From io-skills
Pressure-tests whether an international-relations project fits International Organization (IO) journal standards and selects the right article type.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/io-skills:io-topic-selectionThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
IO is the **leading journal of international relations**. The bar is not "interesting" or "new to my
IO is the leading journal of international relations. The bar is not "interesting" or "new to my country case" — it is a generalizable theory of international politics, tested or developed rigorously, where the international (or cross-border) phenomenon is a major cause or effect. Use this skill to pressure-test IR fit before you invest.
A strong IO paper usually clears all four:
io-literature-positioning).io-research-design, io-transparency-and-data-policy).| Research area | Reach IO by… |
|---|---|
| International institutions / law | a general logic of design, delegation, compliance, or legitimacy — not one IGO's history |
| Security / conflict | a portable mechanism of escalation, deterrence, bargaining, or war termination |
| International political economy | a general claim about trade, finance, aid, or globalization politics |
| Foreign policy / diplomacy | tie individual/state behavior to international structure and strategic interaction |
| IR theory | show what the framework lets the field explain or see that it could not before |
| If the honest answer is… | Verdict | Action |
|---|---|---|
| strip the international element and the paper still stands | off-fit | re-center or send elsewhere |
| the claim holds only for one IGO/case | needs reframing | generalize the logic (io-theory-building) |
| it documents but does not explain a cross-border pattern | descriptive | attach a portable mechanism |
| it explains a general phenomenon of world politics, testable | strong fit | go to io-literature-positioning |
A scholar has rich panel data on one regional trade bloc and wants to write its institutional history. The bloc is international, so the level is load-bearing — but "the history of bloc X" travels nowhere, so the generalizable-theory test fails. The reframe: ask a portable question the case can answer, e.g., when does delegating dispute settlement to a supranational body raise compliance versus provoke backlash? Now the bloc is a case of a general design problem in international institutions; the claim travels to other bodies and enters a live IPE/institutions debate. When unsure a framing clears the bar, write the one-sentence portable claim first; if you cannot, it is not yet an IO project.
【Question】one sentence (international phenomenon named)
【International level】why it is a major cause/effect (not backdrop)
【Generalizable theory】the portable claim about international politics
【IR debate】which live IR conversation it speaks to
【Article type】Research Article / Research Note / Essay
【Fit verdict】strong / needs reframing / off-fit (why)
【Next】io-literature-positioning
../../resources/external_tools.md — IR data sources by research area../../resources/official-source-map.md — IO scope and article typesnpx claudepluginhub brycewang-stanford/awesome-journal-skills --plugin io-skillsTests whether a project fits World Politics (comparative politics/IR) and helps decide between a research article or review article format.
Routes International Organization (IO) manuscripts to the correct sub-skill based on lifecycle stage and article type. Confirms the paper is an IR contribution before dispatching.
Evaluates whether a political-science project fits the British Journal of Political Science (BJPS) and selects among its three formats: Research Article, Letter, or Comment.