brycewang-stanford Topic Selection & Reframing (jaar-topic-selection)
JAAR is widely considered the top general journal in religious studies, and it is generalist by mandate: an article must matter to scholars working on other traditions and with other methods. Roughly 90% of submissions are rejected, and a subfield-bound framing is a common early death. Use this skill to choose and, above all, reframe the project so it clears the gate.
When to trigger
- Choosing among projects or framings for JAAR
- A reader said the piece is "only for specialists" in your tradition/area
- The editor returned a submission asking you to reframe its significance
- Deciding whether JAAR (vs. a specialist journal) is the right home
The JAAR fit test
A strong JAAR article usually clears all four:
- Broad and fundamental interest. It changes how the study of religion understands something — a category, a method, a comparative problem, a theoretical debate — not just how one tradition is read. Name the scholars outside your area who should care.
- It has a point. JAAR explicitly wants analysis with a thesis, not description or a survey. The
essay argues something contestable (see
jaar-argument-development). - Method-conscious and reflexive. It is aware of how it studies religion and of the scholar's own position; it is non-confessional (the academic study of religion, not theology-as-advocacy).
- Right venue. If the contribution is genuinely only intelligible to specialists in one tradition, a specialist journal may fit better — say why JAAR is right.
How to reframe a subfield project for JAAR
| Subfield project | Reframe toward the study of religion by… |
|---|---|
| A reading of one text/tradition | drawing the general category, method, or comparative lesson it reveals |
| A historical case | showing what it teaches about religion, secularity, or method broadly |
| A philosophical/ethical argument | connecting it to how the field theorizes religion |
| An ethnographic study | extracting the portable conceptual or methodological contribution |
Anti-patterns
- "First study of X tradition's Y" as the whole contribution (specialist-only)
- A descriptive survey with no thesis (JAAR wants a "point")
- Confessional/advocacy framing rather than analytic study of religion
- Assuming the editor will send a subfield-only paper out for review (it gets returned to reframe)
Output format
【Topic】one sentence
【Broad significance】who outside your tradition/method cares, and why
【The point】the contestable thesis
【Reflexivity/method stance】how it studies religion; non-confessional?
【Venue】JAAR vs a specialist journal (why JAAR)
【Verdict】strong / needs reframing / better elsewhere
【Next】jaar-scholarly-positioning
JAAR-vs-specialist-journal decision grid
Before investing in a draft, decide whether the AAR/Oxford University Press flagship is the right home or whether a specialist journal serves the work better. A wrong-venue submission usually returns with "another journal suits this."
| If the contribution is… | Then… |
|---|---|
| A category/method/comparative insight others can use | JAAR is a strong fit |
| Intelligible only to specialists in one tradition | A specialist journal likely fits better |
| A confession or advocacy for a tradition | Neither — reframe as analysis |
| A descriptive survey with no thesis | Not ready for a selective venue — find the point first |
| A field study with portable conceptual payoff | JAAR fits if the payoff is foregrounded |
Worked vignette: deciding fit for an ethnographic project
A scholar has rich fieldwork on healing rituals in one Pentecostal congregation. Run the fit test:
- Broad and fundamental interest? As "a study of Congregation X," no. Reframed around the insider/outsider problem in studying charismatic practice, or the analytic of "healing" across traditions, it clears the bar.
- Does it have a point? The contestable thesis: observed healing practice resists the efficacy/placebo framing scholars import, demanding a different analytic — a claim, not a description.
- Reflexive and non-confessional? The author states her position and keeps believers'
efficacy-claims as data, not premises (handing detail to
jaar-theory-and-method). - Verdict. Strong after reframing; as the congregation study, it bounces at Gate 1.
Topic-fit pushback → the fix
- "First study of X's Y" is the whole pitch → surface the portable lesson for the field.
- "Only for specialists" → reframe toward a category, method, or comparison.
- "Reads as advocacy" → re-pitch as analytic study of religion.
Hedged calibration: the "broad and fundamental interest" bar and the reframing return are stated JAAR expectations, but selectivity figures and the precise scope language move over time — confirm the current wording on the journal's submission guidelines before treating any threshold as fixed.
Supplementary resources
../../resources/external_tools.md— research tools for the study of religion../../resources/official-source-map.md— JAAR scope and the reframing requirement