| name | red-writing-style |
| description | Use when applying Review of Economic Dynamics (RED) house style — the stand-alone abstract not exceeding 250 words, author-year (Harvard-style) references, 1 to 6 keywords, LaTeX via Elsevier's elsarticle class under "your paper your way", and the generative-AI declaration. Drafting conventions for a quantitative dynamic paper; it does not invent results. |
Writing Style for RED (red-writing-style)
When to trigger
- Drafting or tightening the abstract, introduction, and front matter for a RED submission
- Setting up references and keywords to RED specifications
- Formatting the manuscript for initial submission
RED conventions (verified; re-confirm on the official Guide for Authors)
- Abstract: concise and factual, not exceeding 250 words, and able to stand alone —
references inside the abstract are discouraged. Lead with the question, the model, and the headline
quantitative result.
- References: author-year (Harvard-style) citation system; reference list alphabetical and consistent.
- Keywords: 1 to 6 required.
- Formatting: Elsevier's general Guide for Authors applies; LaTeX accepted via the
elsarticle
class; initial submission is flexible ("your paper your way"), so you need not fully typeset to
Elsevier style for the first round.
- Generative AI: any use of generative-AI tools must be declared at submission.
- Length: this pack does not encode a RED-specific manuscript word/page cap. Use the current Guide and
Editorial Manager prompts for live file constraints; keep the paper as long as the contribution warrants
and no longer.
Abstract shape
Use this order:
Dynamic question -> model/mechanism -> discipline/evidence -> headline quantitative result -> implication.
Do not begin with data or policy motivation alone. RED readers need to see the dynamic mechanism before
they decide whether the paper belongs in the journal.
Style notes for dynamic papers
- Make the mechanism legible before the math — a reader should grasp the dynamic force from the intro.
- Define the model cleanly; relegate long derivations and proofs to an appendix.
- State magnitudes (the calibrated/estimated number that matters) early and precisely.
Introduction paragraph order
Use this sequence for RED introductions:
- Dynamic fact or puzzle.
- Mechanism and state variable that make the problem dynamic.
- Model discipline: data moments, calibration, estimation, or theoretical restriction.
- Headline quantitative result or theorem.
- Why the result changes how the SED/dynamic-economics audience thinks about the mechanism.
Avoid opening with institutional background that could fit a static paper. The first page should prove
that time, state dependence, expectations, accumulation, adjustment costs, search, or equilibrium dynamics
are essential to the contribution.
Notation conventions for dynamic-model prose
- Write recursive problems in standard Bellman form — V(a, z) = max over (c, a') of u(c) + βE[V(a', z')|z] —
defining every state, choice, and shock at first use, and keep symbols stable across the model section,
the calibration table, and the computational appendix.
- Time variables explicitly (beginning- vs end-of-period assets): timing mismatches between the equations
and the archived code are a referee-visible error class at a code-first journal.
- Keep the body for the model, the calibration logic, and the experiments; equilibrium-condition
derivations and algorithm detail go to appendices the body cites by number.
- Give experiment units in-line ("a one-standard-deviation TFP shock", "a transfer of 1% of GDP") rather
than relying on a figure caption to carry them.
Abstract rewrite example (illustrative)
WEAK: "We study inequality and monetary policy in a rich model with many
realistic features and find interesting effects."
RED-SHAPED: "How does household debt shape monetary transmission? In a
heterogeneous-agent New Keynesian model calibrated to U.S. wealth and MPC
distributions, a 25bp rate cut raises aggregate consumption by 0.4% — twice
the representative-agent benchmark — because constrained borrowers' interest
burdens fall." (numbers illustrative)
The rewrite names the model class, the discipline (wealth and MPC distributions), and the headline
magnitude in three sentences — the pattern a RED desk screen rewards.
Checklist
Anti-patterns
- A 250+-word abstract or one that cannot be read without the paper
- Mixed citation styles instead of clean author-year
- Asserting a manuscript length cap that the current RED Guide does not publish
Output format
[Style diagnosis] dynamic mechanism clear / static opening / too long / format risk
[Abstract fix] <250-word stand-alone target>
[Intro repair] <paragraph or sequence to rewrite>
[Front matter] keywords / references / AI declaration / LaTeX
[Next step] red-submission or red-tables-figures
Supplementary resources
