jf-workflow

Workflow Router (jf-workflow)

When to trigger

• You are unsure which jf-* skill applies to the current task
• You want an end-to-end sequence for a JF manuscript
• You are mid-project and need the next step

What this pack targets

The Journal of Finance: AFA flagship, founded 1946, bimonthly, Wiley-Blackwell, finance top-3 with JFE and RFS, ~5% acceptance / ~33–45% desk reject (afajof.org editor reports, accessed 2026-05-30). Distinctive JF mechanics this pack encodes: the AFA online portal with a tiered submission fee (high-income AFA member $400 / non-member $525; low-income $0), the 60-page limit (≥1.5 spacing, 12-pt), the Internet Appendix bundled at the end of the same PDF, the Data and Code Sharing Policy with a Data Editor, and a cover letter that is normally omitted.

End-to-end sequence

1. jf-topic-selection — is this general-interest and flagship-level?
2. jf-literature-positioning — state the marginal contribution; attribute canon to the right top-3 journal.
3. Design: jf-empirical-design (asset pricing) or jf-identification (corporate/causal).
4. jf-robustness — decisive checks in body, exhaustive battery + multiple-testing discipline in the Internet Appendix.
5. jf-tables-figures — self-contained exhibits, JF numbering, economic units.
6. jf-internet-appendix — allocate body vs. IA; keep body ≤60 pages.
7. jf-writing-style — general-interest intro; magnitude up front.
8. jf-referee-strategy — pre-empt objections; cover letter only for COI/code-exemption.
9. jf-submission — preflight: fee tier, 60-page check, bundled IA, code, disclosure.
10. jf-rebuttal — after an R&R, answer the editor first.

Routing table

Symptom	Go to
"Is this big enough for JF?"	jf-topic-selection
"What's new vs. prior work?"	jf-literature-positioning
"How do I test this anomaly/factor?"	jf-empirical-design
"Is my causal claim identified?"	jf-identification
"Which robustness / multiple testing?"	jf-robustness
"Exhibits look amateur"	jf-tables-figures
"Body too long / what goes online?"	jf-internet-appendix
"Intro buries the finding"	jf-writing-style
"What will referees attack?"	jf-referee-strategy
"Final pre-submit check / the fee"	jf-submission
"Got an R&R"	jf-rebuttal

Stage-gate decision table

Use this to locate yourself in the AFA pipeline and to know what must be true before advancing. The flagship's selectivity means each gate is a real stop, not a formality:

If you are here…	The binding question	Gate to clear before moving on
Have a result, no paper	Would the whole AFA membership care?	General-interest fit (jf-topic-selection)
Writing the introduction	Is the marginal contribution one sentence?	Crisp delta vs. closest work (jf-literature-positioning)
Asset-pricing test in hand	Does it survive the factor zoo and out-of-sample?	Multiple-testing + OOS (jf-empirical-design)
Corporate causal claim	Is the source of variation named and exogenous?	Credible identification (jf-identification)
Result is robust	Are the 3–6 decisive checks in the body, rest online?	Body/IA split (jf-robustness, jf-internet-appendix)
Polishing	Question, answer, magnitude on page 3; ≤60 pp?	Accessible exposition (jf-writing-style)
About to submit	Fee tier, bundled IA, code, disclosure all set?	Portal preflight (jf-submission)
Holding an R&R	Have you answered the editor first?	Editor-led rebuttal (jf-rebuttal)

Worked vignette — routing a corporate natural-experiment paper

Illustrative. A team has a clean staggered-regulation shock and a DID showing leverage falls by, illustratively, 4 percentage points at treated firms. Where do they enter? Not at jf-empirical-design (that is the asset-pricing track) but at jf-topic-selection to confirm broad interest, then jf-literature-positioning to state the delta against the capital-structure canon, then straight to jf-identification because the staggered rollout demands a modern DID estimator and a pre-trends panel. jf-robustness then decides which placebo and excluded-cohort checks are load-bearing in the body versus the Internet Appendix. Only after jf-writing-style confirms the 4-point effect and its mechanism land on page 3 does jf-submission run the portal preflight. The router's job is to stop them skipping identification straight to submission — the most common JF self-inflicted desk reject.

What this router will not do (calibration anchors)

• It will not adjudicate identification or factor-model choices — those belong to the specialized skills; the router only sequences them.
• It assumes the JF-specific mechanics stay constant across the project: the 60-page body limit, the bundled-in-PDF Internet Appendix, the AFA portal fee, and the Data Editor's code check. If any of these appear to have changed, confirm against the journal's current author guidelines before relying on the sequence.

Anti-patterns

• Jumping to jf-submission before fit and identification are settled
• Skipping jf-internet-appendix and breaching the 60-page limit
• Treating any single sub-skill as a substitute for the specialized ones
• Entering the asset-pricing track for a corporate causal paper (or vice versa)

Output format

【Current stage】...
【Recommended next skill】jf-...
【Why】...