Spq workflow

SPQ Workflow Router (spq-workflow)

The orchestrator for a Social Psychology Quarterly submission. Figure out the stage, the tradition, and the article type, then send the user to the matching skill. SPQ is the journal of sociological social psychology — the router's first job is to make sure the paper connects social structure or process to the individual (self, interaction, group), not that it is psychology with a survey attached.

When to trigger

• Starting a new SPQ paper and unsure where to begin
• Mid-project and unsure which skill applies next
• Deciding between a full Article (≤ 10,000 words) and a Note (≤ 5,000 words)
• Returning with a decision letter (route to spq-rebuttal)

First question: which tradition and type?

Situation	Tradition / type	Route to
Meaning-making, self, interaction order, accounts	Symbolic interaction (often interview/observation)	normal pipeline; spq-research-design (interpretive)
Social structure / status shaping the self, well-being, attitudes	Social structure and personality (survey/secondary)	normal pipeline
Status, expectation states, exchange, legitimacy, justice	Group processes (usually experimental)	normal pipeline; spq-research-design (experiment)
Identity salience/verification, affect/emotion modeling	Identity / affect programs	spq-theory-building then design
One crisp contribution communicable briefly	Note (≤ 5,000 words)	normal pipeline, tighter scope

SPQ is interdisciplinary (sociologists and psychologists publish), but the through-line is always the link between the individual and society. If that link is missing, reframe (back to topic-selection).

Routing map (stage → skill)

Idea / fit?                       → spq-topic-selection
Where does it sit in the field?   → spq-literature-positioning
What's the social-psych argument? → spq-theory-building
Is the design defensible?         → spq-research-design
Are the analyses sound?           → spq-data-analysis
Are the exhibits clear?           → spq-tables-figures
Does it read for the field?       → spq-writing-style
Data / materials & ethics?        → spq-data-and-transparency
How will it be judged?            → spq-review-process
Ready to submit?                  → spq-submission
Got an R&R / decision?            → spq-rebuttal

Default order

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

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

Anti-patterns

• Treating SPQ like JPSP or Psychological Science — a study of individual cognition with no link to social structure or interaction is off-fit
• Treating SPQ like ASR/AJS — a macro-sociology paper with no social-psychological mechanism is off-fit
• Forcing an experimental template onto interpretive symbolic-interaction work (SPQ judges each tradition on its own terms)
• Treating data sharing as a gate — SPQ encourages but does not require it (see spq-data-and-transparency)

Router pass for Social Psychology Quarterly

Run this as a concrete capability pass. First lock the social-psychological process, measurement, design, and boundary condition across groups or contexts; then test whether the manuscript addresses social-psychology reviewers who expect interaction, identity, group process, or status mechanisms grounded in sociological theory.

• Primary move: Run the pack as fit gate, evidence gate, writing gate, source-map gate, and output contract; stop when a gate lacks evidence.
• Decision ledger: return claim / evidence / blocker / next edit rows so the next pass can patch the manuscript directly.
• Sibling comparison: compare against JPSP for psychology breadth, ASR/AJS for sociology theory stakes, Social Forces for broader empirical sociology; if the neighboring outlet has the stronger audience claim, recommend re-routing before polishing.
• Verification floor: before submission-ready advice, re-open resources/official-source-map.md and name the live-check item that could change the upload plan.

Output format

【Stage】idea / positioning / theory / design / analysis / exhibits / writing / data / review / submit / rebut
【Tradition】symbolic interaction / social structure & personality / group processes / identity / affect
【Type】Article (≤10,000) / Note (≤5,000)
【Route to】spq-<skill>
【Why】one line
【Then】the next skill after that

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/external_tools.md — sociological-social-psychology data + software by tradition
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — official SPQ URLs behind every fact in this pack