economics-en

1. Identity and context

Language and register: English, academic but plain
Genre and document types: journal articles, working papers, policy research reports
Purpose: report and defend empirical findings on poverty and inequality
Readers: economists, referees and editors; some policy staff
Field and venues: development economics journals and working paper series
Conventions: author year citations; methods may use the passive voice; results before robustness checks
Topics: poverty measurement, household surveys, inequality
Scope: research papers and reports in English; not emails, blog posts or slides

2. Document architecture

Status: established

R01 State the main finding, with its direction, in the first paragraph of the introduction.
- strength: mandatory
- kind: constraint
- applies: introductions of papers and reports
- except: none
- check: Read the first paragraph of the introduction. PASS if it states the main finding and whether the quantity rose, fell or stayed flat.
- evidence: 20261001-0910 (poverty-lines), 20261003-1420 (ppp-revisions), 20261006-0815 (survey-weights)
- status: approved 2026-10-07
- from: L001
R02 End the introduction with a short map of the sections that follow.
- strength: optional
- kind: preference
- applies: introductions of papers longer than about 5,000 words
- except: short notes and policy briefs
- check: PASS if the last paragraph of a long paper's introduction says what each later section does, or if no map is present. VIOLATION only if a map appears somewhere other than the end of the introduction.
- evidence: analysis:20261002-survey-paper, 20261004-1100 (inequality-trends), 20261008-0930 (ppp-revisions)
- status: approved 2026-10-09

3. Argumentation and reasoning

Status: established

R03 Name the strongest objection to the main claim and answer it before the conclusion.
- strength: preferred
- kind: constraint
- applies: papers and reports that defend a claim
- except: purely descriptive reports that make no causal or evaluative claim
- check: Find the main claim. PASS if the text states a specific objection to it (not a generic "some may disagree") and responds to it before the concluding section.
- evidence: 20261003-1420 (ppp-revisions), 20261005-1600 (poverty-lines), 20261008-0930 (ppp-revisions)
- status: approved 2026-10-09
R04 Qualify a claim with its scope (place, period, population) in the same sentence, not in a later caveat.
- strength: preferred
- kind: tendency
- applies: sentences that state a finding
- except: the abstract, where scope may be given once for all findings
- check: Look at the findings as a whole. PASS if most findings carry their scope in the same sentence. VIOLATION if scope is mostly deferred to a separate caveat paragraph.
- evidence: 20261001-0910 (poverty-lines), 20261006-0815 (survey-weights), 20261008-1310 (survey-weights)
- status: approved 2026-10-09

4. Paragraphs

Status: established

R05 Introduce the paragraph's central claim before its numbers.
- strength: preferred
- kind: tendency
- applies: analytical body paragraphs that present numbers
- except: paragraphs that describe data sets, variables or methods
- check: In each applicable paragraph, find the central claim and the first number. PASS if the claim comes first in most such paragraphs.
- evidence: 20261001-0910 (poverty-lines), 20261004-1100 (inequality-trends), 20261006-0815 (survey-weights)
- status: approved 2026-10-07
- from: L003
R06 Keep body paragraphs to one idea and about 4 to 7 sentences.
- strength: preferred
- kind: tendency
- applies: body paragraphs
- except: lists, block quotes and paragraphs that only introduce a table or figure
- check: PASS if most body paragraphs hold one idea and few exceed 8 sentences. A single long paragraph is not a violation.
- auto: max-paragraph-sentences 10
- evidence: 20261002-1015 (inequality-trends), 20261005-1600 (poverty-lines), 20261008-1310 (survey-weights)
- status: approved 2026-10-09

5. Discourse and coherence

Status: unknown

6. Sentences and rhythm

Status: established

R07 Keep most sentences short; use a long one only to hold a list or a chain of steps.
- strength: preferred
- kind: tendency
- applies: all prose
- except: quotations and formal definitions
- check: Look at the text as a whole. PASS if long sentences (over 30 words) are rare and each one holds a list or a chain of steps.
- auto: share-sentences-over 30 15
- evidence: 20261001-0910 (poverty-lines), 20261003-1420 (ppp-revisions), 20261005-1600 (poverty-lines)
- status: approved 2026-10-07

7. Vocabulary and register

Status: established

R08 Use the field's technical term, and define it once at first use.
- strength: mandatory
- kind: constraint
- applies: technical terms such as headcount ratio, poverty gap, PPP
- except: terms every reader of the venue knows, such as GDP
- check: For each technical term, PASS if it is used consistently and defined at its first use. VIOLATION if a plain paraphrase replaces the term or the term is never defined.
- evidence: 20261002-1015 (inequality-trends), 20261004-1100 (inequality-trends), 20261008-0930 (ppp-revisions)
- status: approved 2026-10-09

8. Voice and metadiscourse

Status: established

R09 Use "we" for the authors' choices and findings; do not use "the authors" or "this researcher".
- strength: preferred
- kind: constraint
- applies: all prose
- except: when citing other authors' work
- check: PASS if the authors refer to themselves as "we" or not at all. VIOLATION for each "the authors", "the present author" or "this researcher" used for themselves.
- auto: no-phrase "the present author" "this researcher"
- evidence: stated 2026-10-02
- status: approved 2026-10-02
R10 Hedge once per claim, at the point of real uncertainty.
- strength: preferred
- kind: preference
- applies: sentences that state findings or interpretations
- except: none
- check: PASS unless a claim stacks two or more hedges ("may possibly suggest") or a hedge is attached to a plain fact from the data.
- evidence: 20261003-1420 (ppp-revisions), 20261006-0815 (survey-weights), analysis:20261002-survey-paper
- status: approved 2026-10-09

9. Evidence and sources

Status: established

R11 Report a number with its unit, year and comparison in the same sentence.
- strength: mandatory
- kind: constraint
- applies: sentences that report an estimate in the results
- except: tables, and numbers repeated from an earlier sentence
- check: For each reported estimate, PASS if the sentence gives the unit, the year or period, and what it is compared with.
- evidence: 20261001-0910 (poverty-lines), 20261005-1600 (poverty-lines), 20261008-1310 (survey-weights)
- status: approved 2026-10-09
R12 Prefer integral citations ("Smith (2020) shows") when the source's author matters to the argument.
- strength: optional
- kind: preference
- applies: citations in the literature review and discussion
- except: lists of several supporting sources
- check: PASS by default. Note only if a source central to the argument is cited only in parentheses.
- evidence: adopted 2026-10-08 (analysis:20261002-survey-paper)
- status: approved 2026-10-08

10. Anti-patterns and constraints

Status: established

N01 Never use em dashes or en dashes as punctuation.
- strength: prohibited
- kind: constraint
- applies: all prose
- except: number ranges such as 1990–2000
- check: PASS if no dash is used as punctuation between words or clauses.
- auto: no-dashes
- evidence: stated 2026-10-01
- status: approved 2026-10-01
N02 Never open a paper or section with a sweeping background line such as "In recent years" or "Poverty is a major challenge".
- strength: prohibited
- kind: constraint
- applies: the first sentence of the paper and of each section
- except: none
- check: Read each first sentence. VIOLATION if it states general background that any paper on the topic could open with.
- auto: no-phrase "in recent years" "in today's world" "is a major challenge"
- evidence: 20261002-1015 (inequality-trends), 20261004-1100 (inequality-trends), 20261006-0815 (survey-weights)
- status: approved 2026-10-07

Notes

Illustrative profile, invented for the Voice Forge documentation and tests. It is not anyone's real voice.