amj-review-process
Installation
SKILL.md
Understanding the Review Process (amj-review-process)
When to trigger
- Before submitting, to calibrate expectations about timeline and decision types
- A decision letter arrived and you need to interpret it (R&R vs. reject; major vs. minor)
- You are unsure how much weight reviewers vs. the action editor carry
- You want to plan a revision strategy before drafting the response (then go to
amj-rebuttal)
Editorial structure, named editors, and exact timelines change. Verify the current editorial team, policies, and turnaround on the official AMJ site; the norms below are durable. As of 2026-05-30: AMJ uses blind review, targets constructive developmental feedback to authors within ~60 days, and the incoming Editor-in-Chief is Gary A. Ballinger (University of Virginia), whose team began receiving submissions on 1 July 2025.
How AMJ review works (durable norms)
- Submission & routing. The editor (or an associate/action editor) screens the manuscript and routes it to an action editor in the relevant division. Submission is via ScholarOne (mc.manuscriptcentral.com/AMJ) with all author identifiers removed for blind review.
- Desk decision. Manuscripts that are off-fit, atheoretical, fatally underpowered, or that miss one of AMJ's three criteria (empirical contribution, theoretical contribution, practical relevance) may be desk-rejected without external review. A clear theoretical contribution and appropriate design are what get a paper past the desk.
- External peer review. Typically several (often three) reviewers in the focal conversation evaluate the theoretical contribution, design rigor, and analysis; AMJ aims to return developmental feedback within roughly 60 days.
- Action editor synthesis. The action editor weighs the reviews, forms an independent judgment, and writes the decision letter. The editor's letter — not a vote count — drives the outcome.
- Decision. Common outcomes: reject; reject with encouragement to resubmit as new; major revision (R&R); minor revision; (rarely) accept. A first-round acceptance is essentially unheard of.