AJPS Workflow Router (ajps-workflow)

The orchestrator for an AJPS submission. Figure out the stage and the submission type, then send the user to the matching skill. AJPS is the MPSA's flagship, Wiley-published, double-blind journal whose defining feature is mandatory third-party verification of replication materials before publication — so this router also makes sure reproducibility is engineered from the start, not bolted on at acceptance.

When to trigger

• Starting a new AJPS paper and unsure where to begin
• Mid-project and unsure which skill applies next
• Deciding whether the paper is an Article, Research Note, or Correspondence
• Returning with a decision letter (route to ajps-rebuttal)

First question: which submission type?

| Situation | Type | Route to | |-----------|------|----------| | Full original study | Article (<= 10,000 words) | normal pipeline below | | A methodology advance or a meta-analysis | Research Note (<= 4,000 words) | normal pipeline, tighter scope | | Critique / correction of a paper already published in AJPS | Correspondence (<= 4,000 words) | ajps-literature-positioning + ajps-data-analysis |

> The Research Note is not a short empirical paper — at AJPS it is reserved for methodology > (including methodology in normative theory) and meta-analyses. Do not mis-route a small empirical > study into it.

Routing map (stage -> skill)

text
Idea / fit?                       -> ajps-topic-selection
Where does it sit in the field?   -> ajps-literature-positioning
What's the argument?              -> ajps-theory-building
Is the design identified?         -> ajps-research-design
Are the analyses sound?           -> ajps-data-analysis
Are the exhibits clear?           -> ajps-tables-figures
Does it read well + fit caps?     -> ajps-writing-style
Will the code re-run for a verifier? -> ajps-replication-and-verification
How will it be judged?            -> ajps-review-process
Ready to submit?                  -> ajps-submission
Got an R&R / decision?            -> ajps-rebuttal

Default order

topic-selection -> literature-positioning -> theory-building -> research-design -> data-analysis -> tables-figures -> writing-style -> replication-and-verification -> review-process -> submission -> rebuttal

Iterate: theory <-> design <-> analysis usually loops several times. Critically, start the replication-and-verification package while you analyze — at acceptance an independent verifier re-runs your code, and an unscripted analysis cannot be fixed quickly under deadline.

Anti-patterns

• Treating reproducibility as a post-acceptance chore — AJPS verifies before publishing
• Mis-routing a short empirical study into the methodology-only Research Note type
• Sending a critique of a non-AJPS paper as Correspondence (it is for published AJPS work)
• Forgetting that table/figure captions and footnotes count toward the word limit

Router pass for American Journal of Political Science

Run this as a concrete capability pass. First lock the political theory, design leverage, measurement validity, and scope condition; then test whether the manuscript addresses political-science reviewers who expect tight theory, transparent design, and a contribution that travels across political settings.

• Primary move: Run the pack as fit gate, evidence gate, writing gate, source-map gate, and output contract; stop when a gate lacks evidence.
• Decision ledger: return claim / evidence / blocker / next edit rows so the next pass can patch the manuscript directly.
• Sibling comparison: compare against APSR for field-wide breadth, Journal of Politics for broader political-science audience, Political Analysis for methods-first work; if the neighboring outlet has the stronger audience claim, recommend re-routing before polishing.
• Verification floor: before submission-ready advice, re-open resources/official-source-map.md for volatile rules and name the one unresolved fact that could change the recommendation.

Output format

【Stage】idea / positioning / theory / design / analysis / exhibits / writing / replication / review / submit / rebut
【Type】Article / Research Note (methodology|meta-analysis) / Correspondence
【Route to】ajps-<skill>
【Why】one line
【Then】the next skill after that

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/external_tools.md — political-science data + software by method
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — official AJPS URLs behind every fact in this pack