Economics Paper Checker

Economics papers follow conventions distinct from the natural sciences. The emphasis on causal identification, replication transparency, and specific table formatting has intensified over the past decade, with top journals now enforcing requirements that would have been optional five years ago. Whether you're targeting the American Economic Review or a field journal in development economics, understanding these norms prevents costly revision rounds.

The Identification Strategy

The single most scrutinized element of an empirical economics paper is the identification strategy — the argument for why your estimated relationship is causal rather than correlational. Editors at journals like AER, QJE, Econometrica, and REStud will desk-reject papers where the identification strategy is not clearly stated in the introduction and thoroughly developed in the methodology section.

Your Methods section should explicitly name the approach: difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, instrumental variables, synthetic control, or randomized controlled trial. Vague descriptions like "we use regression analysis" signal weak identification and attract skepticism before peer review begins.

CheckMyManuscript validates that your manuscript includes a clearly labeled methodology section with the depth expected by economics journals. We flag papers where the Methods section is disproportionately short relative to the results.

Replication Packages

Since 2019–2020, top economics journals have required full replication packages as a condition of publication. The AER, REStud, and JPE now mandate:

• All data files (or instructions for obtaining restricted-access data)
• All code used for data cleaning, analysis, and figure/table generation
• A README file explaining how to reproduce every result in the paper
• Verification that the code runs and reproduces the results

This requirement is enforced by dedicated Data Editors who will not approve your paper for publication until the replication package passes review. Many authors discover this requirement only after acceptance, leading to months of delay.

Your manuscript should include a Data Availability Statement referencing the replication package location. If data cannot be shared (proprietary, confidential, restricted), the statement must explain access procedures and provide synthetic or simulated data that demonstrates the code works.

Economics Table Formatting

Economics tables follow conventions different from other social sciences:

• Coefficient estimates in the main cells, standard errors in parentheses below (not t-statistics, though some journals accept either)
• Significance stars: * p < 0.10, ** p < 0.05, *** p < 0.01 (note: economics uses the 10% threshold, unlike most other fields)
• Dependent variable clearly stated in the table header or column header
• Number of observations and R-squared reported at the bottom of each column
• Fixed effects indicators: rows showing which fixed effects are included (Year FE, Firm FE, etc.) with "Yes" or "No"
• Robust/clustered standard errors: a note specifying the clustering level

Tables should be self-contained — a reader should understand the regression specification from the table alone. Missing elements (observations count, standard error type, fixed effects indicators) are flagged during editorial screening.

Citation Style in Economics

Economics journals predominantly use author-year citations: (Acemoglu and Robinson 2012) in text, with a full bibliography at the end. Some journals use footnote citations. The reference format typically requires article titles, full journal names, volume numbers, and page ranges.

A common mistake when resubmitting from one economics journal to another is forgetting to update the citation style. Moving from a journal that uses (Author Year) to one that uses footnotes — or vice versa — requires reformatting every citation.

Also see: Social science paper checker | APA format checker | Management paper checker