AUTHOR GUIDELINES FOR BUSINESS ECONOMICS

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Manuscript submissions and editorial queries

Articles for submission should be sent directly to Dr. Robert Thomas Crow, Editor, Business Economics, e-mail rtcrow@comcast.net. Dr. Crow can also be contacted at 650-343-7615. No submission fee is charged. Every effort will be made to respond to submissions within five weeks.

Upon acceptance, authors are asked to submit brief biographical sketches. These will accompany the printed article.

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Content guidelines

Contributions are welcomed from those who apply economic analysis and information in their work and research. Articles can be of any reasonable length and can use mathematical and graphical material as authors deem appropriate. To be considered for publication, there must be a clear statement of why the analysis and information presented in the paper are important to business. That is, papers must pass the “So what?” test. Specific examples of how analysis or information has been used in business are welcome

Business Economics readers are professionals, managers, and researchers in organizations of all sizes and kinds. Their interests—improving their performance on the job and using economics in the workplace—shape what Business Economics editors look for in reviewing submissions. Thus, articles should (a) have ideas relevant to application of economics in business, (b) offer solutions that are translatable into action, and (c) demonstrate clear thinking and expression.

Articles can cover a wide range of topics and practices in different industries, sectors, specializations, and geographic locations. Contributions are welcome from academics, consultants, practitioners, analysts, and policy makers. Contributed articles will be reviewed initially by the Editor and, if the content is deemed appropriate for Business Economics, will be forwarded anonymously for referee review.

Specific guidelines are as follows:

  • Article length should be no more than necessary to cover the topic effectively for applied economics purposes. Typically, this will be significantly under 10,000 words.
  • Authors must state clearly at the outset of the article why and in what way the paper is important for applied economics in business. It must pass the “So what?” test.
  • Authors are free to use whatever mode of expression they think appropriate for communicating their techniques and findings. Graphics and mathematics are welcome. However, theoretical expositions of techniques or analysis not demonstrated to be of value in business economics applications might best be submitted to other journals.
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Editorial style

The style for Business Economics is essentially that of The Chicago Manual of Style. Refer to this publication for issues not resolved below.

Please use American spelling, punctuation, and syntax.

  • Commonly used Latin terms (e.g., inter alia) should not be italicized.
  • Do not simply use e.g. and i.e. throughout in place of the English phrases “for example” and “that is”; if you do use them, they should not be italicized.
  • If a relatively unfamiliar, non-English term (e.g., “chaebol”) will appear throughout your work, so that italicization will be cumbersome, you may choose to italicize the term and define it the first time it appears, and thereafter use Roman type.
  • Names of institutions or organizations (e.g., Bundestag; Goskomstat) are not italicized.
  • Diacritical marks should be retained in proper names and non-English words, even when they are not italicized (e.g., Poincaré, émigré, vis-à-vis, raison d’être).
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Proofing

Palgrave Macmillan, the publishers of Business Economics, will make available to the corresponding author a final typeset proof in PDF format, via its e-proofing web site. Authors will be requested by email to check their proof within a specified time. Any small corrections and answers to queries must be returned within that time. The corresponding author will receive a PDF of their article after publication.

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PDF

Corresponding authors will receive a PDF of their article. This PDF offprint is provided for personal use. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to pass the PDF offprint onto co-authors (if relevant) and ensure that they are aware of the conditions pertaining to its use.

The PDF must not be placed on a publicly-available website for general viewing, or otherwise distributed without seeking our permission, as this would contravene our copyright policy and potentially damage the journal’s circulation. Please visit http://www.palgrave-journals.com/pal/authors/rights_and_permissions.html to see our latest copyright policy.

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Clearing permissions

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from copyright holders for reproducing through any medium of communication those illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere.

Add your acknowledgements to the typescript, preferably in the form of an Acknowledgements section at the end of the paper. Credit the source and copyright of figures in the accompanying captions.

