epsl-topic-selection
Use when deciding whether a result fits Earth and Planetary Science Letters (EPSL) and how to frame it. EPSL takes concise, high-significance Letters on physical, chemical and mechanical processes of the Earth and planets, and desk-declines regional case studies without process-level insight, so this skill pressure-tests the frontier claim before you invest. It frames the contribution; it does not run analyses.
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill epsl-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 (epsl-topic-selection) EPSL's identity is in its name: **Letters**. The journal wants a short paper whose single result moves a *frontier* — how planets differentiate, how mantles convect, how faults load, how climate signals enter the rock record — not a competent study whose relevance stops at one basin, one orogen, or one sample suite. Deciding fit early saves months, because the frontier-vs-incremental judgment is made at the editor's desk. ## When to trigger - Choosing between EPSL and a specialist or regional venue - Sharpening a dataset into a process-level question - Worried the paper reads as "another case study from region X" - Tempted to split one project into companion papers (EPSL discourages this) ## The process-level test 1. **Name the process, not the place.** Does the result constrain a physical, chemical, or mechanical process of the Earth or another planet — melting, degassing, core formation, slab dehydration, crustal growth, orbital forcing — rather than describing a locality? 2. **Portability.** Would a scientist working on a different continent (or a different planet) change how they interpret *their* system because of your result? 3.
- When to trigger
- The process-level test
- Fit-versus-redirect decision table
- Anti-patterns
- Output format
- Supplementary resources
What does the epsl-topic-selection skill do?
Use when deciding whether a result fits Earth and Planetary Science Letters (EPSL) and how to frame it. EPSL takes concise, high-significance Letters on physical, chemical and mechanical processes of the Earth and planets, and desk-declines regional case studies without process-level insight, so this skill pressure-tests the frontier claim before you invest. It frames the contribution; it does not run analyses.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill epsl-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.