Another example is an article comparing how governments respond to human rights atrocities perpetrated by previous governments. If you merely document that some governments respond to the atrocities by holding truth commissions(which do not have the power to punish victimizers) while others respond by holding tribunals(which can and do punish victimizers), you probably won't get published. This is old evidence, data you can collect from the New York Times. If, however, you argue that more stable governments with strong public pressure tend toward tribunals while unstable governments with weak public pressure tend toward truth commissions, you are on your way to publication.4 You have approached this old evidence in a new way, with a new explanation