By name: jmf-workflow description: Use as the entry point for any Journal of Marriage and Family (JMF) manuscript. Routes to the right JMF sub-skill based on where you are in the lifecycle and whether the work fits a full article or a brief report. JMF is the interdisciplinary flagship of family science; the router's first job is to confirm a genuine family-science contribution. It dispatches; it does not draft content.
JMF Workflow Router (jmf-workflow)
The orchestrator for a JMF submission. Figure out the stage and the format (full article vs. brief report), then send the user to the matching skill. JMF publishes family-science research across sociology, psychology, demography, and family studies — the router keeps the paper pointed at a families-and-close-relationships contribution, not a generic social-science result.
When to trigger
- Starting a new JMF paper and unsure where to begin
- Mid-project and unsure which skill applies next
- Deciding between a full article and a brief report
- Returning with a decision letter (route to
jmf-rebuttal)
First question: which format?
| Situation | Format | Route to |
|---|---|---|
| Full original study, broad family-science significance | Article (≤ ~35 pp.) | normal pipeline below |
| Focused single contribution, replication, innovative design, or important null finding | Brief Report (≤ ~25 pp.) | normal pipeline, tighter scope |
| Re-running / reassessing a published family finding | Replication (often a brief report) | jmf-research-design + jmf-transparency-and-data-policy |
| Prospective design, not yet collected/analyzed | Preregister / consider OSF | jmf-research-design (PAP) early |
Brief reports are not "short articles you padded down" — they are crisp, complete contributions.
Routing map (stage → skill)
Idea / fit? → jmf-topic-selection
Where does it sit in the field? → jmf-literature-positioning
What's the framework? → jmf-theory-and-conceptual-framework
Is the design defensible? → jmf-research-design
Are the analyses sound? → jmf-data-analysis
Are the exhibits clear? → jmf-tables-figures
Does it read in modified APA? → jmf-writing-style
Repro package & data statement? → jmf-transparency-and-data-policy
How will it be judged? → jmf-review-process
Ready to submit? → jmf-submission
Got a revise-and-resubmit? → jmf-rebuttal
Default order
topic-selection → literature-positioning → theory-and-conceptual-framework → research-design → data-analysis → tables-figures → writing-style → transparency-and-data-policy → review-process → submission → rebuttal
Iterate: most papers loop framework ↔ design ↔ analysis several times before writing-style.
Anti-patterns
- Treating JMF like a general sociology or psychology journal — the contribution must advance family science (families, couples, parents, children, kin)
- Ignoring the unit of analysis (individual vs. dyad vs. family) when picking the next skill
- Padding a complete focused study into a full article when a brief report would land harder
- Skipping the data availability statement and repro package until the end
Router pass for Journal of Marriage and Family
Treat this skill as an executable review pass, not a prose hint. First lock the family process, population/sample frame, measurement validity, and longitudinal or comparative leverage; then judge whether the current manuscript answers the venue's real reader: family scholars who inspect measurement, household process, longitudinal design, and implications for family theory.
- Do the pass: Run the pack as a sequence: fit gate, evidence gate, writing gate, source-map gate, and final output contract; stop when a gate lacks evidence.
- Return a ledger: give
claim / evidence / risk / manuscript locationrows, so the next agent can edit rather than rediscover the issue. - Sibling guard: compare against Demography for population-process emphasis, Social Forces for general sociology, Child Development for child-centered outcomes; if a sibling owns the contribution, recommend re-routing before polishing format.
- Stop condition: do not give submission-ready advice until the pack's
resources/official-source-map.mdhas been checked for volatile rules and the manuscript has one concrete fix for the largest venue-specific risk.
Output format
【Stage】idea / positioning / framework / design / analysis / exhibits / writing / transparency / review / submit / rebut
【Format】Article / Brief Report / Replication
【Route to】jmf-<skill>
【Why】one line
【Then】the next skill after that
Supplementary resources
../../resources/external_tools.md— family-science data + software by method../../resources/official-source-map.md— official JMF/NCFR/Wiley URLs behind every fact in this pack