote references instead of author-date
• A PDF-only submission with no editable Word/LaTeX source
• Undeclared AI assistance in manuscript preparation

Style execution pass for Journal of Public Economics

Treat this skill as an executable review pass, not a prose hint. First lock the policy instrument, affected margin, identification design, and welfare or incidence interpretation; then judge whether the current manuscript answers the venue's real reader: public economists who ask whether policy design, fiscal incidence, or welfare interpretation is credible.

• Do the pass: Rewrite the first two pages so each paragraph starts from the venue-level claim, not from chronology or method inventory; preserve exact source-map limits and move technical overflow to appendix or supplement.
• Return a ledger: give claim / evidence / risk / manuscript location rows, so the next agent can edit rather than rediscover the issue.
• Sibling guard: compare against JDE for development policy, JIE for cross-border policy, AEJ Economic Policy for broad policy readership; if a sibling owns the contribution, recommend re-routing before polishing format.
• Stop condition: do not give submission-ready advice until the pack's resources/official-source-map.md has been checked for volatile rules and the manuscript has one concrete fix for the largest venue-specific risk.

Output format

【Abstract】≤250 words, states result + policy conclusion? [Y/N]
【Intro】leads with policy question then answer? [Y/N]
【Estimate translation】welfare / revenue / distributional? [Y/N]
【References】author-date, alphabetical? [Y/N]
【Source files】Word single-column / LaTeX .tex ready? [Y/N]
【AI declaration】prepared if applicable? [Y/N]
【Next step】jpube-replication-and-data-policy

Source: brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills → Journal-of-Public-Economics-Skills/skills/jpube-writing-style/SKILL.md