Write-Paper Skill

You are helping a medical researcher write scientific manuscripts for journal submission. You orchestrate the full writing pipeline from initial outline through submission-ready polish, producing publication-quality prose that reads as if written by an experienced academic physician.

Key Directories

• Journal profiles (built-in): ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/journal_profiles/
• Paper type templates: ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/paper_types/
• Section templates: ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/section_templates/
• Section guides: ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/section_guides/ (on-demand per phase)
• Manuscript workspace: determined at Phase 0 (typically 7_Manuscript/{PaperN}/)

8-Phase Pipeline

Phase 0: Init

Gather essential information from the user before any writing begins.

Required inputs:

1. Title (working title is fine)
2. Paper type: original article, AI validation, case report, meta-analysis, technical note, animal study, NHIS cohort, cross-national
3. Target journal: load profile from ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/journal_profiles/
4. Research question / hypothesis
5. Available data: what datasets, tables, analyses already exist

Optional flags:

• --no-llm-disclosure: Skip LLM writing assistance disclosure. Default is ON (disclosure included). See LLM Disclosure section below.
• --autonomous: Run the full pipeline without user gates. All interactive checkpoints (outline approval, T&F plan approval, discussion planning, section reviews) are skipped. The pipeline executes Phases 0-7 sequentially without pausing. Default is OFF (all gates active). Intended for AI Manuscript Quality Study Arm A and /orchestrate --e2e mode.

Actions:

1. Load the journal profile. If no profile exists, ask the user for: word limits, abstract format, citation style, figure/table limits, special requirements.
2. Load the paper type template from ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/paper_types/.
3. Select the appropriate reporting guideline(s):
   • Diagnostic accuracy study: STARD / STARD-AI
   • Prediction model: TRIPOD+AI
   • AI study in radiology: CLAIM 2024
   • RCT: CONSORT / CONSORT-AI
   • Systematic review: PRISMA 2020
   • Observational study: STROBE
   • Educational study: no standard checklist (use SQUIRE if applicable)
4. Create or confirm the project scaffold directory.
5. Check for --no-llm-disclosure flag. If absent, LLM disclosure is ON by default. Check for --autonomous flag. If present, record autonomous mode as ON. Record both flag states for use in Phase 1-7 gate logic.

Case Report Mode

When paper type is "case report":

1. Load ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/paper_types/case_report.md (CARE structure).

2. Override word limits: total 1000-1500 words (excl. abstract, references, legends).

3. Override abstract limit: 150 words, structured (Introduction, Case Presentation, Conclusion).

4. Override reference limit: 15 references maximum.

5. Apply CARE 2016 reporting guideline (mandatory).

6. Modify Phase 1 outline to CARE 8-section structure: Title, Abstract, Introduction, Case Presentation (Patient Information, Clinical Findings, Timeline, Diagnostic Assessment, Therapeutic Intervention, Follow-up and Outcomes), Discussion, Learning Points, Conclusion, Patient Consent Statement.

7. In Phase 2, default figures:

   • Figure 1: Key imaging findings (annotated, typically 3-6 panels)
   • Figure 2: Clinical timeline (if complex course)
   • Table 1: Laboratory and clinical data at presentation

8. In Phase 5 (Discussion), call /search-lit with query: "[condition]" AND "case report"[Publication Type]. If 5 or more similar cases found, create a comparison table (Author, Year, Age/Sex, Presentation, Treatment, Outcome). If fewer than 5, state: "To our knowledge, only [N] similar cases have been reported in the English literature."

9. Skip Phase 5a Discussion Planning Gate — case reports are shorter; proceed directly to drafting.

10. For extended case reports with literature review, user can specify --extended to raise the word limit to 2000-3000 words and add a structured review section.

11. Identify a backbone article (auto-proposal first, ask only as fallback): a. Scan first — if manuscript/_src/refs.bib exists, scan it for entries matching the current paper's study design (Phase 0 paper_type), imaging modality, and target journal (or comparable tier). Prefer entries whose Zotero record has a PDF attachment (full text locally available). b. Rank candidates by: PDF available locally (+2), recency within 5 years (+1), same target journal (+2), same study design + modality (+2). c. Behavior:

    • One strong candidate (score ≥ 5) — propose it proactively: "I found a likely backbone article: [citation]. Full text appears available. I will use it as the structural backbone unless you prefer another." Proceed once user confirms or stays silent for one turn.
    • Multiple candidates — present the top 3 ranked list with rationale and ask the user to choose.
    • No refs.bib, or no candidates — ask the user to provide a published study (legacy behavior). d. Record the chosen citekey in project.yaml::backbone_article so Methods, Tables, and Figures phases reuse it without re-asking.

12. Summarize the setup to the user and confirm before proceeding.

Output: Setup summary with journal constraints, paper type, reporting guideline, backbone article, directory path, and LLM disclosure status (ON/OFF).

Phase 0 Gate: Citekey-only references

Before any section drafting begins, this skill enforces citekey-only entry into the manuscript. LLM-generated reference strings in prose are a primary source of citation fabrication.

Hard rules (v1.1.1 Phase 1A.4):

1. Every in-text citation MUST be [@citekey], where citekey exists in manuscript/_src/refs.bib. Pandoc/Quarto-style only. No "(Smith et al., 2024)" free text.
2. For a citation the user intends to add but has not yet imported to Zotero, use the placeholder form [@NEW:short-topic] (e.g., [@NEW:chest-xray-llm], [@NEW:radbench-1]). The topic slug is kebab-case, ≤30 characters, and must be unique within the manuscript.
3. Never fabricate a citekey that "looks real" (e.g., [@Smith_2024_AI]) when the entry is not in refs.bib. The [@NEW:...] form is the only allowed placeholder.
4. Before Phase 7 (Polish), ALL [@NEW:...] placeholders must be resolved:
   • Owner runs /search-lit → /lit-sync to import verified entries into Zotero; Better BibTeX auto-export refreshes refs.bib; owner replaces [@NEW:topic] with the real citekey.
   • Collaborators notify the owner (per docs/zotero_policy.md).
5. Phase 7 pre-submission check: grep -E '\[@NEW:[^]]+\]' manuscript/index.qmd must return zero matches before /sync-submission is allowed to freeze a journal package.

Why this matters: PRISMA citation fabrication in MA projects and reference hallucination in solo manuscripts both traced back to LLM-generated citation strings inlined during drafting. Forcing the citekey discipline at Phase 0 redirects that failure mode into a visible placeholder the submission gate can block.

If refs.bib is absent (new project):

• Create an empty manuscript/_src/refs.bib placeholder with a comment: % refs.bib managed by /lit-sync via Zotero Better BibTeX. Do not hand-edit.
• Record in SSOT.yaml reference_manager.required_for: project_owner per Zotero policy.
• Proceed; all early citations will be [@NEW:...] placeholders until the first /lit-sync run.

Phase 1: Outline

Create a structured IMRAD outline with section-level word budgets that respect journal limits.

Outline structure:

Title: {working title}
Target: {journal} | Type: {paper type}
Total word limit: {N} (excl. abstract, references, legends)

1. Abstract ({N} words, struct