thedixitjain JEL Workflow Router (jel-workflow)
Overview
This is the router. It tells you which jel- skill to use at the current stage* of a survey or review article aimed at the Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) — the American Economic Association's survey-of-record journal (founded 1969). JEL does not publish original empirical research. It publishes commissioned and peer-reviewed syntheses of bodies of economic research, book reviews, and maintains the JEL classification system. So the lifecycle is not "design → identify → estimate → defend"; it is scope a synthesis-worthy field → propose it → read the whole literature → impose an organizing framework → synthesize comprehensively and even-handedly → land the JEL voice → submit and revise.
Default assumption: unless the user says otherwise, treat the target as JEL and the artefact as a survey, not a primary-research paper. Operational tells that you are at JEL and not a sibling: the work reviews other people's results rather than reporting your own; the natural first step is a ~10-page proposal emailed to the editor before a full draft (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准); there is no identification strategy and no replication package of your own data (you instead appraise the studies you cover); the contribution is an analytical map of a field, not a new estimate. If the user actually has original results, they want a primary-research journal (e.g. AER, QE), not JEL — say so.
When to trigger
- The user asks "what should I do next?" on a survey/review
- A survey draft reads like an annotated bibliography and needs a spine
- Work is ping-ponging between coverage, framing, balance, and the proposal
- A JEL editor/referee letter arrived and the user needs to switch into revision mode
Routing table
| Current symptom | Next skill |
|---|---|
| Unsure the field is mature/important enough to survey for JEL | jel-topic-selection |
| Need to pitch the survey to the editor before writing it | jel-proposal-and-commissioning |
| Reading is unsystematic; citation gaps likely | jel-literature-synthesis |
| Draft is a list of papers, not an argument about the field | jel-organizing-framework |
| Coverage vs. selectivity, or fairness across schools, feels off | jel-comprehensiveness-and-balance |
| Need who-found-what tables or a conceptual figure | jel-tables-figures |
| Prose is dense/jargon-laden; non-specialist can't follow | jel-writing-style |
| Assigning JEL codes, or relating the survey to the JEL taxonomy | jel-classification-system |
| Negotiating scope or handling referees of a survey | jel-editor-strategy |
| Ready to submit/propose via the AEA portal; need a preflight | jel-submission |
| Received editor/referee feedback on the survey | jel-revision |
Default order
jel-topic-selection— confirm the field is JEL-scale (mature, important, needs synthesis)jel-proposal-and-commissioning— pitch a ~10-page proposal before draftingjel-literature-synthesis— gather and read the literature systematicallyjel-organizing-framework— impose the analytical spinejel-comprehensiveness-and-balance— completeness, fairness, even-handed controversiesjel-tables-figures— summary tables and conceptual figuresjel-writing-style— the authoritative-yet-accessible JEL voice (abstract + intro last)jel-classification-system— assign JEL codes; situate the survey in the taxonomyjel-editor-strategy— scope negotiation and referee expectationsjel-submission— AEA portal preflight (proposal or full paper)jel-revision— after the editor/referee letter
jel-writing-styleis a late-stage polish; do not rewrite the intro before the organizing framework and coverage settle. The proposal comes early — much of JEL is invited or proposal-first, sojel-proposal-and-commissioningprecedes the heavy reading.
Anti-patterns
- Writing the full survey before sending a proposal — JEL prefers a ~10-page sketch first (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准)
- Treating the survey as an annotated bibliography (no framework) — the named JEL failure mode
- Using the author's own line of work as the survey's center of gravity (self-promotion)
- Importing primary-research instincts: there is no "identification" or "replication package" — you appraise others' designs, you do not run your own
- Confusing JEL with JEP (shorter, non-technical, broad audience) or with Annual Review of Economics
Routing by survey archetype
A "survey" is not one thing; the bottleneck differs by type. Read the archetype, then enter the chain at the right link.
| Archetype | Likely first bottleneck | Enter at |
|---|---|---|
| field-defining synthesis (broad subfield) | scope is enormous; needs a taxonomy | jel-organizing-framework |
| methods/tool survey (e.g. an estimator family) | accessibility to non-specialists; worked intuition | jel-writing-style |
| empirical-evidence stock-take (what is the consensus?) | comprehensiveness + even-handed weighing of conflicting results | jel-comprehensiveness-and-balance |
| emerging-area review (young, fast-moving) | is it mature enough for JEL yet? | jel-topic-selection |
Minimal decision snippet
if editor_or_referee_letter: -> jel-revision
elif ready_to_submit_or_propose: -> jel-submission
elif codes_or_taxonomy: -> jel-classification-system
elif prose_dense_or_inaccessible: -> jel-writing-style
elif need_tables_or_figures: -> jel-tables-figures
elif coverage_or_fairness_off: -> jel-comprehensiveness-and-balance
elif reads_like_a_list: -> jel-organizing-framework
elif reading_unsystematic: -> jel-literature-synthesis
elif no_proposal_yet: -> jel-proposal-and-commissioning
else: -> jel-topic-selection
Source: brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills → Journal-of-Economic-Literature-Skills/skills/jel-workflow/SKILL.md