phg-topic-selection
Use when deciding whether a topic is review-worthy for Progress in Human Geography (PiHG) — a large, live, contested literature with real disciplinary stakes, not a gap-filling empirical study. Tests fit and scope; it does not build the argument or gather sources.
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill phg-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 & Review-Worthiness (phg-topic-selection) PiHG's first gate is not "is this interesting?" but "is this **review-worthy** for the discipline?" The journal publishes **critical reviews and theory**, not empirical work, so a topic earns a PiHG essay only if there is a **substantial, contested literature** whose state a synthetic argument can usefully re-order — and if the essay would matter beyond one sub-field's specialists. ## When to trigger - Choosing what to review, or narrowing a broad interest into an essay - Unsure whether a literature is big and live enough to sustain a review - A colleague said "this is just a summary" or "why does the field need this now?" - Deciding whether the piece is a review article or a scoped Progress Report ## The review-worthiness test (all four must hold) | Criterion | Pass condition | Fails when | |-----------|----------------|-----------| | **Volume** | A large enough body of work exists to *synthesize*, not just cite | A handful of papers — too thin for a review | | **Liveness** | The debate is active and unsettled *now* | A closed, historical, or consensus topic | | **Contest** | Real disagreement or unresolved tension to adj
- When to trigger
- The review-worthiness test (all four must hold)
- The "so what has changed?" clock
- Scope discipline (the cap is short)
- The empirical-trap check (PiHG-specific)
- Worked micro-example (illustrative)
- Checklist
- Anti-patterns
- Output format
- Supplementary resources
What does the phg-topic-selection skill do?
Use when deciding whether a topic is review-worthy for Progress in Human Geography (PiHG) — a large, live, contested literature with real disciplinary stakes, not a gap-filling empirical study. Tests fit and scope; it does not build the argument or gather sources.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill phg-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.