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Journal of Economics and Politics
Manuscript Guidelines for Authors

The JEP follows the APA (American Psychological Association) style of writing. The APA is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences. This document provides basic information, but you may need to consult the APA manual, 6th edition.

  1. General Rules.

    1. Manuscripts should be created using WORD (docx preferred).
    2. Manuscripts should be single-spaced with 1" margins and use 12 pt. Times New Roman font.
    3. Manuscripts are to be submitted through the JEP link on the OAEPS website.
    4. All text, including Abstract, should have full (right & left) justification.
    5. Do not use footnotes. Include an Endnotes section, if necessary.
    6. Limit manuscripts to 30 pages, including appendices.
    7. The JEP employs a double-blind review, do not include headers, even though the APA manual suggests including headers.
    8. Do not include page numbers.

  2. Appearance.

    1. Title Page.

      The title page should contain the title, the author's name, and the institutional affiliation.

      Type the title in upper and lowercase letters centered in the upper half of the page. Limit the title to one or two lines. All text on the title page, and throughout the manuscript, should be double-spaced.

      Beneath the title, type the author's name: first name, middle initial(s), and last name. Do not include titles (Dr.) or degrees (Ph.D.).

      Beneath the author's name, type the institutional affiliation, the location where the author(s) conducted the research.

      Follow the same pattern for coauthored papers.

    2. Abstract.

      Begin a new page. On the first line of the abstract page, center the word “Abstract” (no bold, formatting, italics, underlining, or quotation marks).

      Beginning with the next line, include a concise summary. (Do not indent.) The abstract should identify the research topic, research questions, participants, methods, results, data analysis, and conclusions. It is appropriate to include potential implications of the research and future work. Abstracts are limited to a single 150-250 word paragraph single-spaced.

      Manuscripts addressing economic topics may include JEL classification codes following the Abstract.

    3. Headings.

      APA Style uses a unique headings system to separate and classify paper sections. There are 5 heading levels in APA. The 6th edition of the APA manual revises and simplifies previous heading guidelines. Regardless of the number of levels, always use the headings in order, beginning with level 1. The format of each level is illustrated below:

      APA Headings
      Level Format
      1 Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Headings
      2 Left-aligned, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
      3 Indented, boldface, lowercase heading with period.
      4 Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase heading with period.
      5 Indented, italicized, lowercase heading with period.

      Note that the JEP uses Roman Numerals for Level I, Capital Letters for Level II, and so forth for the format.

  3. Citing an Author or Authors in the Body of the Paper.

    1. A Work by Two Authors: Name both authors in a signal phrase or in parentheses for each citation. Use the word "and" between the authors' names within the text and use the ampersand in parentheses.

      Research by Wegener and Petty (1994) supports...

      (Wegener & Petty, 1994)

    2. A Work by Three to Five Authors: List all the authors in the signal phrase or in parentheses the first time a source is cited.

      (Anderson, Birkby, Cornell, Douglas, & Easter, 2016)

      In subsequent citations, use only the first author's last name followed by "et al." in a signal phrase or in parentheses.

      (France et al., 2016)

    3. Six or More Authors: List the first author's name followed by et al. in the signal phrase or in parentheses.

      Harris et al. (2016) argued...

      (Harris et al., 2016)

    4. Unknown Author: Cite the source by title in the signal phrase or use the first word or two in the parentheses. Italicize or underline book and report titles; use quotation marks to designate titles of articles and book chapters.

      Example: A similar study was done of students learning to format research papers ("Using APA," 2016).

      Organization as Author: If the author is an organization or a government agency, list the organization in the signal phrase or in a parenthetical citation the first time a source is cited.

      According to the American Psychological Association (2016), ...

      If the organization has a well-known abbreviation, include the abbreviation in brackets the first time the source is cited. Use the abbreviation in subsequent citations.

      First citation: (Mothers Against Drunk Driving [MADD], 2016)

      Second citation: (MADD, 2016)

    5. Two or More Works in the Same Parentheses: When a parenthetical citation includes two or more works, order them as they appear in the reference list, separated by a semi-colon.

      (Berndt, 2015; Harlow, 2016)

    6. Authors with the Same Last Name: Use first initials with the last names.

      (E. Johnson, 2015; L. Johnson, 2016)

    7. Two or More Works by the Same Author in the Same Year: Use lower-case letters (a, b, c) with the year to order entries in the reference list. Use the lower-case letters with the year in the in-text citation.

      Research by Berndt (2016a) illustrated that...

    8. Introductions, Prefaces, Forewords, and Afterwards: When citing an Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterward in-text, cite the appropriate author and year.

      (Funk & Green, 2016)

    9. Personal Communication: For interviews, letters, e-mail, and other person-to-person communication, cite the communicator’s name, the fact that it was personal communication, and the date of the communication. Do not include personal communication in the reference list.

      (E. Robbins, personal communication, January 4, 2001).

    10. Citing Indirect Sources

      When a source is cited in another source, state the original source in the signal phrase. List the secondary source on the reference list and include the secondary source in parentheses.

      Johnson argued that...(as cited in Smith, 2003, p. 102).

      Note: When citing material in parentheses, set off the citation with a comma, as above.

    11. Electronic Sources

      Site electronic sources as any other document by using the author-date style.

      Kenneth (2016) explained...

      If no author or date is given, use the title in the signal phrase or the first word or two of the title in the parentheses and use the abbreviation "n.d." (for "no date").

      Example: “Another study of students and research decisions discovered that students succeeded with tutoring ("Tutoring and APA," n.d.).”

