ajps-topic-selection
Use when deciding whether a political-science project fits the American Journal of Political Science (AJPS) and which submission type (Article, Research Note, Correspondence) to target. AJPS is a generalist but quantitatively leaning venue that rewards a sharp, well-identified question with a generalizable payoff. Helps frame the question and pick the type; it does not collect data.
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill ajps-topic-selection --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Topic Selection & Fit (ajps-topic-selection) AJPS publishes across the discipline but most of its pages carry **rigorous empirical, experimental, computational, or formal-empirical** work. The test is not "novel to my subfield" alone — it is a **clear, well-identified contribution** that a broad political-science audience will cite. Use this skill to pressure-test fit before you invest. ## When to trigger - Choosing among possible projects or framings for an AJPS submission - A colleague said the paper feels "descriptive," "thin on identification," or "too narrow" - Deciding between a full **Article** and a **Research Note** - Considering a **Correspondence** critique of a published AJPS finding ## The AJPS fit test A strong AJPS paper usually clears all four: 1. **A sharp question with a generalizable answer.** Not "what happened in case X" but "what does X teach us about the general phenomenon (behavior, institutions, conflict, representation)?" 2. **Credible identification or inference.** AJPS reviewers expect the design to support the causal or inferential claim being made (see `ajps-research-design`) — empirics carry the paper. 3. **A real contribution, not a finding.** It m
- When to trigger
- The AJPS fit test
- Choosing the submission type
- Anti-patterns
- Fit pass for American Journal of Political Science
- Output format
- Supplementary resources
What does the ajps-topic-selection skill do?
Use when deciding whether a political-science project fits the American Journal of Political Science (AJPS) and which submission type (Article, Research Note, Correspondence) to target. AJPS is a generalist but quantitatively leaning venue that rewards a sharp, well-identified question with a generalizable payoff. Helps frame the question and pick the type; it does not collect data.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill ajps-topic-selection --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills, a repository with 909 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.