Thank you so much for your interest in writing for ProMarket. Contributors play a large role in our success. Please submit your proposals through the form below but before you do, please read our style and writing guide.
ProMarket is a forum for the exchange of research and ideas regarding the subversion of competition by special interests. There are three main types of articles we tend to run at ProMarket:
(1) The presentation of new research with a high potential impact: working papers, books, surveys;
(2) in-depth analyses of current issues related to antitrust and competition, regulatory capture, money in politics, and rent-seeking;
(3) op-eds, reviews, and commentaries on various issues related to political economy.
Articles don’t need to be too long: 1000-1500 words to present your research should be more than enough, and the same goes for news analyses. A shorter op-ed will be more effective.
Every kind of article should be plain in style but also intelligent and thought-provoking.
General Guidelines for Prospective Contributors:
- We only consider submissions in English.
- Pieces containing promotional or advertising materials will not be considered.
- Authors must disclose all potential conflicts of interest in advance.
- Submissions containing content that could be considered offensive, racist, or defamatory will not be considered. Ad hominem will also be cause for disqualification—ProMarket is not a stage from which to launch personal attacks.
- Headlines, as well as abstracts, will be determined by the editors in consultation with the authors. All headlines will be mutually agreed upon.
- Authors may submit pieces that have already been featured on other publications or blogs but must disclose this fact upon submitting their piece.
- Similarly, we allow posts accepted for publication on ProMarket to be cross-posted to other platforms, but request that authors do so after 48 hours and that they notify us in advance.
- ProMarket’s editors will retain absolute discretion in determining whether to accept a submission for publication.
- Please, no footnotes. Authors should avoid footnotes as much as possible, particularly in opinion pieces and commentaries. Instead, authors should link to relevant sources in the text. Hyperlinks provide readers with a faster, easier route to your reference materials. (Authors can also add a reference list at the bottom of their piece).
- As you write, please keep in mind that our audience is broader than just academic economists. It includes policymakers, journalists, and students, in addition to academic scholars from various disciplines. Our readership is fairly diversified, so we usually try to aim for posts that can be read by a nonspecialist, graduate-level readership.
- We encourage our authors to highlight the topical, real-world, or policy connections of their research if/ when possible.
- As much as you can, try to avoid complex and jargon-laden sentences. The key to a successful piece is in explaining nuanced and complex issues in a straightforward manner.
- Your opening paragraph is, in many ways, the most important. You should find a way to explain your argument, either in your very first sentence or immediately thereafter in the lede paragraphs. Please, do not begin by writing “this post examines” or “this contribution will look at.”
- Figures are always appreciated. If you can, please send them in separate image/PDF files.
- ProMarket reserves the right to retract an article if a factual error has been found and not corrected. Authors can appeal a retraction to the editorial board who will make the final decision.
ProMarket Disclosure Policy
ProMarket requires that authors disclose any potential conflicts of interest. A conflict of interest depends on the situation, and not the character or actions of the individual in question. In keeping with the AEA Disclosure policy, authors should report any personal, professional, political, institutional, or other associations that a reasonable reader would want to know about in relation to the submitted work. These include:
- Authors should identify each interested party from whom they have received significant financial support in the form of consultant fees, retainers, grants, income from lectures and the like over the past three years;
- Authors should identify in-kind support received from third-parties, such as access to data. If the support in question comes with a non-disclosure obligation, that fact should be stated, along with as much information as the obligation permits;
- Authors should disclose any relationship with an organization—such as non-profits, think-tanks, research centers, consultancies, companies or other entities—that might have a stake in the subject of their article and/or if they are aware that an organization they are employed by received funding from interested parties;
- An “interested” party is any individual, group, or organization that has a financial, ideological, or political stake related to the article.
- The disclosures required above apply to spouse or partner of any author.
In Making a Submission to ProMarket, Contributors Agree That:
- The submitted piece is an original work to which they own the copyrights;
- Their piece includes no plagiarism;
- The piece will be considered for publication on ProMarket, at a date decided by ProMarket’s editors;
- Authors consent that the piece may undergo edits prior to publication. Edits will be made in consultation with the authors, but authors accept that the editors have discretion when it comes to the choice of title.
- ProMarket can publish the author’s name, position, and affiliation next to the blog post, and also when promoting the piece via social media and in our newsletters.
