---
name: jm-writing-style
description: Use when polishing the prose of a Journal of Marketing (JM) manuscript — front-loading the substantive argument, writing for a general managerial-and-scholarly audience, and conforming to AMA author-date house style and formatting. Polishes the writing; it does not build the contribution (jm-contribution-framing) or run the submission preflight (jm-submission).
---

# Writing Style, General-Audience (jm-writing-style)

## When to trigger

- The contribution and exhibits are settled and the prose needs polishing
- The intro buries the substantive question under literature or method
- The writing reads as a specialist memo, not a general-marketing-audience paper
- Citations and formatting need to be brought to AMA house style

## Write for JM's audience: scholarly *and* practical

JM is a **general-audience** journal whose readers include scholars, educators, managers, policy makers, consumers, and other societal stakeholders. Its mission is to be a **bridge between the scholarly and the practical**. So the prose must make a substantive marketing question and its managerial stakes legible to a broad reader — not only to specialists in your subarea. Lead with the **phenomenon and the question**, make the **managerial relevance** visible early, and keep the conceptual and statistical machinery in service of the substantive story. The new editorial "Big Ideas" stance discourages "unnecessarily complex" presentation that crowds out the importance of the topic (待核实 — editorial paywalled); write for clarity and consequence.

## Front-load the argument

- **First paragraph**: the real-world marketing phenomenon, why it matters, and the question.
- **Early in the intro**: the substantive contribution *and* the managerial/policy/societal one (both, explicitly).
- **Topic sentences** carry the argument; a reader skimming first sentences should get the logic.
- **Active voice**, concrete subjects, plain terms over jargon; define every construct on first use.
- **Effect sizes in words**: state magnitudes in managerial units in the prose, not only in tables.

## AMA house style

- **Citations**: author-date, in-text; **full author names for up to three authors**, "**et al.**" for four or more.
- **Statistics in text**: report **actual p-values, standard errors, and effect sizes** — never "p < .05" thresholds or stars-only.
- **Formatting**: 12-point Times New Roman (or 12-pt LaTeX font); double-spaced (tables/references may be single-spaced); 1-inch margins; **no** page numbers, line numbers, headers, or footers. AMA Word/LaTeX templates are available.
- **Abstract** ≤ 200 words, unstructured; **minimum 3 keywords**.

## Trim to the 50-page inclusive limit

The 50-page maximum counts text, references, tables, figures, footnotes, and print appendices (only web appendices are excluded). Cut redundancy, fold long robustness narratives into the web appendix, and keep the main text focused on the substantive throughline.

## Checklist

- [ ] Opening states phenomenon → why it matters → question
- [ ] Substantive *and* managerial contribution visible early
- [ ] Topic sentences carry the argument; active voice throughout
- [ ] Effect magnitudes stated in managerial units in the prose
- [ ] AMA author-date citations (full names ≤3 authors; et al. for ≥4)
- [ ] Exact p-values, SEs, effect sizes in text (no thresholds/stars)
- [ ] Abstract ≤200 words; ≥3 keywords; 12-pt, no page/line numbers/headers/footers
- [ ] Main text trimmed within the 50-page inclusive budget

## Anti-patterns

- **Buried lede**: the substantive question appears on page 3.
- **Specialist-only prose**: unreadable to a general marketing/managerial audience.
- **Method theater in the writing**: foregrounding technique over insight.
- **Threshold/stars statistics** in the text.
- **Wrong citation style** straight from a reference manager (not AMA author-date).

## Output format

```
【Lede】phenomenon → matters → question present in para 1?
【Contributions early】substantive + managerial both visible?
【Magnitudes in words】effect sizes in managerial units?
【AMA citations】author-date; full names ≤3 / et al. ≥4: ok?
【Stats in text】exact p / SE / effect size (no thresholds): ok?
【Format】abstract ≤200w, ≥3 keywords, 12-pt, no page/line numbers: ok?
【Page budget】within 50-page inclusive limit?
【Next step】jm-submission
```