jaar-topic-selection
Use when deciding whether a project fits the Journal of the American Academy of Religion (JAAR) and how to frame it. JAAR's bar is broad and fundamental interest to the study of religion across traditions and methods — a contribution only to one subfield will be returned for reframing before review. Frames the question; it does not do the research.
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill jaar-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 & Reframing (jaar-topic-selection) JAAR is widely considered the top general journal in religious studies, and it is **generalist by mandate**: an article must matter to scholars working on **other traditions and with other methods**. Roughly **90% of submissions are rejected**, and a subfield-bound framing is a common early death. Use this skill to choose and, above all, **reframe** the project so it clears the gate. ## When to trigger - Choosing among projects or framings for JAAR - A reader said the piece is "only for specialists" in your tradition/area - The editor returned a submission asking you to reframe its significance - Deciding whether JAAR (vs. a specialist journal) is the right home ## The JAAR fit test A strong JAAR article usually clears all four: 1. **Broad and fundamental interest.** It changes how the **study of religion** understands something — a category, a method, a comparative problem, a theoretical debate — not just how one tradition is read. Name the scholars *outside* your area who should care. 2. **It has a point.** JAAR explicitly wants analysis with a thesis, not description or a survey. The essay argues something contestable (see `ja
- When to trigger
- The JAAR fit test
- How to reframe a subfield project for JAAR
- Anti-patterns
- Output format
- JAAR-vs-specialist-journal decision grid
- Worked vignette: deciding fit for an ethnographic project
- Topic-fit pushback → the fix
- Supplementary resources
What does the jaar-topic-selection skill do?
Use when deciding whether a project fits the Journal of the American Academy of Religion (JAAR) and how to frame it. JAAR's bar is broad and fundamental interest to the study of religion across traditions and methods — a contribution only to one subfield will be returned for reframing before review. Frames the question; it does not do the research.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill jaar-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.