Econofact Submission Guidelines: Publishing Accessible Economic Analysis

Key Takeaways

• EconoFact, founded in 2017 at Tufts University's Fletcher School, publishes short, non-partisan policy memos written largely by academic economists for readers outside the field.
• A strong memo states its main finding in the first two paragraphs, runs to roughly a thousand words, uses plain language, and ties every claim to data or cited research.
• The editorial team works with authors to strip jargon and sharpen charts, so writers should arrive with a clean draft and expect revision.
• EconoFact suits economists who want their research to reach journalists, congressional staff, and educated general readers while a policy debate is still live.
• Compared with outlets such as The Conversation, Brookings, and VoxEU, EconoFact occupies a middle ground: shorter than a think tank report, more economics-focused than a general academic news platform.

1. Introduction

Economists spend years producing careful empirical work, and much of it never leaves the journal paywall. Policymakers and journalists want the findings, and few of them have time for a 40-page paper with an econometric appendix. EconoFact was created in 2017 at Tufts University's Fletcher School to close that gap. It publishes short memos in which academic economists translate research on trade, healthcare, labor markets, taxation, immigration, and other policy areas into language a busy reader can absorb in ten minutes.

For a researcher, the practical problem is specific: how do you turn a working paper into a memo that survives an editor's jargon test and still says something precise? EconoFact's submission guidelines encode what its editors have learned about writing for this audience. This article covers what the outlet publishes, how the process runs from pitch to publication, the writing standards that make economic analysis accessible, and where EconoFact fits among the other outlets an economist might target.

2. What EconoFact publishes and who writes it

The outlet publishes brief, evidence-based memos on current policy questions, and its contributors are mainly academic economists. EconoFact describes itself as non-partisan, and the format backs that up: memos track the live agenda (tariffs, inflation, the minimum wage, Social Security, drug prices) and rest their case on data and cited studies. Opinion pieces that argue a position without empirical grounding do not fit the format.

Memos are short by design. Most run to about a thousand words, often with one or two charts, well below the length of a journal article or a typical think tank report. The editors commission much of the pipeline directly, matching economists in their network to policy questions their research can inform. Economists outside that network can still reach the editorial team through the site's contact channels, and a pitch lands more often when it ties a specific body of published work to a debate that is happening now.

Before drafting anything, read several recent memos on topics near yours. Note the pattern: a plain-language headline, the main finding within the first two paragraphs, charts a non-economist can read, and citations pointing back to the underlying research. If your paper's central result cannot be stated in two sentences without a coefficient table, restructure it before you write a word of the memo.

3. How the editing process works

Expect an editor to push your draft toward shorter, plainer prose, and build revision time into your schedule. Journal peer review asks whether a paper is novel and rigorous. EconoFact's editing asks whether a memo is accurate and clear to a general reader, which is a different test and one that most academic first drafts fail somewhere.

The process works roughly like this: an editor matches a policy question to an author's expertise, the author drafts, and the editors then check that claims are supported, that technical terms are defined or replaced, and that each chart carries its own message. Figures and citations get verified. Memos are published free to read on the site, which makes them easy for journalists and congressional staff to quote.

Timing matters as much as quality. A memo on a tax provision does its job while Congress is debating that provision; the same memo published after the vote reaches far fewer readers. Turnaround can be faster than a journal because the format is short and the review focuses on accuracy and clarity, but editors sometimes request revisions on a short clock when a debate is moving. Responding quickly to those requests is part of the job. Keep a ranked list of your paper's findings by public relevance before you draft, so a compress request does not force a scramble.

4. Writing standards that make economic analysis accessible

The memo format rewards a specific discipline: lead with the finding, define every term, and let each chart carry one message. Concretely:

• Lead with the answer. A reader who stops after the first screen should know the result and why it matters for the policy at hand.
• Translate statistics into magnitudes. A coefficient of 0.3 tells most readers little. "A 10 percent rise in the minimum wage produced employment changes close to zero in the sample studied" tells them what you found.
• Define technical terms in line, or cut them. "Quasi-experimental" can usually become "comparing groups that differed only by the policy." If a term must stay, define it in one clause.
• Give each chart one job. Label the axes, name the data source and years, and write a caption that states the takeaway. A chart that needs a paragraph of explanation needs redrawing.
• State the evidence base in a sentence or two, with a citation readers can follow to the underlying paper.
• Disclose limits plainly. Say who was studied, over what period, and what the result does not cover. One sentence of honest boundary conditions reads better than a paragraph of hedging.

A useful test throughout is to imagine a congressional staffer reading on a phone between hearings. That mental test settles most style disputes faster than any style guide, and it explains why EconoFact memos look the way they do.

5. Where EconoFact fits among policy outlets

Choosing an outlet depends on format, audience, how fast you need to publish, and what you want the piece to do for your work. The table compares the main options.

Economists and policy researchers working on technology questions such as AI regulation, platform competition, or semiconductor export controls can add a niche option to this list. Global Tech Observatory (globaltechobs.com) publishes technology policy commentary for readers who follow that area closely. Its advantage is concentration: the readership is smaller than Brookings', but it arrives already interested in the topic. Its limitation is the other side of the same fact. Reach and name recognition are narrower than at the established institutions, so a placement there works best alongside a piece in a larger outlet rather than instead of one.

Match the outlet to the goal. A journalist pickup on a timely economic question points toward EconoFact or The Conversation. Shaping the technical debate among economists points toward VoxEU. A durable reference document for staff and agencies points toward a Brookings-length report. Early-career researchers often get more traction from The Conversation or VoxEU, where the path to a byline is more open, while an economist at any stage with a well-timed result fits the EconoFact memo format.

6. FAQ

Q1. Do you have to be a professor to write for EconoFact?

The author pool consists mainly of academic economists, and editors match authors to questions based on their research record. Economists at government agencies, central banks, and research institutions with relevant published work can also fit. The deciding factor is whether your expertise matches a policy question that is currently contested.

Q2. How long should a memo be?

Short. Most EconoFact memos run to roughly a thousand words, far below a journal article or think tank report. If your draft runs long, move methodological detail into a brief citation of the underlying paper and keep the memo focused on findings and their policy meaning.

Q3. How should I handle data and charts?

Use one or two charts at most. Label the axes, name the data source and the years covered, and write captions that state the takeaway instead of describing the chart. Verify every figure in the text against the source before submission, since the editors will.

Q4. How fast can a memo appear once a policy debate starts?

Faster than a journal, because the format is short and review concentrates on accuracy and clarity. The exact timeline varies with the editing required. Pitch early in the debate; a memo that arrives after the vote reaches far fewer readers.

7. Conclusion

EconoFact is a strong match when three conditions hold: you have a finding grounded in research, a policy debate is active, and you can explain the result without jargon. Under those conditions, a day or two of writing can put your work in front of journalists and congressional staff who would never open the underlying paper. When your aim is depth, standing within the discipline, or an audience beyond the United States, weigh the alternatives in the table above. The practical starting point for an interested economist is to read several recent memos on adjacent topics and check whether the headline finding survives a two-sentence restatement. If it does, the memo format will feel natural, and the writing standards in this article will get a draft most of the way there.