Writing Style (misq-writing-style)
When to trigger
- Prose is jargon-heavy, passive, or buries the IS contribution
- Citations/headings do not match APA 7th or the MISQ Style Guide
- The manuscript exceeds the category page limit
- You are finalizing the first page (title, abstract, keywords)
Write for an interdisciplinary IS audience
MISQ readers come from all four traditions — behavioral, design science, economics, and organizational. A behavioral reader may not share an econometrician's vocabulary, and vice versa. Define tradition-specific terms on first use, state the IT artifact and the contribution in plain language up front, and avoid in-group jargon that only one subfield will parse. Front-load the argument: by the end of the introduction the reader should know the IS phenomenon, the artifact's role, the approach, and the contribution.
Apply the MISQ Style Guide and APA 7th
- Citations/references: APA 7th edition. Note the MISQ convention that in-text citations lead with the cited information, not the author name — e.g., "... the best team in the nation (Smith & Jones, 1997)" rather than "Smith and Jones (1997) found...". Reconcile your reference manager's output to this.
- Headings: major heads bold, all caps, centered; subheads in title case.
- First page: title, abstract, and 5–10 specific keywords. (The exact abstract word cap is 待核实; keep the abstract tight and concrete.)
- File: prepared as a Word (.doc/.docx) document per the submission guidelines.
Respect the page limit while editing
The page limit counts everything (text, tables, figures, references, appendices) and over-length manuscripts are returned. Editing for style here doubles as editing for length: cut redundancy, fold overlapping paragraphs, and tighten methods boilerplate so the contribution — not filler — fills the budget.
Keep anonymity in the prose
MISQ uses double-anonymous review and the manuscript must contain no identifying information. While polishing, scrub self-identifying citations ("in our prior work [Author, 2021]"), acknowledgements, grant numbers, and identifying dataset/site names from the main file.
Checklist
Anti-patterns
- A buried contribution that surfaces only in the discussion.
- Author-led citation phrasing throughout, against MISQ's lead-with-the-information style.
- Subfield jargon that locks out three of the four IS traditions.
- Trimming substance instead of redundancy to meet the page limit.
Style execution pass for MIS Quarterly
Use this as a second-pass capability check. First lock the IS phenomenon, artifact/platform, theory mechanism, design or empirical warrant, and managerial implication; then test whether the manuscript addresses information-systems reviewers who expect strong IS theory, digital artifact or platform grounding, and evidence with organizational consequence.
- Primary move: Rewrite the opening and transitions so the venue-level claim, evidence object, and contribution are visible before technical detail.
- Decision ledger: return
claim / evidence / blocker / next edit rows so the next pass can patch the manuscript directly.
- Neighbor test: compare against Information Systems Research for quantitative IS, Journal of Management Information Systems for applied systems, Management Science for broader OR/MS; if the neighboring outlet has the stronger audience claim, recommend re-routing before polishing.
- Verification floor: before submission-ready advice, re-open
resources/official-source-map.md for volatile rules and name the one unresolved fact that could change the recommendation.
