Use when deciding whether an anthropology project fits American Anthropologist (AA) and which section to target. AA is the four-field AAA flagship, so the test is significance across anthropology (sociocultural, archaeology, biological, linguistic), not single-subfield novelty. Helps frame the question and pick a section; it does not collect data or conduct fieldwork.
SkillScore82Maintained
Automatic
◆Research pack
Last verified 8/15/2026
What it changes
Passed 18 of 22 test cases with the skill, and 8 of 22 without it.
Without skill36%
With skill82%
Checks it passed that the model alone missed
The response rates the fit verdict as strong.
The response includes the bracketed tag 【Section】.
The response includes the bracketed tag 【Question】.
and 18 more in the full report
12 fixed6 passed either way2 still failing2 broke
Pass-rate lift
+45 pp
Tokens
-3%
Agent turns
0%
Response time
-46%
Model gemini-3.6-flashMeasured 8/15/2026v118 of 22 cases passed with skill
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
See it in action
One of 12 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
1 of 12
Prompt
I am analyzing honorific grammar in Javanese dialects. My analysis shows how subtle shifts in verb endings reveal shifting class hierarchies and state power in post-authoritarian Indonesia. Evaluate this topic for American Anthropologist.
What was checked, without and with the skill
Checked
Without skill
With skill
The response explains how micro-linguistic grammar data connects to discipline-wide questions of power and class.
Passed
Passed
The response includes the bracketed tag 【Four-field reach】.
Missed
Passed
case-13 · 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.md74 linessingle file
Topic Selection & Fit (amanthro-topic-selection)
AA is the flagship four-field journal of the American Anthropological Association. The bar is not
"new to my subfield" — it is "matters to anthropology broadly." A great paper makes a finding in
sociocultural, archaeological, biological, or linguistic anthropology legible and useful to readers in
the other fields. Use this skill to pressure-test fit and section before you invest.
When to trigger
Choosing among possible projects or framings for an AA submission
A reviewer/colleague said the paper feels "too narrow" or "subfield-only"
Deciding among Research Article and the journal's shorter/engaged sections
A field or community partner has reframed what the project is for
The AA fit test
A strong AA paper usually clears all four:
Four-field reach. A scholar in a different subfield should see why it matters — the shared
stakes are anthropology's enduring questions: culture, power, kinship, exchange, language,
embodiment, deep history, human variation, colonialism and its afterlives.
A real contribution, not just a description. It changes how the field thinks, theorizes, or
accounts for something — a new concept, a reframing, a decisive case, a corrected record.
Credible on its own methodological terms. Ethnographic, archival, material/archaeological,
bioanthropological, or linguistic — each is welcome but each must be rigorous and reflexive
(see amanthro-research-design).
Ethically sound. The relationship to interlocutors, communities, descendants, and heritage is
accountable; consent and care are part of the design, not an afterthought
(see amanthro-transparency-and-data).
Reach past your home subfield
Home subfield
Reach to four-field anthropology by…
Sociocultural
draw the portable concept/mechanism, not just the ethnographic particular; speak to theory others can use
Archaeology
connect material/temporal evidence to general claims about social life, not only site chronology
Biological / physical
tie human-variation or evolutionary findings to social and cultural meaning, not biology alone
Linguistic
show what the language data reveal about culture, power, or cognition beyond the grammar
Reflexive / public
make the methodological/ethical/political stake one the whole discipline shares
Use when deciding whether a sociology project fits the American Sociological Review (ASR) and whether to write a full Article or a Comment/Reply. ASR is sociology's general flagship, so the test is broad significance and theoretical payoff across subfields, not novelty within one. Frames the question; it does not collect data.
Use when targeting the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology or deciding whether an obstetrics or gynecology clinical study fits this venue. Encodes the journal's fit across maternal-fetal, reproductive, and gynecologic research, the clinical-evidence and pregnancy-ethics bar, reporting-guideline and registration requirements, AJOG house style, official-submission re-check, and desk-reject heuristics. Venue-fit aid only, not clinical advice.