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humrel-topic-selection

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Use when deciding whether a question belongs in Human Relations (HR) and how to frame it for the journal's interdisciplinary work-and-society audience. Tests fit and sharpens the question; it does not develop the theory or invent evidence.

Human-Relations-Skills/skills/humrel-topic-selection/SKILL.md

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# Topic Selection (humrel-topic-selection)

## When to trigger

- You have a workplace/organizational phenomenon but are unsure it is an *HR* question rather than a sibling-journal question
- The puzzle is interesting empirically but you cannot yet say what *social-theoretical* understanding it would advance
- A coauthor asks "is this Human Relations, Organization Studies, JMS, or Work, Employment and Society?"
- The topic is timely (AI at work, platform labour, hybrid work, inequality) and you need it to be more than topical

## What makes a question an HR question

HR is the **interdisciplinary social-science journal of relationships at and around work**. Its self-description is the test: research that advances "our understanding of social relationships at and around work through theoretical development and empirical investigation." Three things travel together for a strong HR topic:

1. **The relational/social core.** The phenomenon is about people *in relation* — power, identity, meaning, conflict, control, solidarity, emotion, institutions — not a firm-level performance lever or an isolated individual trait. If the question could be answered without reference to social relations, it is probably not HR.
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