eursr-topic-selection
Use when deciding whether a sociology project fits the European Sociological Review (ESR) and whether to write a full Article, a Comment/Reply, or a Data Brief. ESR is Europe's flagship quantitative-sociology journal, so the test is a portable mechanism studied with a rigorous comparative or longitudinal quantitative design. Frames the question; it does not collect data.
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill eursr-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 (eursr-topic-selection) ESR is the **quantitative-sociology flagship** of the ECSR. The bar is not "new finding for my country" — it is **"advances how sociology explains a social process, demonstrated with a rigorous quantitative design that travels across European contexts."** Use this skill to pressure-test fit before investing. ## When to trigger - Choosing among possible projects or framings for ESR - A reader said the paper feels "single-country," "merely descriptive," or "atheoretical" - Deciding among a full **Article**, a **Comment/Reply**, and a **Data Brief** ## The ESR fit test A strong ESR paper usually clears all four: 1. **Quantitative core.** The contribution rests on quantitative evidence — survey, register/ administrative, panel, or comparative data — analyzed rigorously. ESR is not the venue for a purely theoretical or purely ethnographic paper. 2. **A mechanism that travels.** It changes how sociology explains stratification, education, labor markets, family/life course, migration, or attitudes — not just what we know about one wave or country (see `eursr-theory-building`). 3. **Comparative or longitudinal leverage.** The design exploits
- When to trigger
- The ESR fit test
- Core-topic framing (write toward ESR's substantive heart)
- Article vs. Comment/Reply vs. Data Brief
- Fit-screening signals (will an ESR editor send it out?)
- Worked micro-example (illustrative)
- Referee/editor pushback → ESR-specific fix
- Calibration anchors
- Anti-patterns
- Output format
- Supplementary resources
What does the eursr-topic-selection skill do?
Use when deciding whether a sociology project fits the European Sociological Review (ESR) and whether to write a full Article, a Comment/Reply, or a Data Brief. ESR is Europe's flagship quantitative-sociology journal, so the test is a portable mechanism studied with a rigorous comparative or longitudinal quantitative design. Frames the question; it does not collect data.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill eursr-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.