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amj-topic-selection

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Use when scoping or sanity-checking a research question for an Academy of Management Journal (AMJ) manuscript — fit, theory-drivenness, and feasibility. Decides whether the idea can earn a theoretical contribution; it does not build the theory itself (use amj-theory-development) or position the literature (amj-literature-positioning).

Academy-of-Management-Journal-Skills/skills/amj-topic-selection/SKILL.md

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# Topic Selection & AMJ Fit (amj-topic-selection)

## When to trigger

- You have a dataset, a context, or a phenomenon, but no sharp research question
- You are unsure whether the idea belongs at AMJ vs. its AOM sister AMR (theory-only, no data), or at non-AOM venues ASQ (Cornell/SAGE) or SMJ (Wiley/SMS), or a field journal
- The question feels like "no one has studied X here" rather than "theory predicts something surprising"
- You want to pressure-test fit before investing months in data collection

## AMJ fit test (all four must pass)

AMJ's mission is "to publish empirical research that tests, extends, or builds management theory and contributes to management practice," and it judges every paper on three criteria: a strong **empirical** contribution, a meaningful **theoretical** contribution, and **practical relevance**. The fit test below operationalizes those criteria.

1. **Phenomenon-grounded but theory-driven.** AMJ wants real organizational phenomena (micro OB, macro/strategy, HR, entrepreneurship, organizational theory) examined through a theoretical lens. A purely descriptive or purely methodological paper does not fit.
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