About ProMarket

ProMarket is the publication of the George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. ProMarket is an academic forum focused on topics of special interest capture, antitrust, political economy, and the future of capitalism. 

Economists have become increasingly technical and specialized, a trend with benefits but also costs: important topics are often ignored by economists because there isn’t sufficient data or theory to analyze them. We want to provide a forum to bridge the gap between specialized academic journals and general outlets like mainstream news. Our aim is to foster discussion and debate of economic ideas with the rigor of the best academic work, but without the pedantry that often accompanies it. 

The vast majority of economists believe that competition is the essential ingredient that makes a market economy work. While a competitive market system ends up benefiting everyone, nobody benefits enough to spend resources to lobby for it. Business has very powerful lobbies; competitive markets do not.

This is why we are ProMarket, rather than ProBusiness.

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Impact Statement

ProMarket articles bring substance, expertise and context to important debates. Articles are regularly cited in major news outlets, policy documents, and journal articles. Our articles have been assigned in over 80 universities around the world. See our recent citations here.

Submitting to ProMarket 

Who We Write For:

Many of our readers are academics, policymakers, and journalists 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. Teachers often assign their students readings from our publication.

Who We Publish:

The majority of our articles are written by academics and scholars. However, we also publish articles from policymakers, practitioners, journalists, and students. Most important is that your ideas are comprehensive and insightful. 

What We Publish:

• New and relevant research summaries with a high potential impact

• In-depth analyses of current issues related to market functioning

• Debates and responses to other ProMarket articles

• Book excerpts

Articles should be between 1,000–1,500 words.

Submission Guidelines:

Our publication is designed for readers with an undergraduate understanding of economics, law, and politics. Your article should be written in English and as plainly as possible. Real-world examples, including policy connections, are encouraged. Not only do examples help to clarify high-level concepts, but they also help to elucidate the article’s relevance. In the tradition of the Chicago School, we encourage the use of data and statistics to defend arguments where appropriate. 

Submissions containing content that could be considered offensive, racist, or defamatory will not be considered. Ad hominem attacks will also be cause for disqualification.

Submissions should be sent to: promarket@chicagobooth.edu. In your submission, please include your name, affiliation and a brief summary of your pitch. ProMarket’s editors will retain absolute discretion in determining whether to accept a submission for publication. Please link references as hyperlinks in your article. 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.

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. Figures are always appreciated. If you can, please send them in separate image files.

We republish pieces featured in other publications and allow original work on our site to be republished 48 hours after publication. Please notify us in advance if either of these circumstances applies to your submission.

Disclosure Policy

ProMarket requires that authors disclose any potential conflicts of interest in advance. 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 by name each party with a financial interest in the output of their article 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;
• If the author is employed by an organization that received funding from interested parties, they must identify those interested parties. If the author cannot legally disclose the names of those interested parties, that fact must be stated, along with as much information as the obligation permits;

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 the spouse or partner of any author. 

Contributor Agreement

In making a submission to ProMarket, contributors agree that:

• ProMarket’s editors will retain absolute discretion in determining whether to accept a submission for publication;
• The submitted piece is an original work to which they own the copyrights and includes no plagiarism;
• Headlines, as well as abstracts, will be determined by the editors in consultation with the authors. All headlines will be mutually agreed upon;
• The piece will be considered for publication on 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 headline;
• ProMarket can publish the author’s name, position, and affiliation, and also when promoting the piece via social media and in our newsletters. 

Disputes will be handled as follows: 

• A complainant may initiate the process of editorial board review by contacting ProMarket with a minimum 500 word submission explaining why the piece violates the COPE Retraction Guidelines. To avoid being inundated with retraction requests, a complainant should expect to pay a $100 fee for our time to review any complaints after the first one that the person submits. The fee will be refunded in the case of a successful retraction. We will also collect contact information, but the complainant will remain anonymous unless they want to be identified. 
• The editorial board will review the complaint and determine whether it should be elevated to a referee. If so, the editorial board will ask if an advisory board member can serve as referee, or if they can suggest another expert in the article’s subject matter to be the referee.
• The author(s) will be made aware that their piece is under review. 
• The ProMarket editorial board will follow the advice of the referee with regard to retraction.
• The author and complainant will be notified of the result of the review. If a major problem is found, the author will be given the opportunity to resubmit the article. The resubmission will be evaluated by the referee.
• If retraction without resubmission is the outcome, the editorial board will agree on language that communicates the reason for retraction. This reasoning will replace the text of the article, and will note that the original can still be found at https://archive.org/web/

Regarding corrections: If a small factual error is detected in a piece, ProMarket will correct the piece and include a correction note at the bottom of the article. 

For Teachers

We encourage the use of ProMarket articles in the classroom. While not required, we would appreciate an email to let us know if you use a particular piece. In addition to the article, please send your name, school and course in which you use the article: promarket@chicagobooth.edu.

Content Licensing Policy

Third parties are allowed to republish the first paragraph of our articles with links back to our website. If you are interested in republishing one of our articles in its entirety, please email us for a republication request form and send it to the ProMarket editors at promarket@chicagobooth.edu. If you wish to enter a syndication agreement, please email the ProMarket editors.

Email us at: promarket@chicagobooth.edu