From demog-skills
Evaluates whether a research project fits Demography journal criteria and helps select the appropriate article type (Research Article, Note, or Commentary).
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/demog-skills:demog-topic-selectionThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
Demography publishes research "of **general interest to demographers**" on **how populations change,
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.
A strong Demography paper usually clears all four:
| 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 |
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 |
A researcher has linked administrative records showing that internal migrants change jobs more often than non-migrants. Run the four-part test:
Verdict: off-fit as drafted, strong as a redistribution-and-composition paper.
【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
../../resources/external_tools.md — population data sources by domain../../resources/official-source-map.md — Demography aims, scope, and article typesnpx claudepluginhub brycewang-stanford/awesome-journal-skills --plugin demog-skillsPresssure-tests whether a project fits Population and Development Review's scope and helps select the appropriate article type (Research Article, Notes & Commentary, Data & Perspectives).
Routes Demography (PAA/Duke University Press) manuscripts to the correct sub-skill based on article type and lifecycle stage. Use when starting, switching stages, or handling an R&R.
Helps determine whether a political-science project fits APSR and which of its five tracks to target, based on general disciplinary significance.