    12. Sources without Page Numbers.

      When electronic source lack page numbers, include information to help readers find the cited passage. When an electronic document has numbered paragraphs, use the ¶ symbol, or the abbreviation "para." followed by the paragraph number (Hall, 2001, ¶ 5) or (Hall, 2001, para. 5). If paragraphs are not numbered and the document includes headings, provide the appropriate heading and specify the paragraph under that heading. Note that in some electronic sources, like Web pages, people can use the Find function in their browser to locate any cited passages.

      According to Smith (1997), ... (Mind over Matter section, para. 6).

      Note: Never use page numbers of Web pages; different computers print Web pages with different pagination.

    13. References.

      1. All lines after the first line of each entry in the reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation.
      2. Authors' names are inverted (last name first); give the last name and initials for all authors of a particular work if it has three to seven authors. If the work has more than seven authors, list the first six authors and then use ellipses after the sixth author's name. After the ellipses, list the last author's name of the work.
      3. Alphabetize reference list entries by last name of the first author.
      4. If you have more than one article by the same author, single-author references or multiple-author references with the exact same authors in the exact same order are listed in order by the year of publication, starting with the earliest.
      5. When referring to any work that is NOT a journal, such as a book, article, or Web page, capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns. Do not capitalize the first letter of the second word in a hyphenated compound word.
      6. Capitalize all major words in journal titles.
      7. Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals.
      8. Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles or essays in edited collections.

      See the APA manual for details on the “how to” for different reference forms.

    14. Endnotes.

      Use only endnotes. Insert a number formatted in superscript following almost any punctuation mark. Endnote numbers should not follow dashes ( — ), and if they appear in a sentence in parentheses, the endnote number should be inserted within the parentheses.

      Scientists examined—over several years1—the fossilized remains of the wooly-wooly yak.2 (These have now been transferred to the Chauan Museum.3)

      All endnotes should appear on the final page of your document (usually this is after the References page). Center the word “Endnotes” at the top of the page. Indent five spaces on the first line of each footnote. Then, follow normal paragraph spacing rules. Double-space throughout.

      1 While the method of examination for the wooly-wooly yak provides important insights to this research, this document does not focus on this particular species.

       

    15. Tables.

      Present data in a table that requires two or fewer columns and rows in the text. Present more complex data in tabular format. In order for quantitative data to be presented clearly and efficiently, arrange logically, e.g. data to be compared must be presented next to one another (before/after, young/old, male/female, etc.), and statistical information (means, standard deviations, N values) must be presented in separate parts of the table. When possible, use canonical forms (such as ANOVA, regression, or correlation) to communicate data effectively.

      Table Structure

      The following image illustrates the basic structure of tables.

      tablnumber2.jpg

      Numbers. Number all tables sequentially using Arabic numerals. Do not use suffix letters (e.g. Table 3a, 3b, 3c); instead, combine the related tables. If the manuscript includes an appendix with tables, identify appendices with capital letters and Arabic numerals (e.g. Table A1, Table B2).

      Titles. Tables must have a clear and concise title. When appropriate, you may use the title to explain an abbreviation parenthetically.

      Example: Comparison of Median Income of Adopted Children (AC) v. Foster Children (FC)

      Headings. Keep headings clear and brief. The heading should not be much wider than the widest entry in the column. All columns must have headings, even the stub column (see example structure), which customarily lists the major independent variables.

      Body. Numerals should be expressed to a consistent number of decimal places that is determined by the precision of measurement. Never change the unit of measurement or the number of decimal places in the same column.

      Specific Types of Tables

      Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) Tables. The conventional format for an ANOVA table is to list the source in the stub column, then the degrees of freedom (df) and the F ratios. Give the between-subject variables and error first, then within-subject and any error. Mean square errors must be enclosed in parentheses. Provide a general note to the table to explain what those values mean (see example). Use asterisks to identify statistically significant F ratios, and provide a probability footnote.

      Example ANOVA table showing stubhead, column headings, column spanner, and rows with example data

      Regression. Conventional reporting of regression analysis follows two formats. If the study is purely applied, list only the raw or unstandardized coefficients (B). If the study is purely theoretical, list only the standardized coefficients (β). If the study was neither purely applied nor theoretical, then list both standardized and unstandardized coeifficents. Specify the type of analysis, either hierarchical or simultaneous, and provide the increments of change if you used hierarchical regression.

      Sample regression table with stubhead, column headings, and rows with example data, including blank rows

      Notes in Tables

      There are three types of notes for tables: general, specific, and probability notes. Notes must be placed below the table.

      General notes explain, qualify or provide information about the table. Include explanations of abbreviations, symbols, etc.

      Example: Note. The racial categories used by the US Census (African-American, Asian American, Latinos/-as, Native-American, and Pacific Islander) have been collapsed into the category “non-White.” E = excludes respondents who self-identified as “White” and at least one other “non-White” race.

      Specific notes explain, qualify or provide information about a particular column, row, or individual entry. To indicate specific notes, use superscript lowercase letters (e.g. a, b, c), and order the superscripts from left to right, top to bottom. Each table’s first footnote must be the superscript a.

      Example: a n = 823. b One participant in this group was diagnosed with schizophrenia during the survey.

      Probability notes provide the reader with the results of the texts for statistical significance. Asterisks indicate the values for which the null hypothesis is rejected, with the probability (p value) specified in the probability note. Such notes are required only when relevant to the data in the table. Consistently use the same number of asterisks for a given alpha level throughout your paper.

      Example: * p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001

      Sample Table Notes

      If you need to distinguish between two-tailed and one-tailed tests in the same table, use asterisks for two-tailed p values and an alternate symbol (such as daggers) for one-tailed p values.

      Example: *p <.05, two-tailed. **p < .01, two-tailed. †p < .05, one-tailed. ††p < .01, one-tailed.

      More Table Notes

      Tables from Other Sources

      When using tables from a source, copy the structure of the original table exactly, and cite the source in accordance with APA style.