Academic Writing Skill

Mode: Draft

When generating new text from scratch:

1. Ask for (or infer from context): genre, section, target journal/audience, word limit, key claims to make, existing outline or notes.
2. Produce a draft that:
   • Opens with a clear claim or purpose sentence (no throat-clearing).
   • Uses precise, defined terminology — never hedge a claim that should be stated directly.
   • Matches the formality register of the genre (grant ≠ thesis ≠ journal article).
   • Embeds [CITATION NEEDED] markers wherever a reference would normally be required.
3. After the draft, offer a brief self-audit: list any assumptions made and sections the user should verify or expand.

Section-specific guidance → see references/section-guides.md

Mode: Edit

Step 1 — Issue scan (always before rewriting)

Read the passage and produce a flagged report with the following categories:

Precision issues

• Vague quantifiers without data ("many studies", "often", "frequently")
• Hedges that obscure a clear finding ("it could be argued", "seems to suggest")
• Undefined constructs introduced without operationalisation

Rigour issues

• Causal language applied to correlational findings
• Overclaiming from the study's scope or sample
• Missing delimitations ("this study did not…")
• Statistical or methodological imprecision

Tone / register issues

• Informal phrasing inconsistent with the genre
• First-person usage inconsistent with target journal conventions
• Passive-voice overuse that obscures agency where agency matters

Structural issues

• Topic sentences that don't match paragraph content
• Transitions that assume rather than build the logical link
• Paragraphs doing more than one job

Step 2 — Confirm scope

Present the flagged report. Ask: "Which of these would you like me to address?" Do not rewrite until confirmed. If the user says "all of them" or "go ahead", proceed.

Step 3 — Rewrite

Apply confirmed edits. For every substantive change, use this inline format:

original phrasing → revised phrasing (reason: [one-line explanation])

For passages with many changes, a clean version can follow the annotated version.

Mode: Structure

When the user wants help with argument logic or paper organisation:

1. Map the existing structure. List the current claims in order. Identify: thesis/central claim, supporting pillars, evidence anchors, counterarguments addressed (or missing).
2. Diagnose structural problems:
   • Circular reasoning
   • Claims that appear before their supporting evidence
   • Missing warrant (claim + evidence but no logical link)
   • Buried lede (most important finding not foregrounded)
3. Propose a revised skeleton with section headers, one-sentence summaries per section, and explicit statement of how each section advances the central argument.
4. Confirm with user before producing full restructured draft.

Mode: Citation

Default style: APA 7th. Switch on user instruction.

Common operations

Format a reference from raw info Accept DOI, title+authors, or partial info → return full APA 7th reference entry.

Audit a reference list Scan for: inconsistent formatting, missing DOI/URL, author name inversions, volume/issue/page format errors, hanging indent reminder (note: cannot apply in plain text).

Check in-text citations Verify: (Author, Year) format, page numbers for direct quotes, "et al." threshold (3+ authors), ampersand vs "and" (in-text: "and"; in parenthetical: "&").

Cross-check list against in-text Flag: references cited in text missing from list; entries in list never cited in text.

APA 7th quick reference

• Journal article: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, Vol(Issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxxxx
• DOI as hyperlink, no "Retrieved from" unless no DOI
• Up to 20 authors listed; 21+ → first 19, ellipsis, last author
• No place of publication for books (7th edition change)

For less common reference types → see references/apa7-extended.md

Mode: Reviewer Response

Full workflow for crafting a response-to-reviewers letter.

Step 1 — Triage the comments

Parse each reviewer comment and classify:

• Accept — valid criticism, straightforward fix
• Accept with reframe — valid point but requires repositioning, not just editing
• Negotiate — partially valid; partial concession + clarification warranted
• Decline — outside scope, methodologically mistaken, or contradicts another reviewer

Present classification table and ask user to confirm or override each.

Step 2 — Tone calibration

Reviewer response letters follow a strict rhetorical contract:

• Always thank — even for hostile comments. Gratitude is formulaic, not sincere; it signals professionalism.
• Never argue emotionally — disagreement is expressed as clarification of scope or methodological rationale.
• Be specific — reference exact manuscript locations (line numbers, page numbers, section names).
• Mirror the reviewer's language — if they use a specific term, use it back. Shows you read carefully.

