Guidance for Writing AEEE Applied Economic Insights Submissions

AEEE accepts applied economic insights article submissions on national and international applied economics issues related to education, teaching, extension, outreach, and industry. These are authoritative, nontechnical analyses, overviews, and reviews of emerging and highly relevant topics for stakeholders, educators, policymakers, and the general public. Submissions should be suitable for use in education, extension and/or outreach settings. Potential topics areas include food, agricultural production, natural resources, energy, rural community, agribusiness and industry, education, extension, and international issues. Applied Economic Insights submissions follow the tradition of Choices articles.

We encourage submission of themed sections or special issues (see “Themed Sections and Feature Articles” in the Author Submission Guidelines) that center around a central topic. Proposals should be submitted to the AEEE Editors at aeee.editor@outlook.com and include the proposed theme, its motivation, relevance, and significance for a broad audience, as well as the titles and authors of the planned manuscripts. All manuscripts for themed sections or special issues will go through the standard review process.

Submissions should be clear and concise, use active voice and simple sentence structures, and avoid economic jargon to ensure accessibility for a broad, nonspecialist audience. Abstracts are limited to 100 words. Submissions should be no more than 3,500 words. Submissions should limit the number of figures and tables to those essential, typically fewer than four in total. Additional figures and tables may be included in an appendix. We highly encourage use of infographics as figures. Appendices are limited to two pages at the end of an article. If appendices need to be longer, then the appendices should be provided as online supplemental materials.

We recommend that you examine Applied Economic Insights articles published by AEEE prior to submission to better understand the level, length, and readership of AEEE. More specifically, submissions should

• be written for a general audience, avoiding technical content and jargon, and understandable to a college freshman reader.
• use a journalistic style, as opposed to an academic style. Your article should catch readers’ interest with an “I have to read this” title. The title should be comprehensible and enticing to readers but not so broad that it obscures the paper’s topic. Consider including one to two keywords in your title to assist with web-search results. The introduction should be short and to the point, with a “bottom-line first” approach (e.g., an inverted pyramid style of writing).
• present methods briefly in the text, with full details provided in an appendix (if less than two pages) or online supplementary materials if necessary.
• Write informative and interesting headings and subheadings.
• Follow these five guidelines for writing effectively in plain language for a general audience:

Guideline #1: Watch Your Language and Avoid Verbosity! Writing in plain language means avoiding jargon and buzzwords. Technical terms are sometimes unavoidable, so include their definitions the first time the term is used Avoid use of acronyms. Use standard and internationally accepted nomenclature. Express one idea in each sentence and one thought per paragraph to avoid confusing your reader.

Guideline #2: Use Active Rather than Passive Voice. Passive voice tends to be a more awkward and stilted way of writing. Beware of using “to be” and its conjugations.

Guideline #3: Use Subheads to Tell the Story. “Eye Track” research shows that readers may scan a headline, skip a detailed or ponderous introduction, and to where a subhead signals an interesting or provoking segment of the story. 

Guideline #4: Use Infographics, Charts, Tables, and Photos to Create Visual Interest and Summarize Important Findings. Well-placed infographics and charts with active titles allow readers to quickly see major points rather than relying on lengthy text descriptions. Select photos and captions that support the text and capture the readers’ attention.

Guideline #5. Do Not Repeat the Summary of Your Information for Your Article’s Conclusion. In your conclusion:

• Answer the question “So What?”
• Synthesize key findings, don’t summarize.
• Redirect your readers by giving them something to think about, perhaps a way to use your paper in the “real” world.
• Create a new meaning by demonstrating how your ideas work together, for example.
• Do not introduce new data, arguments, or citations in the conclusion.