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jais-topic-selection

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Use when deciding whether a question fits the Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS) and which of its seven manuscript categories to target. Locks the IS phenomenon, the unit of analysis, and the category before theory work begins; it does not build the theory (jais-theory-development) or invent citations.

Journal-of-the-Association-for-Information-Systems-Skills/skills/jais-topic-selection/SKILL.md

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# Topic & Category Selection (jais-topic-selection)

## When to trigger

- You have an interesting IS finding or idea but are unsure JAIS (vs. MISQ / ISR / JMIS) is the right home
- You cannot say in one sentence what the **information-technology artifact or digital phenomenon** is doing in the paper
- You are unsure whether to enter as a Research Article, a standalone Theory paper, a Literature Review, a Research Perspective, Foundational Research, or Policy and Impact
- A coauthor wants a "JAIS-grade" question but the draft reads like a generic management or CS paper

## First: is this a JAIS question at all?

JAIS rewards work where **information systems / digital technology is theoretically load-bearing**, not decorative. The about page describes JAIS as "inclusive in topics, level and unit of analysis, theory, method and philosophical and research approach" and says it "encourages theory based multi- or inter-disciplinary research" (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准). That pluralism is genuine — but it is theory-gated. A descriptive industry report or a pure machine-learning benchmark with no IS theory is a desk-reject regardless of execution quality. Ask: *would an IS scholar in a different sub-tradition still learn something general about technology, organizations, or people from this?*

## Then: pick the right JAIS category (this is the move siblings do not force)
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