Use when deciding whether a topic fits the American Educational Research Journal (AERJ), now an integrated field-wide journal, and whether the manuscript's dominant education-research lens is clear. AERJ rewards broad significance to education research, not subfield-only description. Tests fit; it does not generate research questions.
SkillScore68Maintained
Automatic
◆Research pack
Last verified 8/15/2026
What it changes
Passed 15 of 22 test cases with the skill, and 13 of 22 without it.
Without skill59%
With skill68%
Checks it passed that the model alone missed
Rates the fit verdict as strong.
Identifies cross-cutting as the dominant lens.
Uses Japanese bracket headers for output fields.
and 4 more in the full report
5 fixed10 passed either way4 still failing3 broke
Pass-rate lift
+9 pp
Tokens
+40%
Agent turns
0%
Response time
-26%
Model gemini-3.6-flashMeasured 8/15/2026v115 of 22 cases passed with skill
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
See it in action
One of 5 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
1 of 5
Prompt
We investigated how secondary math teachers' scaffolding techniques influence student intrinsic motivation and problem-solving persistence across 30 middle schools. Evaluate this research idea for American Educational Research Journal alignment and output the structured report with question, broad significance, conceptual contribution, dominant lens, fit verdict, and next step.
What was checked, without and with the skill
Checked
Without skill
With skill
Rates the fit verdict as strong.
Missed
Passed
Identifies the dominant lens as teaching/learning.
Missed
Passed
case-22 · gemini-3.6-flash · 8/15/2026 · answers are capped and redacted
What's inside
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
SKILL.md88 linessingle file
Topic Selection & AERJ Fit (aerj-topic-selection)
AERJ publishes work that spans the whole field of education research and matters beyond a single
subfield. Before anything else, decide two things: is the question of broad significance, and what
dominant education-research lens makes it legible to the integrated AERJ audience.
When to trigger
Choosing or sharpening the question for an AERJ paper
Unsure whether the topic is "big enough" for a flagship general journal
Naming the dominant lens: policy/institutional, teaching/learning, human development, or cross-cutting
Weighing AERJ vs a specialty outlet (e.g., a subfield or methods journal)
The fit test (broad significance)
Field-wide stakes. Could a researcher in a different education subfield care about the finding
or the framing? If only one niche cares, it may be off-fit.
Significance for policy and/or practice. AERJ values work that informs how education is
organized, taught, or experienced — name the stake explicitly.
Conceptual contribution, not just a result. What do we understand differently afterward? Tie
this to aerj-theory-and-framework.
Equity and context. AERJ readers expect attention to who is studied, in what context, and for
whom the claim holds.
Naming the dominant lens
Your topic is about...
Dominant lens
Policy, governance, finance, accountability, organizations, institutions, equity at the system level
Policy / institutional / organizational
Teaching, instruction, curriculum, learning processes, cognition, motivation, human development
Teaching / learning / development
The school as an organization and what happens in classrooms
Name the dominant framing; explain cross-field travel
The lens is about topic and framing, not method. A multilevel quantitative study and an
ethnography can both belong if the field-wide contribution is clear.
Anti-patterns
A descriptive result with no broader significance ("we found X in one district")
Pitching to a niche when the framing could reach the field
Picking a lens by method (e.g., "it's qualitative so it must be learning/development") — wrong axis