Artbull workflow

Art Bulletin Workflow Router (artbull-workflow)

The orchestrator for an Art Bulletin submission. Figure out the stage and send the user to the matching skill. The Art Bulletin is the leading English-language journal of art history (College Art Association); a paper turns on an original art-historical argument carried by close visual analysis and documentary evidence — and on a heavy image-permissions workflow that, unlike in the social sciences, must start early.

When to trigger

• Starting a new Art Bulletin article and unsure where to begin
• Mid-project and unsure which skill applies next
• Worried that image rights / reproduction costs will not clear in time
• Returning with a decision letter (route to artbull-revision-and-response)

First instinct: start the image clearance early

Permissions and high-resolution image supply are the author's responsibility and are slow and costly. The router's recurring reminder: run artbull-images-and-permissions in parallel with the intellectual work — do not leave it until submission.

Routing map (stage → skill)

Is the topic a fit / a contribution? → artbull-topic-selection
Where does it sit in the field?       → artbull-scholarly-positioning
What is the argument?                 → artbull-argument-development
How do the objects look / mean?       → artbull-visual-analysis
What is the evidence (archives etc.)? → artbull-evidence-and-sources
Can I get / afford the images?        → artbull-images-and-permissions
How is it organized on the page?      → artbull-structure-and-exposition
Is the prose & citation Chicago-clean?→ artbull-writing-style-and-citation
How will it be judged?                → artbull-review-process
Ready to submit?                      → artbull-submission
Got an R&R / decision?                → artbull-revision-and-response

Default order

topic-selection → scholarly-positioning → argument-development → visual-analysis → evidence-and-sources → images-and-permissions → structure-and-exposition → writing-style-and-citation → review-process → submission → revision-and-response

Iterate: most articles loop argument ↔ visual-analysis ↔ evidence several times, while images-and-permissions runs continuously in the background.

Anti-patterns

• Leaving rights clearance until the end — it is the slowest, costliest step and can sink a paper
• Treating the journal like a social-science venue (no datasets/statistics/replication here)
• Description without argument — cataloguing objects is not an art-historical contribution
• Choosing illustrations the budget or rights will never allow

Symptom-to-skill dispatch table

Most users arrive with a symptom, not a stage name. Match what they say to the right sub-skill for the College Art Association's quarterly, and check the image-clearance clock every time.

What the user says	Route to
"Is this even right for the journal?"	artbull-topic-selection
"A reviewer said I ignore key scholarship"	artbull-scholarly-positioning
"Reviewers can't find my argument"	artbull-argument-development
"My looking was called thin"	artbull-visual-analysis
"A source / provenance was questioned"	artbull-evidence-and-sources
"I'm worried about image rights / costs"	artbull-images-and-permissions
"The draft wanders / is front-loaded"	artbull-structure-and-exposition
"I'm submitting this week"	artbull-submission
"I got an R&R / decision letter"	artbull-revision-and-response

Worked vignette: routing a project from idea to submission

Suppose a scholar arrives with "I found an amazing unpublished drawing and want to write it up." The router does not jump to drafting. First it tests fit (artbull-topic-selection) — is there a contribution beyond "this drawing is new"? — and, in the same breath, asks whether the drawing and its comparanda can be cleared, flagging that the image-permissions clock starts now. Once a contribution emerges, it routes to positioning, then argument, looping argument ↔ visual-analysis ↔ evidence as the reading firms up, with artbull-images-and-permissions running continuously in the background, before structure, style, review-process, and finally submission.

Routing pitfalls and the dispatch correction

• Treating it like a social-science venue. There are no datasets, statistics, or replication here; route evidence work to archival, provenance, and technical sources, not data analysis.
• Leaving image clearance for the end. Send the user to artbull-images-and-permissions early and in parallel; it is the slowest, costliest step and can sink a finished paper.

Calibration anchor (hedge where uncertain)

• The default order is a guide, not a rail: most articles loop argument, looking, and evidence several times while the image-and-permissions workload — what most distinguishes this lifecycle from social-science venues — runs continuously underneath; volatile caps and formats belong to artbull-submission and should be confirmed against the journal's current submission guidelines.

Output format

【Stage】topic / positioning / argument / visual / evidence / images / structure / writing / review / submit / revise
【Route to】artbull-<skill>
【Image clearance started?】Y/N (start now if N)
【Why】one line
【Then】the next skill after that

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/external_tools.md — image sources, rights agencies, archives, Chicago tooling
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — official Art Bulletin / CAA URLs behind every fact in this pack