Journal Intelligence

Fetches live, current submission requirements for any scientific journal before writing begins. Journal guidelines, word limits, AI authorship policies, and LaTeX templates change without notice — this skill always retrieves the authoritative current version rather than relying on cached or hardcoded information.

Run this before every manuscript session. The output (journal_profile.yaml) becomes the single source of truth for all formatting decisions in the scientific-writing skill and any other writing tools.

When to Use

• Before starting any manuscript, letter, review, or methods paper
• When you need to know a journal's current word limits, figure limits, or abstract format
• To get the exact AI authorship disclosure language a journal requires
• To download the current LaTeX template before writing
• To check desk-rejection criteria before investing time in a submission

Requirements: This skill requires WebSearch and WebFetch to be enabled in the agent's tool set. It cannot fetch live guidelines without these tools. If they are unavailable, see the fallback behavior below.

What It Does

Step 1 — Locate Author Guidelines

Searches and fetches the journal's official submission/author guidelines page.

Example URL patterns to try (publisher structures vary — these are starting points, not authoritative):

• Nature family: https://www.nature.com/[journal]/submission-guidelines
• Elsevier: https://www.elsevier.com/journals/[journal]/[issn]/guide-for-authors
• Cell Press: https://www.cell.com/[journal]/authors
• PLOS: https://journals.plos.org/[journal]/s/submission-guidelines
• Wiley, Springer, ACS, RSC, IEEE, ACM — searched via WebSearch

If the pattern-based URL fails, fall back to a direct WebSearch for "[journal name] author guidelines submission".

Step 2 — Extract and Store Requirements

Extracts all format requirements into journal_profile.yaml:

journal: ""
article_type: ""
guidelines_url: ""
guidelines_fetched: ""        # date fetched

# Length limits
main_text_limit: ""           # words; what is excluded?
abstract_limit: ""            # words; structured or unstructured?
abstract_sections: ""         # required section labels if any
methods_limit: ""
figure_limit: ""
figure_legend_limit: ""
reference_limit: ""
supplementary: ""

# Format
citation_style: ""            # Vancouver numbered / Author-date / etc.
reference_format_example: ""
section_order: ""
methods_placement: ""         # inline / online / after references
special_elements: ""          # Key Resources Table, Significance Statement, eTOC, etc.

# AI policy
ai_policy_summary: ""
ai_disclosure_required: ""
ai_tools_declaration_format: ""
ai_tools_declaration_location: ""

# Template
latex_template_url: ""
latex_template_notes: ""

# Editorial
acceptance_rate: ""
desk_rejection_criteria: ""
editorial_priorities: ""

Step 3 — Fetch AI Authorship Policy

Every major publisher now has an explicit AI tool use policy. Fetched separately and stored in ai_policy.md with the exact disclosure language required and its placement in the manuscript.

Step 4 — Download LaTeX Template

Searches Overleaf gallery, journal page, and publisher template hub. Downloads or links to the current versioned template. Notes document class, required packages, and submission file format.

Step 5 — Editorial Priorities

Searches for editor blog posts, "what we publish" guides, and desk-rejection criteria. Records what the journal explicitly says it will not send for review.

Output

writing_outputs/[project]/journal/
├── journal_profile.yaml          ← source of truth for all formatting
├── journal_profile_summary.md    ← human-readable summary
├── ai_policy.md                  ← exact disclosure language + placement
├── guidelines_fetched.md         ← raw extracted text from guidelines page
└── latex_template/
    ├── [template files]
    └── template_notes.md

Usage Examples

# Before writing — triggers full journal intelligence pass
Fetch the current submission requirements for Nature Biotechnology, Article format.

# Before a methods paper
What does Genome Biology currently require for a Software article?
Get the word limits, AI policy, and LaTeX template.

# Quick format check before submission
What are the current requirements for Nucleic Acids Research, Database Issue?

# Used automatically by scientific-writing
Write an Article for Nature Methods on our sequencing pipeline.
[journal-intelligence runs first, then scientific-writing uses the profile]

Fallback When Guidelines Cannot Be Fetched

If WebSearch and WebFetch are unavailable, or if both fail (network unavailable or journal behind hard paywall):

1. Uses conservative defaults: ≤4,000 words, ≤250-word abstract, Vancouver numbered references
2. Flags every format-dependent decision with [VERIFY AGAINST AUTHOR GUIDELINES]
3. Reports explicitly: "Guidelines could not be fetched. Verify at [journal URL] before submission."

Why Hardcoded Requirements Fail

A requirement accurate six months ago may now cause desk rejection. Always fetch live.

Recommended workflow with scientific-writing

Run journal-intelligence first, then pass the output to scientific-writing:

Step 1: "Fetch the current submission requirements for [journal], [article type]."
         → produces journal_profile.yaml and journal_profile_summary.md

Step 2: "Write the paper using the requirements in journal_profile.yaml."
         → scientific-writing reads the profile and applies word limits,
           citation format, required sections, and template class from it

The two skills are independent — scientific-writing does not automatically invoke journal-intelligence. Run them sequentially and reference the profile file explicitly in Step 2.