Jmf workflow

JMF Workflow Router (jmf-workflow)

The orchestrator for a JMF submission. Figure out the stage and the format (full article vs. brief report), then send the user to the matching skill. JMF publishes family-science research across sociology, psychology, demography, and family studies — the router keeps the paper pointed at a families-and-close-relationships contribution, not a generic social-science result.

When to trigger

• Starting a new JMF paper and unsure where to begin
• Mid-project and unsure which skill applies next
• Deciding between a full article and a brief report
• Returning with a decision letter (route to jmf-rebuttal)

First question: which format?

Situation	Format	Route to
Full original study, broad family-science significance	Article (≤ ~35 pp.)	normal pipeline below
Focused single contribution, replication, innovative design, or important null finding	Brief Report (≤ ~25 pp.)	normal pipeline, tighter scope
Re-running / reassessing a published family finding	Replication (often a brief report)	jmf-research-design + jmf-transparency-and-data-policy
Prospective design, not yet collected/analyzed	Preregister / consider OSF	jmf-research-design (PAP) early

Brief reports are not "short articles you padded down" — they are crisp, complete contributions.

Routing map (stage → skill)

Idea / fit?                        → jmf-topic-selection
Where does it sit in the field?    → jmf-literature-positioning
What's the framework?              → jmf-theory-and-conceptual-framework
Is the design defensible?          → jmf-research-design
Are the analyses sound?            → jmf-data-analysis
Are the exhibits clear?            → jmf-tables-figures
Does it read in modified APA?      → jmf-writing-style
Repro package & data statement?    → jmf-transparency-and-data-policy
How will it be judged?             → jmf-review-process
Ready to submit?                   → jmf-submission
Got a revise-and-resubmit?         → jmf-rebuttal

Default order

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

Iterate: most papers loop framework ↔ design ↔ analysis several times before writing-style.

Anti-patterns

• Treating JMF like a general sociology or psychology journal — the contribution must advance family science (families, couples, parents, children, kin)
• Ignoring the unit of analysis (individual vs. dyad vs. family) when picking the next skill
• Padding a complete focused study into a full article when a brief report would land harder
• Skipping the data availability statement and repro package until the end

Router pass for Journal of Marriage and Family

Treat this skill as an executable review pass, not a prose hint. First lock the family process, population/sample frame, measurement validity, and longitudinal or comparative leverage; then judge whether the current manuscript answers the venue's real reader: family scholars who inspect measurement, household process, longitudinal design, and implications for family theory.

• Do the pass: Run the pack as a sequence: fit gate, evidence gate, writing gate, source-map gate, and final output contract; stop when a gate lacks evidence.
• Return a ledger: give claim / evidence / risk / manuscript location rows, so the next agent can edit rather than rediscover the issue.
• Sibling guard: compare against Demography for population-process emphasis, Social Forces for general sociology, Child Development for child-centered outcomes; if a sibling owns the contribution, recommend re-routing before polishing format.
• Stop condition: do not give submission-ready advice until the pack's 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 / framework / design / analysis / exhibits / writing / transparency / review / submit / rebut
【Format】Article / Brief Report / Replication
【Route to】jmf-<skill>
【Why】one line
【Then】the next skill after that

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/external_tools.md — family-science data + software by method
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — official JMF/NCFR/Wiley URLs behind every fact in this pack