SKILL.md — Research Writing

Project Structure

All output goes into a research-output/ directory in the workspace:

research-output/
├── config.json              # Research project configuration
├── outline.md               # Approved outline before drafting
├── drafts/
│   └── <slug>-draft-v1.md   # Working drafts
├── final/
│   └── <slug>.md            # Final polished document
├── references/
│   └── <slug>-references.bib  # BibTeX citations (if applicable)
└── assets/
    └── (tables, figures, supplementary)

Phase 1 — Environment Setup

1.1 Create Project Directory

mkdir -p research-output/drafts research-output/final research-output/references research-output/assets

1.2 Verify Tools Available

The research writing workflow uses built-in tools only — no external dependencies required:

• File read/write: For creating and editing Markdown documents
• Web search: For research, fact-checking, and citation verification
• Terminal: For file management operations

1.3 Initialize Config

Create research-output/config.json after requirements are collected (Phase 2):

{
  "title": "",
  "document_type": "",
  "research_question": "",
  "scope": "",
  "citation_style": "APA",
  "language": "en",
  "target_length": "",
  "status": "initialized"
}

Completion marker: research-output/ directory exists with subdirectories.

Phase 2 — Collect Research Requirements

Gather the following from the user. All have sensible defaults.

Required Fields

Optional Fields (with defaults)

Requirements Summary Format

After collecting, present this summary for user confirmation:

📋 Research Project Summary
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
• Topic: [topic]
• Type: [document type]
• Language: [language]
• Citation Style: [style]
• Target Length: ~[X] words
• Audience: [audience]
• Scope: [scope details]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Completion marker: User confirms the requirements summary. config.json written.

Phase 3 — Research & Outline

This is the core intellectual phase. Two stages: research, then outline.

3.1 Conduct Research

Use web search to gather information on the topic. For each search:

1. Search strategy: Use 3-5 varied search queries to cover different angles

   • Primary topic keywords
   • Related concepts and terminology
   • Key researchers / landmark studies
   • Contrasting viewpoints
   • Recent developments (last 2-3 years)

2. Source evaluation criteria:

   • Prefer peer-reviewed publications
   • Check publication date (prioritize recent for fast-moving fields)
   • Verify author credentials and institutional affiliation
   • Cross-reference claims across multiple sources
   • Note sample sizes, methodologies, and limitations

3. Research notes: Keep structured notes internally:

   • Key findings per source
   • Direct quotes worth citing (with source info)
   • Statistical data and figures
   • Gaps in the literature
   • Conflicting findings

3.2 Build Outline

Create research-output/outline.md with this structure:

# [Document Title] — Outline

## Document Type: [type]
## Target Length: ~[X] words

---

### 1. [Section Name]
**Purpose**: [what this section accomplishes]
**Key Points**:
- [Point 1 — with source indication]
- [Point 2 — with source indication]
- [Point 3]
**Estimated Length**: ~[X] words

### 2. [Section Name]
...

---

## Planned Citations
1. [Author (Year). Title. Source.]
2. ...

## Key Data / Evidence
- [Statistic or finding 1 — source]
- [Statistic or finding 2 — source]

Structure by Document Type

Research Paper (IMRAD):

1. Abstract (~150-300 words)
2. Introduction (background, gap, research question, thesis)
3. Methods (approach, data sources, analytical framework)
4. Results (findings organized by theme or hypothesis)
5. Discussion (interpretation, implications, limitations)
6. Conclusion (summary, recommendations, future directions)
7. References

Literature Review:

1. Abstract (~150-250 words)
2. Introduction (scope, significance, review methodology)
3. Thematic Section 1 (grouped by theme, not chronologically)
4. Thematic Section 2
5. Thematic Section 3
6. Synthesis & Gaps (what we know, what's missing)
7. Conclusion (summary, future research directions)
8. References

Research Report:

1. Executive Summary (~200-400 words)
2. Introduction (context, objectives)
3. Methodology (approach, data sources)
4. Findings (organized by theme or question)
5. Analysis & Discussion
6. Recommendations
7. References
8. Appendices (if applicable)

Scientific Analysis:

1. Abstract (~150 words)
2. Problem Statement
3. Data & Methods
4. Analysis
5. Results
6. Discussion & Implications
7. Conclusion
8. References

Completion marker: User approves the outline in research-output/outline.md.

Phase 4 — Draft Writing

4.1 Writing Principles

Follow these rules strictly:

1. Full prose paragraphs — never bullet points in the body text. Bullet points are only for lists of items (e.g., inclusion criteria, recommendations).
2. Two-stage per section:
   • Stage A: Write key points and evidence mapping
   • Stage B: Convert to flowing prose with transitions
3. Academic tone: Third person, objective, evidence-based. Avoid hedging language ("it seems", "perhaps") unless genuinely uncertain.
4. Signposting: Use clear topic sentences. Each paragraph should have one main idea.
5. Citation integration: Weave citations naturally into the text, not just tacked on at the end of sentences.

4.2 Citation Format

Support these styles (default: APA 7th edition):

APA: (Author, Year) — "Smith (2023) found that..." or "...significant effect (Smith, 2023)." AMA: Superscript numbers¹ — sequential by order of appearance Vancouver: Numbers in brackets [1] — sequential by order of appearance Chicago: Footnotes or (Author Year) IEEE: Numbers in brackets [1] — sequential by order of appearance

4.3 Draft File Format

Write to research-output/drafts/<slug>-draft-v1.md:

---