From ajps-skills
Builds testable theoretical arguments for AJPS manuscripts, covering empirical mechanisms, formal models, or measurement-driven approaches. Structures hypotheses, mechanisms, and scope conditions for empirical confrontation.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/ajps-skills:ajps-theory-buildingThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
At AJPS the theory exists to **generate testable expectations** that the design and data then
At AJPS the theory exists to generate testable expectations that the design and data then adjudicate. The journal's empirical bar means a model or argument earns its place only if it yields observable, falsifiable implications that the analysis can confront. This skill turns an idea into hypotheses, mechanisms, and scope conditions in the idiom your work demands.
ajps-data-analysis for validation).ajps-research-design.Before proceeding, write the sentence: "If the theory is right, we should observe ___; if a rival is right, we should observe ___ instead." If you cannot fill both blanks with something the data can distinguish, the theory is not yet ready for an AJPS empirical confrontation.
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.
claim / evidence / blocker / next edit rows so the next pass can patch the manuscript directly.resources/official-source-map.md for volatile rules and name the one unresolved fact that could change the recommendation.【Core claim】one sentence
【Mechanism】the causal/logical story
【Hypotheses】directional, stated before results
【Assumptions】(formal) the load-bearing ones
【Disconfirming pattern】what would falsify it
【Scope conditions】where it holds / fails
【Next】ajps-research-design
../../resources/external_tools.md — formal-modeling and analysis tooling../../resources/official-source-map.md — AJPS scope and contribution expectationsnpx claudepluginhub brycewang-stanford/awesome-journal-skills --plugin ajps-skillsStructures the theoretical argument of an APSR manuscript into a discipline-level contribution by defining concepts, mechanisms, observable implications, and scope conditions.
Guides turning political science ideas into theoretically innovative arguments for The Journal of Politics (JOP). Covers formal, empirical, and normative modes with falsifiable implications and JOP's innovation test.
Structures a political science finding into a portable theoretical argument with explicit mechanisms, scope conditions, and observable implications. Useful when a paper has strong empirics but a weak 'so what' or is called 'atheoretical'.