Use when positioning an American Journal of Sociology (AJS) manuscript within the literature so it reads as in dialogue with current sociology. AJS reviewers are assigned by readers who locate the paper's substantive area and method, and the journal prizes engagement with live theoretical debates. Maps the conversation; it does not write the literature review.
SkillScore91Maintained
Automatic
◆Writing & Editing pack
Last verified 8/15/2026
What it changes
Passed 21 of 23 test cases with the skill, and 6 of 23 without it.
Without skill26%
With skill91%
Checks it passed that the model alone missed
Output includes the bracketed tag 【Our move】.
Output includes the bracketed tag 【If Comment】.
Output includes the bracketed tag 【Tension/gap】.
and 19 more in the full report
16 fixed5 passed either way1 still failing1 broke
Pass-rate lift
+65 pp
Tokens
+33%
Agent turns
0%
Response time
-20%
Model gemini-3.6-flashMeasured 8/15/2026v121 of 23 cases passed with skill
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
See it in action
One of 16 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
1 of 16
Prompt
I am preparing a final positioning check on my manuscript. What pre-submission verification rule must be checked before confirming submission-ready advice?
What was checked, without and with the skill
Checked
Without skill
With skill
Response highlights checking official resource maps for volatile journal rules.
Missed
Passed
Response requires identifying a concrete fix for the largest venue-specific risk.
Missed
Passed
case-18 · 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.md79 linessingle file
Literature Positioning (ajs-literature-positioning)
At AJS the literature section is where you prove the paper is in dialogue with current sociology —
the exact thing the journal screens for. AJS's assignment editors read a blinded manuscript to
infer its substantive area and method and then find reviewers who speak to it; your positioning is the
signal they read. This skill maps the conversation and locates your contribution in it.
When to trigger
Drafting or restructuring the literature/positioning section
A reader said the paper "ignores obvious work," "reinvents the wheel," or "isn't in the conversation"
Writing a Comment that must engage one published AJS paper precisely and fairly
Deciding which debates to foreground for a generalist sociology readership
How to position for AJS
Name the conversation. State the live theoretical or empirical debate the paper joins, in terms
a generalist sociologist recognizes — not just your subfield's internal dispute.
Locate the gap as a tension, not a hole. AJS rewards papers that resolve or reframe a tension
in the literature, not ones that merely fill an empty cell.
Engage the strongest prior work, fairly. Cite the best versions of the views you challenge;
reviewers (often cross-method) will know them.
Set up the theoretical payoff. Positioning should hand off cleanly to ajs-theory-building:
the gap you name is the contribution you will make.
Comment-and-Reply positioning (AJS-distinctive)
If you are writing a Comment on a published AJS article:
Engage that specific paper precisely — quote/represent its claim faithfully before critiquing.
Make the critique substantive and general: it should teach the field something, not score points.
Anticipate the author's Reply — AJS publishes both; a fair Comment survives the Reply.
Use when positioning an American Political Science Review (APSR) manuscript against the literature so it reads as a discipline-wide contribution. APSR readers span subfields, so the paper must engage the literatures they expect and avoid the desk-rejection trigger of "failure to engage the relevant literatures." Stakes the contribution; it does not write the lit review.