# Jmgmt Writing Style > Use when the prose, introduction, or abstract is the bottleneck for a Journal of Management (JOM) manuscript — the theory-forward intro, the 250-word abstract, the 15-word title, APA voice, and enforcing the 50-page (inclusive) limit. Polishes the writing; it does not build the contribution (jmgmt-contribution-framing) or fix exhibits (jmgmt-tables-figures). - Skill: `thedixitjain/jmgmt-writing-style` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add thedixitjain/jmgmt-writing-style` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/thedixitjain/jmgmt-writing-style/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Docs & Writing - Author: thedixitjain (https://skillmd.com/u/thedixitjain) - Updated: 2026-09-08 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/thedixitjain/jmgmt-writing-style --- # Writing Style (jmgmt-writing-style) ## When to trigger - The introduction reviews literature before it states the puzzle and the contribution - The abstract exceeds **250 words** or the title exceeds **15 words** (the portal caps) - The manuscript is over the **50-page** inclusive limit - The prose buries the mechanism under jargon and hedging - A reviewer says "the writing is dense" or "I had to hunt for the contribution" ## The JOM introduction (theory-forward) JOM intros earn attention fast. A reliable structure: 1. **Hook to a real management problem or tension** (one paragraph) — the phenomenon, not a literature recap. 2. **The gap / problematized assumption** — what the literature takes for granted that is questionable. 3. **What this paper does** — the question, the theory invoked, and the design in one or two sentences. 4. **The contribution** — 2–4 explicit sentences ("we contribute to X by showing Y, which changes Z"), consistent with the discussion. 5. **A short roadmap** only if the paper is complex. Keep hypotheses out of the intro; they belong in the developed theory section. The reader should know *why the paper matters* by the end of page two. ## Title and abstract (hard portal limits) - **Title ≤ 15 words** (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准): name the relationship/mechanism and ideally the theory; avoid cute colons that hide the content. - **Abstract ≤ 250 words** (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准): state the question, theory, design (sample/method), key result *with direction*, and the theoretical contribution. JOM does not mandate a labeled structured abstract for empirical papers, but the abstract should still move from question → method → finding → contribution. Write it **last**, after the contribution is fixed. ## APA voice and house style - **APA (7th)** throughout: author–date citations, reference list, headings, numerals, and bias-free language. - Active voice and concrete subjects ("managers", "the model"), not nominalized abstractions. - Define each construct once, then use the term consistently — no synonym-drift that re-opens jangle/jingle worries. - Report magnitudes in prose ("a 0.18 SD increase," illustrative), not just "significant." ## Enforcing the 50-page guillotine The **50-page limit includes text, notes, references, tables, and figures**. When over: tighten the literature review (it is usually the longest and most cuttable section), move secondary analyses and full measures to the online supplement, merge exhibits (see `jmgmt-tables-figures`), and delete any sentence that the model figure or a table already conveys. Do not solve a length problem by shrinking the contribution paragraph — cut review and method redundancy first. ## Theory-section prose (the long middle) The theory/hypothesis-development section is where JOM papers most often turn turgid. Keep each hypothesis subsection to a tight arc — name the mechanism, walk the logic in two or three sentences, state the hypothesis — and resist re-summarizing the whole literature before each one. Use the **process verb** from `jmgmt-theory-development` so the mechanism stays vivid (signals, depletes, legitimates), and end each subsection with the numbered hypothesis in italics so a reviewer can find all of them in one scan. ## Writing for a review or meta-analysis A Review-Issue piece is read for *structure* as much as content. Lead with the organizing framework, signpost it relentlessly (the same headings the framework defines), and make the forward agenda concrete — each open question tied to a construct or mechanism in the framework, not a generic "future research should explore…". The abstract of a review should still name the framework and the single most important agenda item, within the 250-word cap. ## A quick voice test Read the abstract and the first two pages aloud. If a non-specialist management colleague cannot, after that, state the puzzle and what the paper contributes, the front end is not yet doing its job — revise before polishing later sections. ## Checklist - [ ] Intro hooks a real problem, then gap → question → contribution (contribution explicit) - [ ] Hypotheses are not in the intro - [ ] Title ≤ 15 words and names the relationship/mechanism - [ ] Abstract ≤ 250 words: question → method → finding (with direction) → contribution - [ ] APA 7th citations, references, headings, and bias-free language throughout - [ ] Constructs named consistently; no synonym drift - [ ] Magnitudes stated in prose, not only significance - [ ] Manuscript within the 50-page inclusive limit; overflow in the supplement ## Anti-patterns - **Literature-review opening**: pages of prior work before the reader knows the puzzle - **Contribution buried** on page 6 instead of stated in the intro - **Over-long title/abstract** that the portal will reject or truncate - **Jargon and hedging** that hide the mechanism - **Synonym drift** for the focal construct, reviving discriminant-validity doubts - **Solving length by cutting the contribution** instead of the review/method redundancy - **Mixed citation styles** (not clean APA 7th) ## Output format ``` 【Intro arc】hook → gap → question → contribution (explicit?) [Y/N] 【Title】≤15 words, names the relationship? [Y/N] — draft: "..." 【Abstract】≤250 words, Q→method→finding→contribution? [Y/N] 【APA 7th】citations/references/headings clean? [Y/N] 【Construct consistency】no synonym drift? [Y/N] 【Length】≤50 inclusive pages? if not, cut plan: ... 【Next step】jmgmt-submission ``` --- **Source:** [`brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills`](https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills) → `Journal-of-Management-Skills/skills/jmgmt-writing-style/SKILL.md`