jpube-writing-style - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: jpube-writing-style description: Use when polishing prose for a Journal of Public Economics (JPubE / JPubEc) manuscript — a 250-word abstract stating purpose, results, and policy conclusion; an intro that lands the government-role question; author-date references; and clear translation of estimates into welfare terms. Late-stage polish; it does not change the analysis.

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