---
name: jhr-workflow
description: Use when deciding which jhr-* sub-skill to invoke next, or when sequencing manuscript work from topic selection through rebuttal for a Journal of Human Resources (JHR) submission. Routes — it does not replace — the specialized skills.
---

# JHR Workflow Router (jhr-workflow)

## Overview

This is the router. It does not replace any specialized skill. It tells you **which jhr-* skill to use at the current stage** of a manuscript aimed at the *Journal of Human Resources*.

Default assumption: unless told otherwise, treat the target as JHR — a leading **empirical-microeconomics** journal founded in 1965, published by University of Wisconsin Press and housed at the UW-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP). It covers **labor, development, health, education, discrimination, and retirement** economics with a strong applied-micro, causal-identification, and **public-policy** orientation. Crucially, despite its name, JHR does **NOT** consider management or personnel ("HR management") research — and the nonrefundable submission fee is not returned for out-of-scope papers. The Editor is **Anna Aizer (Brown)** as of 2026-06-01; **Michael Lovenheim (Cornell)** becomes Editor on **2026-07-01** — re-verify on the live editorial-board page.

## When to trigger

- The user asks "what should I do next?"
- A draft is handed over and the current bottleneck needs diagnosing
- Work is ping-ponging between empirics, writing, and the response letter
- A JHR decision letter (desk reject or R&R) just arrived

## Routing table

| Current symptom | Next skill |
|---|---|
| Unsure the paper is even in scope (or it smells like "HR management") | `jhr-topic-selection` |
| Contribution relative to prior policy-relevant work is fuzzy | `jhr-literature-positioning` |
| Causal claim rests on OLS + controls | `jhr-identification-strategy` |
| Estimates exist but specs/sample/reconciliation are unsettled | `jhr-data-analysis` |
| The "why JHR / why now" framing is weak | `jhr-contribution-framing` |
| Tables are dense; exhibits not policy-legible | `jhr-tables-figures` |
| Prose buries the policy lesson | `jhr-writing-style` |
| Accepted-stage CC0 deposit, archive plan, DAS | `jhr-replication-and-data-policy` |
| Want to understand desk-reject / single-anonymous review | `jhr-review-process` |
| Ready to submit via msubmit.net; need a preflight | `jhr-submission` |
| Received an R&R; need a response-letter strategy | `jhr-rebuttal` |

## Default order

1. `jhr-topic-selection` 2. `jhr-literature-positioning` 3. `jhr-identification-strategy` 4. `jhr-data-analysis` 5. `jhr-contribution-framing` 6. `jhr-tables-figures` 7. `jhr-writing-style` 8. `jhr-replication-and-data-policy` 9. `jhr-review-process` 10. `jhr-submission` 11. `jhr-rebuttal`

> `jhr-writing-style` is a late polish — do not rewrite the intro before identification and reconciliation are settled.

## Diagnosis questions before routing

Ask these in order; the first "no" usually names the bottleneck skill:

1. Is the question empirical microeconomics in a JHR field, with a policy
   lever — and definitely not HR-management? (`jhr-topic-selection`)
2. Can the draft name the closest prior estimate and why magnitudes differ?
   (`jhr-literature-positioning`)
3. Does a referee-grade design exist: rollout timing, cutoff, lottery, or
   instrument, with the matching diagnostics planned? (`jhr-identification-strategy`)
4. Are estimates produced with venue-default estimators, assignment-level
   clustering, and a reconciliation table? (`jhr-data-analysis`)
5. Are the archive footnote, disclosure statements, and 40-page budget ready?
   (`jhr-replication-and-data-policy`, then `jhr-submission`)

## Decision-letter triage

- **Desk release (no referees):** diagnose scope vs. framing — re-run
  `jhr-topic-selection`; if scope was fine, the desk screen failed on legibility,
  so route to `jhr-contribution-framing` before any new venue.
- **R&R:** go straight to `jhr-rebuttal`, but expect loops back into
  `jhr-data-analysis` for comparative estimation and into `jhr-tables-figures`
  for new diagnostics.
- **Reject after review:** harvest the reports; they may be attachable at the
  next venue, and JHR's review-recycling logic works in reverse too.

## Worked routing pass

Incoming draft: staggered state paid-leave rollout, TWFE only, no event study,
no archive plan, intro leads with three pages of literature. Routing emitted:

```text
【Stage】pre-submission, empirics unsettled
【Bottleneck】TWFE with staggered adoption; pre-trends never shown
【Route】jhr-identification-strategy -> jhr-data-analysis (robust estimator,
        event study, reconciliation table)
【Then】jhr-contribution-framing (move design + magnitude to page 1)
【Parallel】jhr-replication-and-data-policy (archive footnote before preflight)
【Hold】jhr-writing-style until estimates stabilize
```

Emit this block whenever the user asks "what next" — one stage, one bottleneck,
one ordered route, holds made explicit.

## Cross-skill invariants

Whatever route is taken, three artifacts must exist before `jhr-submission`
runs: the reconciliation table, the design-diagnostic exhibit (event study,
first stage, or density test), and the archive-plan footnote. If a routing pass
ends without all three on the board, schedule the owning skill explicitly.