joap-workflow

Journal of Applied Psychology Workflow Router (joap-workflow)

The orchestrator for a JAP submission. JAP is the APA flagship of industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology, and it accepts almost nothing on rigor alone: a paper must make a theoretical contribution to I-O science and clear a high bar on construct validity, design, and measurement. The router makes sure both gates are addressed early, then sends you to the matching skill.

When to trigger

• Starting a new JAP paper and unsure where to begin
• Mid-project and unsure which skill applies next
• Choosing among article types
• Returning with a decision letter (route to joap-rebuttal)

First question: article type

Situation	Type	Route note
Full programmatic empirical contribution	Feature Article	main pipeline below; length commensurate with contribution
Focused, shorter empirical contribution	Research Report	tighter page budget (待核实 exact cap); often a multi-study package
New conceptual/theory contribution, no new data	Theory-development article	joap-theory-and-hypotheses is the spine; design/analysis lighter
Cumulative synthesis of an effect	Integrative review / meta-analysis	joap-data-analysis (meta-analytic methods) + transparency for coding
Qualitative I-O contribution	Qualitative research	joap-study-design (trustworthiness) + joap-writing-style

JAP weighs theory and measurement together. A clean field study with no theoretical advance, and an elegant model with weak measurement, are both common desk rejects — confirm current article types and any length caps on the official APA page.

Routing map (stage → skill)

Idea / fit for I-O science?            → joap-topic-selection
Theory + hypotheses (model first)?     → joap-theory-and-hypotheses
Where does it sit in the field?        → joap-literature-positioning
Design / measurement / CMV / nesting?  → joap-study-design
SEM / HLM / mediation / meta sound?    → joap-data-analysis
Exhibits (APA, path/CFA, HLM tables)?  → joap-tables-figures
Fits APA style + length?               → joap-writing-style
Data/materials/code + TOP + prereg?    → joap-open-science-and-transparency
How will masked reviewers judge it?    → joap-review-process
Ready to submit (Editorial Manager)?   → joap-submission
Got an R&R / decision?                 → joap-rebuttal

Default order

topic-selection → theory-and-hypotheses → literature-positioning → study-design → data-analysis → tables-figures → writing-style → open-science-and-transparency → review-process → submission → rebuttal

Theory comes before literature positioning here on purpose: JAP wants the theoretical mechanism fixed first, then the literature marshaled to show why that mechanism is new. For meta-analyses and theory-development articles the spine shifts — pull data-analysis (meta) or theory-and-hypotheses (theory) forward.

Worked micro-example — routing a live project (illustrative)

A team has a two-wave field study (N = 612 employees nested in 74 teams) testing whether servant leadership raises team performance via psychological safety, plus a lab experiment for causal identification. The router walks them:

Type:    Feature Article (programmatic; field + experiment, multilevel + mediation).
Entry:   not idea-stage; theory and data exist → start at theory-and-hypotheses
         to lock the model, then design/analysis.
Route:   theory-and-hypotheses (mechanism + multilevel hypotheses)
         → study-design (CMV, nesting, temporal separation) → data-analysis
         (multilevel SEM mediation, ICC, indirect-effect CIs)
         → tables-figures (path diagram + HLM table) → writing-style
         → open-science-and-transparency (TOP, data/code, prereg of the lab study)
         → review-process → submission ; on R&R → rebuttal.
Flag:    The cross-level mediation needs a 1-1-2 / 2-2-2 design statement and a
         CMV remedy declared up front, or Reviewer 2 will lead with it.

Stage-triage table (symptom → skill)

What the author says	Stage	Route to
"Is this even right for JAP?"	fit	joap-topic-selection
"Reviewers say no theoretical contribution"	theory	joap-theory-and-hypotheses
"Same-source self-report — common method bias?"	design	joap-study-design
"My mediation/HLM is questioned"	analysis	joap-data-analysis
"Where do I put data and code?"	transparency	joap-open-science-and-transparency
"I have an R&R from three reviewers"	revision	joap-rebuttal

Routing pitfalls specific to this venue

• Sending a paper straight to joap-data-analysis when the deeper problem is that no theoretical contribution has been articulated — JAP rejects rigorous-but-atheoretical work; fix theory first.
• Deferring joap-study-design until after data: common-method variance, temporal separation, and nesting are design decisions; you cannot fully repair them at the analysis stage.
• Treating joap-open-science-and-transparency as a formality — JAP holds submissions to the TOP framework; deposits and statements should be built early, not promised at acceptance.

Anti-patterns

• A rigorous field study with no advance in I-O theory (rigor is necessary, not sufficient)
• Cross-sectional single-source self-report offered as the whole evidentiary base
• Hypotheses stated after the results were known (HARKing)
• Leaving construct validity and measurement to an afterthought
• Confusing JAP with a sibling venue (Personnel Psychology, AMJ, OBHDP, JOB) and writing to the wrong bar

Output format

【Stage】idea / theory / positioning / design / analysis / exhibits / writing / transparency / review / submit / rebut
【Type】Feature Article / Research Report / theory-development / integrative review / qualitative / meta-analysis
【Route to】joap-<skill>
【Why】one line
【Then】the next skill after that

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/external_tools.md — SEM/HLM/meta-analysis software, preregistration, repositories, APA tooling
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — official APA Journal of Applied Psychology URLs behind every fact in this pack