Your article

Authors are required to assign copyright to the National Association for Business Economics, the owner of Business Economics, in respect of their article. You will receive a Publishing Agreement/Copyright Assignment Form from the Editor.

While submission to the journal with acceptance constitutes an assignment of the copyright, the journal mandates the Copyright Clearance Center in the USA and the Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK to offer centralized licensing arrangements for photocopying in their respective territories.

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Preparing your manuscript

Please adhere to the following procedures in preparing the final version of your manuscript.

File formatting

  • We prefer to receive final manuscripts in Microsoft Word or in WordPerfect. Separate Excel files are acceptable for tables and figures.
  • Please utilize the following convention for naming your files: your surname to be followed by the element in the file (e.g., Smith-text.doc, Smith-Figure 1.doc, etc.).
  • We prefer that you create a separate file for each table and figure (if provided in Excel, each table should be in its own separate workbook file).

Title page information

Please provide the following information on your title page.

  • Title.
  • Author name(s). Author affiliation(s), institution(s) only.
  • Contact information for corresponding author.
  • Running head (right running head or RRH). Use the title, unless your title is more than 55 spaces, in which case give a shortened version. This will appear at the top of every right-hand page in your published article.
  • Abstract of not more than 100 words.
  • No fewer than two and not more than five keywords.
  • There must be no indication in the text, footnotes, letterhead, etc. of the author(s) identity.
  • Book reviews need only the review author’s name, affiliation, and contact information, plus the publication information for the reviewed book: book title, author(s)/editor(s), publisher location: publisher, year, # of front matter pages (roman numeral), # of book pages (arabic numeral), price, ISBN#.

Manuscript formatting

All formatting of your manuscript will be done by a professional typesetter, according to established Business Economics guidelines. Indeed, when preparing your manuscript for submission, please do not try to format the layout or appearance of the work yourself. The following points will make it easier for us to format your manuscript correctly:

  • Use only one space after punctuation.
  • Do not leave blank lines between paragraphs unless there is a deliberate break in the text.
  • Use a line feed (“carriage-return” key) only to end a paragraph, not at the end of each screen line.
  • Do not use hyphenation/justification, windows, or other automatic functions in the files you send. They will not transmit properly to our computers.
  • Do not insert spaces between initials.
  • Do not use a lowercase “el” (l) for a numeral one (1).
  • Sections should be numbered, and subsections should not be numbered.
  • Section headings are in upper- and lower-case, bold, and flush left. Subheadings are upper- and lower-case, flush left and italicized. Further subheadings are in upper- and lower-case, and indented. The text then begins on the same line, immediately following the further subheadings.
  • Headings, subheadings, and titles of tables, figures, etc., should be brief but informative, parallel in construction, and in a consistent style. As a group, the headings and subheadings should give a clear outline of the structure of the work and its parts. Superscript note numbers or asterisks should never appear in a title heading, or subheading.

Figures and tables

Please do not embed these elements in the flow of the text in your manuscript. We prefer that they be provided in separate files. Only a “call-out” should appear in the text to indicate placement, such as ⟨⟨Table 2 here⟩⟩ below the paragraph in which the item is called out. Use Arial, Helvetica, or Times Roman font in all your figures.

  • Refer to all figures and tables in the text by Figure 1, 2, 3... and Table 1, 2, 3..
  • A further title for each table and figure is required.
  • Do not use the table editor to create tables.
  • Computer printouts are not acceptable as table copy.
  • Figures and tables are not published in color – please ensure they are accurate in black and white. Authors can however, if they wish, pay to have color reproduction.
  • Separate data in table columns by tabs, not spaces.
  • In statistical matter throughout (including tables):
    • dots (…) indicate that the data are not available;
    • a dash (—) indicates that the figure is zero or less than half the final digit shown, or that the item does not exist;
    • a single dot (.) indicates decimals;
    • a comma (,) separates thousands and millions;
    • “billion” means a thousand million; and “trillion” means a thousand billion;
    • a short dash (–) is used between years or months (for example, 1998-99 or January-June) to indicate a total of the years or months inclusive of the beginning and ending years or months;
    • a slash (/) is used between years (for example, 1998/99) to indicate a fiscal year or a crop year; and
    • components of tables may not add to totals shown because of rounding.