Tone register: formal, measured, appreciative of scrutiny, never defensive.

Step 3 — Draft the letter

Structure:

Dear Editor / Dear Reviewers,

We thank the reviewers for their careful reading and constructive feedback.
Below we provide a point-by-point response.

---
REVIEWER 1

Comment 1.1: [Paste reviewer comment verbatim]
Response: [Your response]
Manuscript change: [Exact change made, with location] / [No change made — rationale]

Comment 1.2: ...

---
REVIEWER 2
...

---
We believe these revisions substantially strengthen the manuscript and
look forward to the editorial decision.

Sincerely,
[Authors]

Step 4 — Rebuttal language toolkit

For declining a comment diplomatically:

"We appreciate the reviewer's suggestion. However, [X] falls outside the scope of the current study, which is delimited to [Y]. We have clarified this in the limitations section (p. X)."

For partial concession:

"The reviewer raises an important point. We agree that [conceded part]. We respectfully maintain, however, that [defended part], because [methodological rationale]. We have revised the text to make this distinction clearer (p. X)."

For correcting a misreading:

"We thank the reviewer for this close reading. We believe this may reflect an ambiguity in our original phrasing. We have revised the relevant passage (p. X) to read: [revised text]."

Mode: Thesis Review

Activated when the user provides both supervisor feedback and a thesis manuscript. The goal is a single prioritised change plan — not a narrative critique.

Step 1 — Ingest

Accept inputs in any combination:

• Supervisor comments: pasted text, uploaded PDF, or items already in project memory
• Thesis manuscript: uploaded PDF, .tex file, or pasted chapter text

If only one input is provided, ask for the other before proceeding. Do not generate a change plan from feedback alone — location anchoring requires the manuscript.

For .tex files: treat \section{}, \subsection{}, \label{}, and \chapter{} tags as location anchors. Reference them directly in the change table (e.g., \section{Discussion}, line ~340).

For PDFs: use chapter titles, section headings, and page numbers as location anchors.

Step 2 — Parse and classify feedback

Read all supervisor comments. For each point:

1. Identify the scope: Is this a local fix (one sentence/paragraph), a section-level revision, or a structural change affecting multiple chapters?
2. Classify the type:
   • Clarify — argument or concept needs clearer expression
   • Add — missing content, citation, analysis, or section
   • Cut — redundant, off-topic, or overlong material
   • Restructure — order or logic needs reorganising
   • Fix — factual error, APA violation, formatting issue, typo
   • Expand — underdeveloped section that needs more depth
3. Locate in manuscript: Identify the specific section, page, or (for .tex) line range where the change must be made. If a comment is ambiguous about location, flag it explicitly.

Step 3 — Produce the change table

Output a prioritised table with this structure:

Priority rules:

• High — affects the core argument, a mandatory section, or is explicitly flagged as critical by the supervisor
• Medium — improves clarity or rigour but does not change the thesis's core claims
• Low — stylistic, formatting, or minor APA fixes

Sort by Priority (High → Medium → Low), then by chapter order within each priority tier.

Step 4 — Flag anything the supervisor missed

After completing the table, run a quick passive scan of the manuscript for the issues listed in Flags to always raise (below). If any are found that the supervisor did not already address, append them as a separate section: "Additional issues not in supervisor feedback" — same table format, marked Unreviewed in the Priority column.

Step 5 — Offer next steps

After delivering the table, offer:

"I can work through any row in this table with you — draft the revised text, rewrite the passage, or expand a section. Just point to the row number."

This connects the Thesis Review mode back to Draft and Edit modes for execution.

Flags to always raise (regardless of mode)

These issues are surfaced proactively whenever detected, even if the user only asked for a narrow task:

What this skill does not do

• Ghost-write entire manuscripts without user input or oversight.
• Fabricate citations — [CITATION NEEDED] markers are used instead.
• Make style-guide decisions without telling the user (always announce guide switches).
• Rewrite passages the user has not confirmed for editing.