Skills Productivity Annals of the AAG Submission Workflow

Annals of the AAG Submission Workflow

v20260724
aaag-workflow
This tool serves as an orchestrator for manuscripts submitted to the Annals of the AAG. It guides authors through the complex submission process by helping define the appropriate academic area (e.g., Human Geography, Physical Geography), the article format (Article, Commentary), and the sequential developmental stages—from topic selection and theory building to data analysis and final submission. It ensures the work is framed legitimately as *geography*.
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Overview

Annals of the AAG Workflow Router (aaag-workflow)

The orchestrator for an Annals submission. Figure out the stage and the area, then send the user to the matching skill. The Annals is the broad four-area flagship of the discipline — the router's first job is to make the paper legible as geography, not just as a domain study that happens to use maps or coordinates.

When to trigger

  • Starting a new Annals paper and unsure where to begin
  • Mid-project and unsure which skill applies next
  • Deciding which of the four areas (or the cross-disciplinary/General Geography track) the paper targets
  • Choosing the article type (Article, Forum, Commentary) — they have different caps
  • Returning with a decision letter (route to aaag-rebuttal)

First question: which area?

The Annals routes manuscripts to a subject editor by area; the area you declare shapes the reviewers and the bar. Pick the closest, or General Geography if the contribution is discipline-wide.

Your work Area Watch for
Spatial analysis, GIScience, modeling, geocomputation Geographic Methods method must advance geographic inference, not just apply a tool
Social/cultural/economic/political/urban geography, often qualitative Human Geography engage geographic theory; not a sociology paper with a map
Coupled human-environment systems, political ecology, hazards, land change Nature and Society both sides (nature and society) must be theorized
Geomorphology, biogeography, climatology, remote sensing of the environment Physical Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences rigor of an earth-science venue + geographic framing
Contribution spans areas / is discipline-wide General Geography (cross-disciplinary) say why all geographers should care

Article type (caps differ — see aaag-submission)

Format Scope Cap (verify; 检索于 2026-06)
Article full original study ≤ 11,000 words incl. abstract, refs, notes, tables, figure captions
Forum curated multi-author debate intro 2,500 + papers 5,000 each, ≤ 25,000 total
Commentary response/short intervention < 2,000 words incl. references

Routing map (stage → skill)

Area fit & framing?              → aaag-topic-selection
Where does it sit in geography?  → aaag-literature-positioning
What's the geographic argument?  → aaag-theory-building
Is the design defensible?        → aaag-research-design
Are the analyses sound?          → aaag-data-analysis
Are the maps/exhibits clear?     → aaag-tables-figures
Does it read as geography?       → aaag-writing-style
Spatial-data provenance/ethics?  → aaag-transparency-and-data
How will it be judged?           → aaag-review-process
Ready to submit?                 → aaag-submission
Got an R&R / decision?           → aaag-rebuttal

Default order

topic-selection → literature-positioning → theory-building → research-design → data-analysis → tables-figures → writing-style → transparency-and-data → review-process → submission → rebuttal

Iterate: most papers loop theory ↔ design ↔ analysis several times before writing-style.

Geography fit check (run before routing onward)

Check Pass condition Route if weak
Geographic-ness The space/place/scale/spatial-process is constitutive of the argument, not decorative. aaag-topic-selection
Area The paper clearly targets one of the four areas (or General Geography). area table above
Method on own terms Quantitative/spatial, GIScience, remote-sensing, or qualitative work is defended in its own tradition. aaag-research-design
Spatial-data integrity Projections, sources, and geoprivacy/human-subjects ethics have a plan. aaag-transparency-and-data

If "geographic-ness" fails — the paper would be unchanged if you deleted the geography — do not route to writing-style; it needs a theory/fit repair (aaag-topic-selection).

Anti-patterns

  • Treating the Annals like a domain journal that "also takes maps" — the geography must be load-bearing
  • Forcing a quantitative-spatial template onto qualitative human geography (each area is judged on its own terms)
  • Picking the wrong area editor (a Nature-Society paper sent as pure Physical, or vice versa)
  • Sending a 14,000-word draft to a journal that caps everything (incl. captions/notes) at 11,000

Output format

【Stage】idea / positioning / theory / design / analysis / exhibits / writing / transparency / review / submit / rebut
【Area】Methods / Human / Nature-Society / Physical / General
【Type】Article / Forum / Commentary
【Route to】aaag-<skill>
【Why】one line
【Then】the next skill after that

Supplementary resources

Info
Category Productivity
Name aaag-workflow
Version v20260724
Size 5.51KB
Updated At 2026-07-28
Language