Math symbols and equations

Dealing with math symbols and equations is one of the most difficult jobs for the typesetter. Please follow the guidelines below carefully.

  • Differentiate between math symbols in the text and mere abbreviations that are not math symbols.
  • Italicize all variables in equations and in the text.
  • Matrix notation, vectors, and determinants are usually shown in boldface Roman type. Example: Let D represent the submatrix.
  • Refer to all equations in the text as “equation (#)”. Do not abbreviate equation as eq.
  • Equations embedded in the text should be written in linear style, using a solidux (/) to denote fractions whenever possible. That is, equations embedded in the text should not alter the text’s vertical spacing. Equations that are displayed separately from the text should be written in conventional mathematical style.

Quotations

When using quotations from published sources, please follow exactly the spelling and other conventions of the original. Please place interpolations (comments you insert that are not part of the quotation) in square brackets, not parentheses. Indicate internal omissions with ellipsis points; do not use ellipsis points at the beginning or end of a quote.

Quotations need to be identified by source. Direct quotations are enclosed within double quotation marks; quotations within quotations are enclosed in single quotation marks. Commas and periods go inside the close quote (,” .”), colons and semicolons outside (”: ”;). A question mark or exclamation point belongs inside the close quote if it is part of the quotation. A superscript note number follows the close quote, but proper placement of punctuation marks will vary: (“xx xxxxx”),2 “xx xxxxx”;3 “xx xxxxx,”4; and “xx xxxxx.”5

Citations and notes

A citation is used when the reader is being referred to a given work, or to identify more fully a work the author has mentioned. If any discussion is included, then this requires a note rather than a citation and should include the reference in brackets where needed within the note.

  • References cited within the text must be referred to by author’s last name and date of publication placed in brackets, not parentheses. If you prefer that the cited author’s name not be placed inside the brackets, reword your sentence so that the author’s name can be gracefully worked into the text. Then follow it with the publication date in brackets. Separate references by semi-colons. If a reference comes at the end of a sentence, the period follows the bracket. Every publication or unpublished manuscript mentioned must be listed in the References list and cited, when mentioned, in this manner.
  • All notes to the text are formatted as numbered notes (using arabic numerals, not roman numerals) to appear at the foot of the specific page. Show note numbers within the text with a superscript. The superscript note number is best placed at the end of a clause, sentence, or quotation, outside the punctuation. Superscripts should never appear in chapter titles or subheads.
  • We prefer that the final version of your manuscript not use the autoformatting in MS Word with regards to both numbering and endnote location.
  • Do not incorporate notes belonging to tables or figures into the sequence of numbered notes, as the exact placement of these elements will not be fixed until the text is typeset.
  • A credit (or acknowledgment) note is unnumbered. It should be placed before the numbered endnotes.
  • Use the same short-form citation for nonsequential references to a previously cited source (rather than op cit.).

Sample citations as they should appear in the text

    Samuelson [1959] uses this technique.
    (If the author’s name appears in the text, only the date and appropriate page numbers need to be bracketed.)

    The data reveal several inconsistencies [Smith 1985; 1987].
    (Multiple references by the same author are shown by listing the name once, followed by appropriate dates, separated by a semi-colon for each reference.)

    We found similar results in several earlier studies [Black 1990, Ch. 2; White 1983, pp. 116-76].
    (If chapter and/or page numbers are given, separate from date by comma. Identify chapter by the abbreviation " Ch." Identify page numbers by p. or pp.)

    Studies confirm our results [Black (1929) 1982, p. 3]
    (Citation of a new edition (1982) of an older work (1929) should include both publication dates.)

