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apsr-literature-positioning

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Use when positioning an American Political Science Review (APSR) manuscript against the literature so it reads as a discipline-wide contribution. APSR readers span subfields, so the paper must engage the literatures they expect and avoid the desk-rejection trigger of "failure to engage the relevant literatures." Stakes the contribution; it does not write the lit review.

When to use

• Drafting or revising the introduction
• Revising the contribution paragraph
• Connecting subfield literature to the broader discipline
• Distinguishing contribution from closest prior papers
• Engaging cross-subfield literatures
• Addressing reviewer feedback on missed work

When not to use

• Writing the lit review
• Research design
• Submission formatting

Skill page

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