worlddev-workflow

World Development Workflow Router (worlddev-workflow)

Overview

This is the router. It tells you **which worlddev- skill to use at the current stage* of a manuscript aimed at World Development (WD) — the multidisciplinary development-studies journal published by Elsevier (founded 1973, monthly, ISSN 0305-750X / online 1873-5991). WD's defining feature, and the thing every routing decision must respect, is that it is methodologically pluralist: it publishes econometric and experimental work, but equally qualitative case studies, process tracing, ethnography, participatory methods, political-economy analysis, and policy/practice papers. The shared bar is real-world development relevance in low- and middle-income contexts — poverty, inequality, livelihoods, institutions, governance, aid and NGOs, agriculture and food security, health and education, conflict, gender, and environment-development.

The single biggest router mistake is treating WD as if it were an econometrics journal. It is not. Route a regression-discontinuity paper and a multi-site qualitative study through the same chain, but enter the chain at different links and apply a different bar for "credible evidence." Editors as of 2026: Jampel Dell'Angelo and Angelika Rettberg (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准). Review is double-anonymized; submission is via Elsevier Editorial Manager; abstract ≤250 words, 3–6 keywords.

When to trigger

• The user asks "what should I do next?" on a WD-targeted draft
• A draft is ping-ponging between framing, evidence, exhibits, and submission checks
• The contribution is unclear relative to siblings (JDE, WBER, JDS, EDCC)
• A WD decision letter arrived and the user needs to switch into revision mode
• A quantitatively-trained author has a qualitative or mixed-methods paper and is unsure how WD will judge it

Routing table

| Current symptom | Next skill |

|-----------------|------------|

| Scope/audience/outlet fit uncertain; is this WD or a sibling? | worlddev-topic-selection |

| Contribution vs. the development literature is fuzzy or undersold | worlddev-literature-positioning |

| Causal claim rests on OLS+controls; or a qual/mixed claim lacks an inference logic | worlddev-identification |

| The conceptual/analytical framework (development theory) is loose or decorative | worlddev-theory-model |

| Results may be specification-, sample-, measurement-, or interpretation-sensitive | worlddev-robustness |

| Exhibits dense; significance asterisks present; maps/qual evidence underused | worlddev-tables-figures |

| Prose is jargon-heavy and does not reach a multidisciplinary, policy audience | worlddev-writing-style |

| Data/code deposit, qualitative-transparency, or anonymization for review | worlddev-replication-package |

| Likely double-anonymized referee objections should be pre-empted | worlddev-referee-strategy |

| Close to submission; need the Editorial Manager preflight | worlddev-submission |

| An R&R or reject-and-resubmit arrived; need a response-letter plan | worlddev-rebuttal |

Default order

1. worlddev-topic-selection — lock the development question and WD-vs-sibling fit
2. worlddev-literature-positioning — stake the contribution across disciplines
3. worlddev-identification — causal design OR the inference logic of a qual/mixed paper
4. worlddev-theory-model — the conceptual/analytical framework that organizes the evidence
5. worlddev-robustness — sensitivity (quant) or trustworthiness/triangulation (qual)
6. worlddev-tables-figures — exhibits, maps, and qualitative displays without asterisks
7. worlddev-writing-style — reach the multidisciplinary reader (abstract + intro last)
8. worlddev-replication-package — Elsevier data policy + qualitative transparency
9. worlddev-referee-strategy — anticipate double-anonymized objections
10. worlddev-submission — Editorial Manager preflight
11. worlddev-rebuttal — after the decision letter

> Writing-style is late-stage polish; do not rewrite the intro before the framework and evidence settle.

Routing by paper archetype

The binding constraint differs by what kind of paper this is. Read the archetype, then enter at the right link.

| Archetype | Likely first bottleneck | Enter at |

|-----------|-------------------------|----------|

| Quantitative causal (DID, IV, RDD, RCT) | credible design + clustering at the right level | worlddev-identification |

| Qualitative (cases, process tracing, ethnography) | inference logic + transparency, not "more N" | worlddev-identification → worlddev-theory-model |

| Mixed-methods | integration — how strands actually combine, not run in parallel | worlddev-theory-model → worlddev-identification |

| Political-economy / institutional analysis | conceptual framework doing real analytical work | worlddev-theory-model |

| Policy / practice / aid-effectiveness | "so what for whom" + external validity | worlddev-topic-selection → worlddev-writing-style |

Anti-patterns

• Treating WD as interchangeable with Journal of Development Economics (rigorous development econometrics) — WD values relevance and methodological breadth, not only identification rigor
• Treating WD as World Bank Economic Review (Bank-affiliated, more economics-centric) or Journal of Development Studies (interdisciplinary but more political/sociological framing)
• Routing a qualitative paper as if "weak identification" were the problem when the real problem is an unstated inference logic
• Polishing prose before the framework, evidence hierarchy, and contribution are stable
• Letting an appendix carry claims the main text must establish

Output format

【Target】World Development (WD)
【Archetype】quant-causal / qualitative / mixed / political-economy / policy-practice
【Current bottleneck】fit / contribution / design / framework / evidence / exhibits / style / replication / submission / revision
【Next skill】<one worlddev-* skill>
【Reason】why this is the binding constraint for THIS archetype
【Source check】official facts verified or marked 待核实