The Clean Economy Working Paper Series disseminates findings of ongoing environmental and clean economy work conducted by researchers from a range of disciplines including economics, public policy, political science, and law. These working papers are meant to make results of relevant scholarly work available in a preliminary form, as a way to generate discussion of research findings and provide suggestions for revision before formal publication in peer-reviewed journals. Although these papers have not undergone a peer-reviewed process, they are still expected to meet general standards of scholarly excellence.
These working papers deal with one, or more, of the Smart Prosperity Research Network’s focus areas, which include, but are not limited to:
- Policies for a clean, competitive, and low-carbon economy;
- Policies to incentivize clean innovation, and policy and public investment drivers;
- Sustainable and efficient use of natural capital;
- Environmental markets for conservation and valuation;
- Innovative policies for more sustainable communities;
- The political economy of clean, low-carbon policy.
The views expressed in these working papers are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Smart Prosperity Institute. The email addresses of the authors are included in all posted working papers so that readers can share their comments or suggestions directly with the authors.
Guidelines for submitting:
The papers may be submitted in either English or French. While there is no set word limit, we recommend papers be written clearly and concisely. The Clean Economy Working Paper Series includes papers directly supported by the Smart Prosperity Research Network, but also welcomes broader research from academics from our network and other academics working on one of the network’s research focus areas.
At the beginning of the paper include:
- An abstract of 150 words or less
- 2 to 5 Journal of Economic Literature Classification codes (JEL codes)
- 3 to 6 keywords
- Your email address
- Your affiliation
Please submit the paper in PDF and WORD format to research.network@smartprosperity.ca for approval by the working paper editor. Please note that the working paper editor will look for grammatical errors, style and readability of paper, general suitability of the paper with the aim and scope of the Clean Economy Working Paper Series, and alignment with the network’s research focus areas.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Is publication of papers through the Clean Economy Working Paper Series equivalent to prior publication by scholarly refereed journal?
These working papers have not undergone a peer-review process and therefore should not prevent subsequent publication in scholarly refereed journals. Smart Prosperity Institute has taken caution to ensure, to the best of our knowledge, that sharing a working paper through this series does not equate to prior publication. We encourage authors to submit their papers to academic journals, however, final responsibility rests with the author to consult the editorial policies of specific journals.
What happens when a working paper in this series is accepted for publication by a peer-review journal?
It is generally preferable to cite the final published version of the paper than the working paper version. If a paper that has been featured in the Clean Economy Working Paper Series is accepted for publication in an academic journal, we encourage the author to notify us that the paper has been published elsewhere. We will then provide a link to the final and peer-reviewed version of the paper. Please notify the series editor at research.network@smartprosperity.ca
If a specific journal requires previous versions of the paper to be removed from public circulation, we will remove the PDF version of the working paper (at the request of the author), and our website will simply maintain an abstract of the paper with a link to the final published version (unless otherwise requested by the author).
