thedixitjain JEP Workflow Router (jep-workflow)
Overview
This is the router. It tells you which jep- skill to use at the current stage* of an article aimed at the Journal of Economic Perspectives (JEP) — the open-access, non-technical synthesis journal of the American Economic Association, founded 1987. JEP is not a primary-research outlet. It rewards articles that synthesize and communicate a body of economics to a broad audience — readable by 90 percent or more of the AEA membership — avoiding formal models and heavy econometrics in the body. The product is a compelling, accessible, balanced essay, not an identification strategy or a replication package.
Default assumption: unless the user says otherwise, treat the target as JEP. Operational tells that you are at JEP and not a research journal or its sibling Journal of Economic Literature (JEL): JEP is largely invited / commissioned and organized in symposia; almost all articles begin as a 2–5 page proposal emailed to jep@aeapubs.org (about 10–15% of published articles originate as unsolicited proposals); the writing must be legible to non-specialists; there are recurring features ("Recommendations for Further Reading", retrospectives). Editor as of 2026: Heidi Williams; Managing Editor Timothy Taylor (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准). Re-verify volatile specifics on the official AEA pages.
When to trigger
- The user asks "what should I do next?" on a JEP article or proposal
- A draft reads like a research paper or a JEL survey, not a JEP essay
- Work is ping-ponging between idea, proposal, narrative, accessibility, and balance
- A JEP editor's letter arrived and the user needs to switch into revision mode
Routing table
| Current symptom | Next skill |
|---|---|
| Unsure the topic is broad/timely/synthesizable for non-specialists | jep-topic-selection |
| Need to pitch the article or a symposium to the editors | jep-proposal-and-symposium |
| Structure is a literature dump, not a story/argument | jep-narrative-arc |
| Prose is jargon-heavy; notation everywhere; reads like a working paper | jep-accessibility-and-translation |
| Evidence is presented with equations/regressions a general reader can't follow | jep-evidence-without-equations |
| Figures/tables are dense, not self-explanatory | jep-exhibits-for-general-readers |
| Voice is dry/hedged; abstract and opening don't land | jep-writing-style |
| Reads as advocacy; competing views or uncertainty underplayed | jep-balance-and-objectivity |
| Need to negotiate scope/length/symposium with the editorial team | jep-editor-strategy |
| Ready to email the proposal/manuscript; need a preflight | jep-submission |
| An editor asked for revisions (accessibility/balance/length/framing) | jep-revision |
Default order
jep-topic-selection— confirm the topic is JEP-shaped (broad, timely, synthesizable)jep-proposal-and-symposium— craft the 2–5 page proposal or symposium pitchjep-narrative-arc— structure the essay as an argument, not a surveyjep-accessibility-and-translation— strip jargon/notation without dumbing downjep-evidence-without-equations— present evidence credibly with minimal mathjep-exhibits-for-general-readers— build self-explanatory figures/tablesjep-writing-style— the JEP voice; abstract and opening lastjep-balance-and-objectivity— fair to competing views; honest about uncertaintyjep-editor-strategy— scope/length/symposium negotiation with the teamjep-submission— email-proposal preflight (accessibility bar, disclosure, JEL)jep-revision— after the editor's letter
jep-writing-styleis a late polish; do not perfect sentences before the narrative arc and the balance settle.
Anti-patterns
- Writing a full unsolicited manuscript before pitching a 2–5 page proposal (low odds; editors prefer proposals)
- Treating JEP like a research journal — leading with identification, a model, or a regression table
- Confusing JEP with JEL: JEL is the long, technical survey of record; JEP is the short, non-technical, broad-audience essay
- Letting
jep-exhibits-for-general-readerspolish a dense figure while the argument is still a literature dump - Advocacy framing that an editor will read as an op-ed, not a balanced synthesis
Routing by article archetype
JEP essays come in a few shapes, and the bottleneck differs. Read the archetype, then enter the chain at the right link.
| Archetype | Likely first bottleneck | Enter at |
|---|---|---|
| "State of a field" synthesis | scope too narrow or too technical | jep-topic-selection → jep-narrative-arc |
| Symposium contribution (invited) | fit with the symposium frame + length | jep-editor-strategy → jep-narrative-arc |
| Translating one's own technical agenda | jargon/notation; over-claiming | jep-accessibility-and-translation → jep-balance-and-objectivity |
| Policy-relevant debate | reads as advocacy; uncertainty buried | jep-balance-and-objectivity |
Worked routing example (illustrative)
A user says: "I've drafted a 9,000-word piece summarizing my structural IO research for JEP, but a colleague says it reads like my JPE paper with the proofs deleted." That is two distinct JEP problems — not yet translated for a general reader and no story for a non-specialist — owned by jep-accessibility-and-translation and jep-narrative-arc. Route there first; only once a non-IO economist can follow the argument and one memorable through-line carries it do you return to jep-writing-style and jep-exhibits-for-general-readers. And before any of that, since this is an unsolicited full draft, jep-proposal-and-symposium would convert it into the 2–5 page proposal the editors actually want.
Minimal decision snippet
if editor_letter_arrived: -> jep-revision
elif ready_to_email: -> jep-submission
elif reads_as_advocacy: -> jep-balance-and-objectivity
elif exhibits_dense: -> jep-exhibits-for-general-readers
elif math_or_jargon_heavy: -> jep-evidence-without-equations / jep-accessibility-and-translation
elif structure_is_a_survey: -> jep-narrative-arc
elif no_pitch_yet: -> jep-proposal-and-symposium
else: -> jep-topic-selection
Source: brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills → Journal-of-Economic-Perspectives-Skills/skills/jep-workflow/SKILL.md