Journal of Monetary Economics Style Checklist
General formatting
[1 ] During the review and evaluation process, manuscripts should be submitted in double spaced format using 12 point type and with 1 inch margins.
Note that the final publication’s appearance will be in 10 point type, so that authors may choose to use this for the submission of final manuscript files (after an “accept pending uploading of final manuscript files” decision has been received).
[2 ] Submissions and final manuscripts should include line numbers, so as to make it easy for referees and editors to communicate with you. Examples of how to do this in various word processors are provided elsewhere on this website, under a description of formatting manuscripts for JME.
Title and first page
[3 ] The title should be short. If your manuscript title contains more than 8 words, then work to shorten it.
[4 ] The first page of the manuscript should contain the following information:
(4a ) the title, not exceeding 8 words;
(4b ) the name(s) and institutional affiliation(s) of the author(s);
(4c ) an abstract summarizing the core contributions of the article, of not more than 100 words
(4d ) An abstract of no more than 100 words, which does not start with “This paper” or “We”.
(4e ) A footnote on the first page should give the name, address, telephone and e-mail address of the corresponding author.
(4f ) at least one classification code according to the Classification System for Journal Articles as used by the Journal of Economic Literature (http://www.aeaweb.org/journal/elclasjn.html)
(4g ) Up to five key words should be supplied. These should be designed to help the reader identify the location of your paper in the literature and the nature of its contribution.
(4h ) Acknowledgements and information on grants received can be given in a first footnote, which should not be included in the consecutive numbering of footnotes (or should be numbered zero).
Research highlights
[5 ] All Elsevier journals now employ research highlights. Please review the policies at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorsview.authors/researchhighlights.
Note that the critical elements are:
(5a ) include 3 to 5 highlights;
(5b ) a maximum of 85 characters per highlight including spaces;
(5c ) only the core results of the paper should be covered.
Body of document
[6 ] The abstract, introduction, and conclusion should not start with “this paper” or “I” or “we”.
[7 ] The manuscript should be broken into sections and subsections. Subsections are not encouraged in the introduction. A general rule of thumb is that a subsection should not last for more than two pages of text. Sections should be numbered with Arabic numbers, starting with “1. Introduction”. Subsequent sections, sub-sections, and sub-sub-sections should be numbered as 2; 2.1; and 2.1.1 respectively.
[8 ] Section titles should be short and should not run over one line.
[9 ] Subsection headings should not directly follow section headings (as in the example at the end of this document).
[10 ] Footnotes should be kept to a minimum in number and length. Footnotes should be numbered consecutively throughout the text with superscript Arabic numerals. Endnotes should not be used.
[11 ] Subsections should not exceed 4 pages in length.
Rules for text material
[12 ] The words “I” and “we” should be used only for emphasis, not as a regular construction. For multi author papers, a rough guideline is that “I” or “we” should appear at most every other page.
[13 ] Do not use opening quotations “epigraphs” displayed prior to the introduction. If absolutely necessary, please insert such quotations in the text after introductory paragraphs or as an early footnote.
[14 ] Do not use displayed, bulleted, or numbered lists .
Mathematics
[15 ] Displayed formulae should be numbered consecutively throughout the manuscript as (1), (2), etc. against the right-hand margin of the page. Do not number formulae by section (2.1,2.2,…).
[16 ] Displayed formulae should not run over one line, unless the author includes a suitable explanation of the necessity of this structure in his letter to the supervisory editor on the manuscript and obtains his permission.
[17 ] Mathematical notation should be as simple as possible and designed to help the reader understand concepts. It is not an accident that “c” is used for consumption in many examples, rather than “x”. Authors may choose to include a notation table in the working paper version of their research, for interested readers, and include this in supplemental material. Preparation of a notation table also assures that the same symbol is not used for different constructs at various points in the paper. Use of compound notation (such as mpc) should be avoided.
[18 ] The visual and substantive structure of equations should be carefully designed. A run-on equation is even worse than a run-on sentence!
References
[19 ] Text references to publications and working papers should be as follows: ‘Smith (1992) reported that…’ of ‘This problem has been st9died previously (e.g., Smith et al., 1969)’. The author should make sure that there is a strict one-to-one correspondence between the names and years in the text and those on the reference list.
[20 ] The list of references should appear at the end of the main text (after any appendices, but before tables and figures). It may be either single or double spaced and listed in alphabetical order by author’s name. References should appear in the format shown below at the bottom of this page.
[21 ] All references should be prepared in the format detailed below in the section REFERENCE FORMAT.
Figures and Tables
[22 ] All graphs and diagrams should be referred to as figures, and should be numbered consecutively in terms of their appearance in the text in Arabic numerals.
[23 ] Figures should include an explanatory note, so that a reader can easily understand the origin and importance of the material without referring back to the main text.
[24 ] Figure line-types and symbols should be chosen so that these are understandable when printed in black and white. Science Direct includes color, but not every reader will have access to a color printer or color copier.
[25 ] Figure backgrounds must be white only; Figure axes must be clearly marked.
[26 ] Tables should be numbered consecutively in the order of their appearance in the text in Arabic numerals. Tables must be self-contained, in the sense that the reader must be able to understand them without going back to the text of the paper.
[27 ] Tables must include an explanatory note that defines notation. Each table must have a title followed by a descriptive legend. Authors should check tables to be sure that the title, column headings, captions, etc. are clear and to the point.
[28] Figures and tables must be included at the back of the draft, after references and before appendices. Each must be on a separate page.
Appendices
[29 ] JME policy is not to publish appendices in the hardcopy/main Science Direct document. Do not include such material in the main body of your submission unless you have special editorial permission.
Supplementary materials
[30 ] Reference links to supplementary documents available on the internet (such as Replication Materials, Technical Appendices and Working Paper versions) should be listed in an early footnote in the manuscript.
[30 ] Authors are strongly advised to place supplementary materials on Science Direct, where they will be available to an interested reader. These materials enhance replication of and citations to research. Before preparing these supplementary materials, please read the JME supplemental material policies in this regard. (http://jme.rochester.edu/JMEsupmat.htm) These policies cover data, computer programs, and appendices. A guide to supplemental material uploading is also provided.
DETAILS ON REFERENCE FORMAT
The JME reference format is:
For monographs
Hawawini, G., Swary, I. , 1990. Mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. banking industry: Evidence from the capital markets. North-Holland, Amsterdam .
For contributions to collective works
Brunner, K., Meltzer, A.H., 1990. Money supply. In: Friedman, B.M., Hahn, F.H. (Eds.), Handbook of Monetary Economics. Elsevier, Amsterdam , pp. 357-396.
For periodicals
Griffiths , W., Judge, G., 1992. Testing and estimating location vectors when the error covariance matrix is unknown. Journal of Econometrics 54, 121-138.
Note that journal titles should not be abbreviated.
DETAILS ON SECTION HEADING FORMAT
No lower level heading should ever immediately follow an upper level heading without an intervening sentence.
Example in JME style
Example not in JME style