    Many authors have found similar results [e.g., Rogers 1955; Bates 1969, Autry 1973].
    (Citation is to a non-inclusive sampling of works. Do not overdo the use of e.g., however. See below)

Sample citations constructs to avoid if possible:

    The data reveal several inconsistencies [see Smith 1985, p. 132].
    (The word “see” is usually extraneous. Some authors tend to do this with nearly all citations. This is an affectation.)

    The data reveal several inconsistencies [e.g., Smith 1985, p. 132].
    (Again the “e.g.” is usually extraneous.)

Sample Acknowledgements and Notes

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Marshall Smith and Robinson Friedman for helpful discussion and suggestions.

References

Reference all articles and texts cited in the References section immediately following the Notes. Do not put reference information in citations in the text, other than author name and date. List only those references that are actually cited in the text or notes. The References section is not a bibliography. Please follow the formatting guidelines below.

  • Do not indent references.
  • Arrange references alphabetically with the first (or only) author’s last name first, then name and middle initial or middle name. Only the name of the first author in a multiauthor entry is inverted.
  • If more than one work by the same author is cited, arrange them chronologically, earliest first. For multiple works within the same year, give the year a suffix a, b, c …. The name of the author(s) is deleted after the first mention and replaced by 12 long underscores or a 3-em dash followed by a period.
  • References must contain all necessary bibliographic information for our journal style. Examples follow below for how to treat the most common forms of references. If you have a document that does not appear to fit any of the following examples, please give sufficient data to enable a reader to locate the document.
  • Permitted variations:
    • if an issue number is not available for an article, it is not required; you can also use month or season instead;
    • the access date for a webpage need not be included;
    • if you can’t determine the author, then list the owner of the site;
    • if the site title is missing, use a descriptive phrase;
    • an article in a conference proceedings volume should be treated like a chapter in a multi-author (or edited) book;
    • brochures and pamphlets can be treated as books.

Sample References

Bradley, Omar N., and George S. Patton Jr. 1942. “The Relative Economic Efficiency of Tanks.” Economic Enquiry, 23(1): 1-85.
Brain, James. 1980. Book He Wrote. Brown and Company.
Brainier, Jane, ed. 1976. Book She Edited. Black and Company.
Brainiest, Judson. 1962. Book Edited for Him, edited by Michael Jevons. Brown and Company.
Calvin, John. 1965. His Book in a Series, Title of Series. Brown and Company.
____________. 1968. His Work in a Later Edition, 2nd ed. Brown and Company.
____________. 1981. “His Chapter in a Cooperative Work,” in Title of Work, edited by John Kenneth Galbraith. Brown and Company, 100-106.
Calvin, John, and Jerry Falwell. 1980. Economics and the Protestant Ethic. Brown and Company.
Kimmelman, Michael. 2005a. “Abstract Art’s New World, Forged for All.” The New York Times (June 7): E-1, E-6.
____________. 2005b. “Risks and Rewards of Art in the Open.” New York Times (Aug 19): E-31.
Newsweek. 2002. “Perspectives.” (May 20): 53.
Newman, Alfred E. 2003. Voodoo Economics. Lecture at the Univesity of Eastlandia, November 17.
____________. forthcoming. “Economics of Zany Comics.” Eastern Economic Journal.
Princeton University. 2000. “Serra’s Arcs Shift Time and Space.” Princeton (alumni newsletter published by the University’s Office of Development Communications), Summer, 7.
U. S. Senate. 1917. Committee on Public Lands. Leasing of Oil Lands. 65th Cong., 1st sess.
Websiter, Webster. 1997. Wy Jonny Cant Spel. Sitename, url (accessed January 7, 2006; site now discontinued).
Worker, John Q. and R.D. Rester. 2001.“ Work and Leisure.” NBER Working Paper No.
710210,: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Zizzerzazzer, Zuzz. 2007. Email message to author, April 17.