---
name: ppsych-topic-selection
description: Use when judging whether a question is a Perspectives on Psychological Science (PoPS)-scale contribution — broad, integrative, theoretical, or meta-scientific rather than a single study — and framing its animating question. Decides fit and venue; it does not gather the literature (ppsych-literature-synthesis) or shape the proposal (ppsych-proposal-and-commissioning).
---

# Topic Selection for a PoPS Contribution (ppsych-topic-selection)

## When to trigger

- You have a candidate idea and need to know if it is "PoPS-shaped"
- A topic feels either too narrow (one study, one paradigm) or too sprawling (all of cognition)
- You are deciding between PoPS and a sibling (Psychological Science, Psychological Bulletin, Annual Review of Psychology, Current Directions)
- A meta-science idea exists but you are unsure whether it is a perspective or a primary methods paper

## What PoPS is for

PoPS publishes an **eclectic, broad, integrative mix**: broad integrative reviews, overviews of research programs, theoretical and metatheoretical statements, methodology and **meta-science** commentary, philosophy-of-science pieces, opinion pieces on major issues, and even autobiographical or humorous essays (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准). The reader is a psychologist (or adjacent behavioral/social/neuro/methods scientist) from **any** area who wants the big picture — not a specialist seeking a single result. That cross-area readership sets the fit bar.

## The four PoPS-fit tests

A contribution belongs in PoPS when it passes all four. If it fails one, route accordingly.

1. **Breadth / superordinate message.** The take-home speaks **across** sub-areas or to the field as a whole — a theory, framework, or insight that travels. A point only one paradigm cares about is a specialist-journal point. (Fails → too narrow.)
2. **Integration or argument, not new data.** The contribution is a *synthesis* or an *argument*, not a single empirical test. Even a meta-analysis only fits PoPS if it carries a **distinct superordinate theoretical/metatheoretical message** beyond pooling effect sizes (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准). (Fails → Psychological Science / Psychological Bulletin.)
3. **Provocation / forward pull.** PoPS prizes pieces that are **provocative, agenda-setting, and likely to instigate lasting impact** — they reframe, not just summarize. (Fails → a competent but inert review belongs in a subfield outlet.)
4. **Tractable and concise.** There is **no strict page limit** for stand-alone articles, but concise articles get more readership and impact; the scope must be writeable as one coherent argument (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准). (Fails → carve a coherent axis.)

## Decision table (venue)

| Situation | Verdict | Action |
|-----------|---------|--------|
| Broad, integrative/theoretical/meta-science, provocative, coherent | PoPS-shaped | → `ppsych-proposal-and-commissioning` |
| A single well-run empirical study | Wrong venue | *Psychological Science* (or a specialty journal) |
| A formal, comprehensive meta-analysis with no superordinate message | Wrong venue | *Psychological Bulletin* / a review journal |
| Invited, exhaustive subfield survey for specialists | Wrong venue | *Annual Review of Psychology* (invited) |
| A short, non-technical sketch of one finding for a broad audience | Wrong venue | *Current Directions in Psychological Science* |
| Cooperative (special issue / adversarial collaboration / multilab) or miscellaneous | PoPS, but **proposal required** | → `ppsych-proposal-and-commissioning` |

## Framing the animating question

A PoPS piece is organized by a **question or claim about the field**, not by a topic label. Before going further, write one sentence of each:

- **The claim / state-of-knowledge question:** "What should the field now believe about X — and why is the current consensus incomplete?"
- **Why now:** new evidence, a methodological shift, a replication/reform debate, or a fracture/convergence across areas that makes synthesis valuable *now*.
- **Reader payoff:** what a psychologist from an adjacent area can *do* after reading (re-orient a program, adopt a framework, change a practice).

## Checklist

- [ ] The contribution passes all four fit tests (breadth, integration/argument, provocation, concise/tractable)
- [ ] The animating *claim or question about the field* is written in one sentence
- [ ] The "why now" is concrete (new evidence / method shift / reform debate), not "no one has reviewed this"
- [ ] The intended reader is the **cross-area psychologist**, and the payoff is stated
- [ ] You can name the 3–6 research lines or sub-areas the piece must integrate
- [ ] Venue-checked against Psychological Science, Psychological Bulletin, Annual Review of Psychology, Current Directions
- [ ] A meta-analysis (if any) carries a distinct superordinate theoretical message — otherwise reroute
- [ ] You are not making the field's own program a self-retrospective

## Anti-patterns

- "No one has written this" used as the *sole* justification — absence is not importance
- Dressing a single empirical study as a "perspective" — PoPS does not publish single studies (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准)
- Submitting a routine meta-analysis with no superordinate message (belongs in Psychological Bulletin)
- A scope so broad it is "all of psychology"; so narrow only one lab cares
- Confusing "topic" (a label) with "animating claim" (what the piece argues about the field)
- A competent-but-inert review with no provocation or forward agenda

## Output format

```text
【Contribution type】integrative review / theoretical statement / meta-science / cooperative / miscellaneous
【Four tests】breadth / integration-or-argument / provocation / concise-tractable — pass or fail each
【Animating claim】"The field should rethink ___ because ___"
【Why now】<new evidence / method shift / reform debate>
【Reader payoff】<what a cross-area psychologist can do after reading>
【Coverage skeleton】<3–6 sub-areas / research lines to integrate>
【Verdict】PoPS-shaped / rescope / wrong-venue (→ Psych Science / Psych Bulletin / ARP / Current Directions)
【Source status】verified URL / 待核实 / not asserted
【Next step】→ ppsych-proposal-and-commissioning (proposal route; required for cooperative/miscellaneous)
```