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respol-topic-selection

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Use when scoping or sanity-checking the research question for a Research Policy (RP) manuscript — deciding whether it is a genuine innovation-studies question RP owns versus an economics/strategy paper that will desk-reject as out of scope. Frames the question; it does not build the theory (respol-theory-development) or stake the gap (respol-literature-positioning).

Research-Policy-Skills/skills/respol-topic-selection/SKILL.md

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# Topic Selection (respol-topic-selection)

## When to trigger

- You are unsure whether the question belongs in RP or in an economics/management outlet
- The paper studies a phenomenon (firms, R&D, patents) but the *innovation-studies* angle is implicit
- A coauthor asks "is this Research Policy, or is this SMJ / ICC / Technovation?"
- The literature you cite is "almost entirely economics journals or management journals" — RP's classic out-of-scope tell
- The contribution is empirical and clean but has no innovation-theory or STI-policy payoff

## What makes a question a Research Policy question

RP publishes work on the **emergence, diffusion, and governance of innovation and technological change**, read through an innovation-systems lens. A submittable question almost always (a) concerns an object RP owns — R&D, technological change, innovation systems (national/regional/sectoral/technological), science and STI policy, entrepreneurship and technology management, university-industry links, or IP — and (b) advances **understanding of how innovation happens or how to govern it**, usually carrying a policy or managerial implication. The SPRU/Freeman-Nelson-Pavitt heritage matters: RP rewards questions about *systems and institutions of innovation*, not just firm-level performance.
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