demog-topic-selection

Topic Selection & Fit (demog-topic-selection)

Demography publishes research "of general interest to demographers" on how populations change, the measurement of population composition and change, and their components — fertility, mortality, and migration — plus the causes and consequences of those changes. The bar is not "I used census data"; it is "this advances population science." Use this skill to pressure-test fit before you invest.

When to trigger

• Choosing among possible projects or framings for a Demography submission
• A colleague said the paper is "not really demography" or "a health/econ paper using pop. data"
• Deciding between a Research Article, a Research Note, and a Commentary
• Unsure whether the contribution is descriptive measurement or causal explanation

The Demography fit test

A strong Demography paper usually clears all four:

1. A population question. It is about a demographic process or outcome — levels, rates, timing, composition, or change in fertility, mortality, migration, family, health/aging, or population structure — not a topic that merely happens to use a demographic dataset.
2. General interest to demographers. A demographer working on a different component (a mortality scholar reading a migration paper) should see why it matters for population science broadly.
3. A real contribution. A new estimate that revises understanding, a measurement or method advance, a decomposition that isolates what drives a trend, or a mechanism that explains why.
4. A clean, answerable scope. Sharp enough to answer convincingly within ~8,000 words (Article) or ~4,000 (Note).

Domain framing (speak to population science, not just your sub-area)

Home domain	Reach population science by…
Fertility	connect tempo/quantum or parity dynamics to broader population change
Mortality	tie cause/age patterns to life expectancy, lifespan inequality, or compression
Migration	frame flows/stocks as components of population redistribution and growth
Family / households	link union, parity, or living arrangements to demographic outcomes
Health & aging	connect morbidity/disability to mortality, life tables, or population aging
Formal demography	show what substantive population questions the method newly answers

Article-type choice

• Research Article — full study, broad demographic claim, <= 8,000 words main text.
• Research Note — one crisp contribution (a decisive estimate, a measurement fix, a focused decomposition), <= 4,000 words. Do not pad it into an Article.
• Commentary — a short response to a published article or an invited perspective, <= 2,000 words.

Anti-patterns

• "First study of topic X in country Y" as the whole contribution (descriptive, narrow)
• A health/economics/sociology paper that uses demographic data but asks no population question
• A method demonstration with no substantive population-science payoff
• A sprawling question that cannot be answered within the main-text word cap

Desk-reject fit patterns (what triggers the early "inappropriate for Demography" screen)

Demography, the Population Association of America flagship at Duke University Press, runs a pre-review that can desk-reject a paper as off-fit. The usual triggers and the reframe that rescues fit:

Desk-reject pattern	Why it fails the population-science test	Reframe toward fit
"Uses Census/DHS data" but the outcome is a clinical or program endpoint	The dataset is demographic; the question is not	Recast around a rate, composition, or component of population change
A pure regression of Y on X with demographic controls	No demographic process is the object of study	Make the demographic quantity (e0, TFR, net migration) the dependent object
A method paper with no substantive payoff	Demography wants the population question the method answers	Show which contested trend or estimate the method newly resolves
Single-country narrative with no general-interest hook	A mortality reader sees nothing for them	Connect to comparative population theory or a cross-component implication

Worked fit check (illustrative vignette)

A researcher has linked administrative records showing that internal migrants change jobs more often than non-migrants. Run the four-part test:

1. Population question? As stated, no — it is a labor-mobility finding. Reframe: treat migration as a component of population redistribution and ask how selective out-migration reshapes the age-skill composition of sending regions (illustrative).
2. General interest? After reframing, yes — an aging scholar cares about who is left behind.
3. Real contribution? A decomposition of regional population change into migration-driven compositional shifts vs. natural increase is a genuine demographic move.
4. Answerable scope? Yes, as a Research Note on one redistribution episode.

Verdict: off-fit as drafted, strong as a redistribution-and-composition paper.

Output format

【Question】one sentence (a population-change question)
【General interest】which demographers outside the sub-area care, and why
【Contribution type】estimate / measurement / decomposition / mechanism / method
【Type】Research Article / Research Note / Commentary
【Fit verdict】strong / needs reframing / off-fit (why)
【Next】demog-literature-positioning

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/external_tools.md — population data sources by domain
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — Demography aims, scope, and article types