Writing Style (jie-writing-style)

When to trigger

• Drafting or tightening the abstract, introduction, or section structure for JIE
• Your abstract runs long or leans on citations
• The paper reads as either a pure-theory or pure-empirics piece and needs balance
• Unsure how to pitch a trade or open-economy result to JIE's mixed readership

JIE house norms

JIE serves a readership split between international trade and international macroeconomics/finance, and it publishes both empirical and theoretical work. Write so a reader from either half can locate your contribution in the first page: name the international-economics question (trade pattern, commercial policy, exchange rate, open-economy macro, sovereign debt, factor mobility, spatial structure), then state what is original in your motivation or modelling structure — JIE's gate. Avoid the general-interest "big lesson for all of economics" framing; JIE rewards a sharp field contribution, not a sweeping claim.

Abstract

• ≤ 150 words, concise and factual, a single paragraph.
• References are avoided; cite author(s)/year(s) only if essential.
• State the question, the method (gravity/structural/open-economy model or identification design), and the headline magnitude.

Keywords and codes

• Provide 1-7 keywords, chosen for field discoverability (e.g., "gravity," "exchange-rate pass-through," "sovereign default").
• Prepare JEL codes only if the live submission system asks for them; the Guide-confirmed metadata are the abstract and keywords.

Structure and balance

• For empirical trade papers, foreground the specification (PPML, fixed effects) and the economic magnitude, not just significance.
• For theory/structural papers, make the modelling choice and its discipline against data explicit.
• For mixed papers, state which is the contribution and which is in service of it.
• References: submit in any consistent style with required elements; Elsevier applies the journal style at proof. Add DOIs.

Anti-patterns

• A 250-word, citation-heavy abstract (cap is 150 words, references avoided)
• A general-interest "lesson for all of economics" pitch instead of a field contribution
• Burying the international-economics question under three paragraphs of setup
• Reporting significance stars without the trade/welfare/pass-through magnitude
• Hand-formatting references to a guessed style when Elsevier restyles at proof anyway

Abstract worked example (illustrative)

A pass-through paper's abstract should, in one ≤150-word factual paragraph, name the question, the design, and the magnitude — no citation padding. Illustrative shape: "We estimate exchange-rate pass-through into import prices using [data] and horizon-by-horizon local projections, conditioning on currency of invoicing. Long-run pass-through is about 0.5, concentrated in dollar-invoiced flows; [counterfactual] implies [magnitude] for the trade balance." Note what makes it JIE-fit: it states the macro-finance half clearly, leads with the economic magnitude rather than significance, and avoids a "lesson for all of macro" frame. A trade paper's abstract would instead lead with the gravity/structural design and a trade-elasticity or welfare number. (Numbers illustrative.)

Style execution pass for Journal of International Economics

Treat this skill as an executable review pass, not a prose hint. First lock the cross-border margin, model or identification source, and replication/data readiness; then judge whether the current manuscript answers the venue's real reader: international-economics reviewers who separate trade, open-economy macro, international finance, and sovereign-risk audiences.

• 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 JPubE for public-finance policy, JDE for development settings, JME for monetary macro emphasis; 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】≤150 words, factual, single paragraph, no references? [Y/N]
【Question named】trade / commercial policy / exchange rate / open-economy / sovereign debt / spatial
【Originality stated】motivation or modelling structure? [Y/N]
【Keywords】1-7 field-discoverable terms listed
【Balance】theory ↔ empirics role made explicit? [Y/N]
【References】consistent style + DOIs present? [Y/N]
【Next step】jie-tables-figures or jie-submission

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/external_tools.md — reference managers and figure tooling
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — abstract/keyword/reference-style sources