Commres workflow

CR Workflow Router (commres-workflow)

The orchestrator for a Communication Research (CR) submission. CR is SAGE's quantitative, social-scientific communication journal — predominantly hypothesis-testing experiments and surveys with rigorous measurement and explicit theory. The router's first job is to confirm the paper is theory-driven and quantitatively identified, then send the user to the matching skill.

When to trigger

• Starting a new CR paper and unsure where to begin
• Mid-project and unsure which skill applies next
• Deciding whether the study type (experiment / survey-panel / content analysis) is CR-shaped
• Returning with a decision letter (route to commres-rebuttal)

First question: is this a quantitative, theory-testing communication paper?

Situation	Read	Route to
Hypothesis-driven experiment or survey, measured constructs	core CR fit	normal pipeline below
Computational/text-as-data with hypothesis tests on communication processes	in scope if theory-led	pipeline; emphasize measurement validation
Mostly qualitative / interpretive / critical	likely off-fit	re-route to Journal of Communication / New Media & Society before polishing
Method/measurement paper for its own sake	off-fit	Communication Methods and Measures

CR is not multi-paradigm. If the contribution is interpretive or a platform description, the generalist or digital-media siblings fit better — decide this before investing in the pipeline.

Routing map (stage → skill)

Idea / fit?                          → commres-topic-selection
Where does it sit in the field?      → commres-literature-positioning
What are the hypotheses & mechanism? → commres-theory-building
Is the design causally defensible?   → commres-research-design
Are the analyses sound?              → commres-data-analysis
Are the exhibits clear?              → commres-tables-figures
Does it read as social science?      → commres-writing-style
Data, code & open practices?         → commres-transparency-and-data
How will it be judged?               → commres-review-process
Ready to submit?                     → commres-submission
Got an R&R / decision?               → commres-rebuttal

Default order

topic-selection → literature-positioning → theory-building → research-design → data-analysis → tables-figures → writing-style → transparency-and-data → review-process → submission → rebuttal

Iterate: most CR papers loop theory ↔ design ↔ measurement several times before writing-style. If the design is prospective, route to commres-transparency-and-data early to preregister.

Anti-patterns

• Treating CR like a generalist or qualitative outlet — CR judges quantitative, theory-testing work
• A bare effect with no mechanism (mediation/moderation) — CR rewards process, not main effects alone
• Content analysis without reported intercoder reliability
• Causal language on a single cross-sectional survey
• Leaving the data-availability statement and reproducibility materials until acceptance

Router pass for Communication Research

Treat this skill as an executable review pass, not a prose hint. First lock the communication process, the measured constructs, the study design, and the inferential claim; then judge whether the manuscript answers CR's real reader: a quantitatively trained communication scientist who weighs theory, measurement validity, identification, and effect interpretation.

• Do the pass: Run the pack as a sequence — fit gate, theory/measurement gate, identification gate, evidence gate, transparency gate, output contract; stop when a gate lacks evidence.
• Return a ledger: give claim / evidence / risk / manuscript location rows so the next agent edits rather than rediscovers the issue.
• Sibling guard: Journal of Communication (ICA flagship, all-paradigm), Human Communication Research (interpersonal/HCR), New Media & Society (digital, more qualitative). If a sibling owns the contribution, recommend re-routing before polishing format.
• Stop condition: do not give submission-ready advice until resources/official-source-map.md has been checked for volatile rules and the manuscript has one concrete fix for the largest venue-specific risk.

Output format

【Stage】idea / positioning / theory / design / analysis / exhibits / writing / transparency / review / submit / rebut
【Study type】experiment / survey-panel / content analysis / computational
【Route to】commres-<skill>
【Why】one line
【Then】the next skill after that

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/external_tools.md — communication data + software by method
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — official CR/SAGE URLs behind every fact in this pack