jpam-topic-selection
Use when judging whether a research idea fits the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (JPAM) — a credibly evaluable policy or program question with a decision-relevant takeaway that reaches across economics, political science, and public management. Tests fit and sharpens the question; it does not design the study or run analysis.
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill jpam-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 (jpam-topic-selection) JPAM publishes work that **evaluates real policies and programs** and **informs a real decision**. The fit bar is two-sided: the question must be **causally answerable** with a credible design *and* **policy-relevant** in a way an APPAM audience (economists, political scientists, public-management scholars, and practitioners) recognizes. A clever identification with no policy stake is off-fit; so is an urgent policy question with no path to a credible estimate. ## When to trigger - Choosing among ideas for a JPAM submission - A reviewer or colleague said the paper is "interesting but not really policy" - Deciding whether the work is a Feature Article or a shorter type (Policy Insights / Retrospective) - Unsure whether JPAM or a field journal (economics / political science / public administration) is the home ## The JPAM fit test 1. **Name the policy or program.** What concrete intervention, rule, or reform is being evaluated? "The effect of X policy on Y outcome" — not "the determinants of Y." 2. **Name the decision.** Who acts differently if the finding is true — a legislator, agency, program designer, funder? State the counterfactual
- When to trigger
- The JPAM fit test
- Field coverage (any of these is in scope)
- Article-type fit
- Checklist
- Anti-patterns
- Worked micro-example (illustrative)
- Calibration anchors (hedged)
- Output format
- Supplementary resources
What does the jpam-topic-selection skill do?
Use when judging whether a research idea fits the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (JPAM) — a credibly evaluable policy or program question with a decision-relevant takeaway that reaches across economics, political science, and public management. Tests fit and sharpens the question; it does not design the study or run analysis.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill jpam-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.