Output format
【Front-loading】contribution + artifact in intro: yes/fix
【Audience readability】jargon defined across traditions: yes/fix
【APA7 / MISQ style】citations/headings/keywords: pass/issues
【Length & anonymity】within limit; no identifiers: yes/fix
【Next step】misq-submission
Source: brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills → MIS-Quarterly-Skills/skills/misq-writing-style/SKILL.md
1---2name: misq-writing-style3description: Use when polishing the prose of a MIS Quarterly manuscript — front-loading the IS contribution, writing for an interdisciplinary IS audience that spans four traditions, applying APA 7th / MISQ Style Guide conventions (including MISQ's lead-with-the-information in-text citation style, heading format, and 5–10 keywords), and keeping the manuscript inside its page limit. Late-stage polish; do not invoke while the contribution is unsettled.4---567# Writing Style (misq-writing-style)89## When to trigger1011- Prose is jargon-heavy, passive, or buries the IS contribution12- Citations/headings do not match APA 7th or the MISQ Style Guide13- The manuscript exceeds the category page limit14- You are finalizing the first page (title, abstract, keywords)1516## Write for an interdisciplinary IS audience1718MISQ readers come from all four traditions — behavioral, design science, economics, and organizational. A behavioral reader may not share an econometrician's vocabulary, and vice versa. Define tradition-specific terms on first use, state the IT artifact and the contribution in plain language up front, and avoid in-group jargon that only one subfield will parse. Front-load the argument: by the end of the introduction the reader should know the IS phenomenon, the artifact's role, the approach, and the contribution.1920## Apply the MISQ Style Guide and APA 7th2122- **Citations/references:** APA 7th edition. Note the MISQ convention that **in-text citations lead with the cited information, not the author name** — e.g., "... the best team in the nation (Smith & Jones, 1997)" rather than "Smith and Jones (1997) found...". Reconcile your reference manager's output to this.23- **Headings:** major heads bold, all caps, centered; subheads in title case.24- **First page:** title, abstract, and **5–10 specific keywords**. (The exact abstract word cap is 待核实; keep the abstract tight and concrete.)25- **File:** prepared as a Word (.doc/.docx) document per the submission guidelines.2627## Respect the page limit while editing2829The page limit counts everything (text, tables, figures, references, appendices) and over-length manuscripts are returned. Editing for style here doubles as editing for length: cut redundancy, fold overlapping paragraphs, and tighten methods boilerplate so the contribution — not filler — fills the budget.3031## Keep anonymity in the prose3233MISQ uses double-anonymous review and the manuscript must contain no identifying information. While polishing, scrub self-identifying citations ("in our prior work [Author, 2021]"), acknowledgements, grant numbers, and identifying dataset/site names from the main file.3435## Checklist3637- [ ] Contribution and IT artifact stated plainly in the introduction38- [ ] Tradition-specific jargon defined; readable across the four IS traditions39- [ ] APA 7th references; in-text citations lead with the information, not the author40- [ ] Major heads bold/all caps/centered; subheads title case41- [ ] First page has title, abstract, and 5–10 specific keywords42- [ ] Within the category page limit; no identifying information in the file4344## Anti-patterns4546- A buried contribution that surfaces only in the discussion.47- Author-led citation phrasing throughout, against MISQ's lead-with-the-information style.48- Subfield jargon that locks out three of the four IS traditions.49- Trimming substance instead of redundancy to meet the page limit.505152## Style execution pass for MIS Quarterly5354Use this as a second-pass capability check. First lock the IS phenomenon, artifact/platform, theory mechanism, design or empirical warrant, and managerial implication; then test whether the manuscript addresses information-systems reviewers who expect strong IS theory, digital artifact or platform grounding, and evidence with organizational consequence.5556- **Primary move:** Rewrite the opening and transitions so the venue-level claim, evidence object, and contribution are visible before technical detail.57- **Decision ledger:** return `claim / evidence / blocker / next edit` rows so the next pass can patch the manuscript directly.58- **Neighbor test:** compare against Information Systems Research for quantitative IS, Journal of Management Information Systems for applied systems, Management Science for broader OR/MS; if the neighboring outlet has the stronger audience claim, recommend re-routing before polishing.59- **Verification floor:** before submission-ready advice, re-open `resources/official-source-map.md` for volatile rules and name the one unresolved fact that could change the recommendation.6061## Output format6263```64【Front-loading】contribution + artifact in intro: yes/fix65【Audience readability】jargon defined across traditions: yes/fix66【APA7 / MISQ style】citations/headings/keywords: pass/issues67【Length & anonymity】within limit; no identifiers: yes/fix68【Next step】misq-submission69```7071---7273**Source:** [`brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills`](https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills) → `MIS-Quarterly-Skills/skills/misq-writing-style/SKILL.md`
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