Individual skill
msom-topic-selection
Use when shaping or stress-testing a research question for Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (M&SOM) — confirming an operations decision is central, choosing the analytical-vs-empirical lane, and matching the question to the right editorial Department before any modeling or data work begins.
Manufacturing-and-Service-Operations-Management-Skills/skills/msom-topic-selection/SKILL.md
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# Topic Selection & M&SOM Fit (msom-topic-selection)
## When to trigger
- You have a problem idea but are unsure it belongs in M&SOM versus a general OR or strategy venue
- A senior co-author asks "where is the operations decision here?"
- You must pick which of the six editorial Departments your work targets
- You are deciding whether to pursue this as an analytical model or an empirical study
## The operations-centrality gate
M&SOM's defining screen is that an **operations decision or problem is central to the contribution**, not a backdrop. The journal covers the **design, procurement, production, delivery, and recovery of goods and services**. A strong analytics, pricing, marketing, or finance paper that merely *uses* an operational setting is routinely desk-screened. Before anything else, write one sentence: *"The operational decision is ___, the tradeoff is ___, and the operational lever is ___."* If you cannot, the topic is not yet M&SOM-ready.
## Choose the lane (and the journal will route by it)