academic-paper-writing

name	academic-paper-writing
description	Write academic papers as plain text (.txt) with strict anti-AI style rules, IEEE structure, and real citations.
version	1.0.0
author	Ion Agent
license	MIT
metadata	{"ion":{"tags":["writing","academic","papers","anti-ai-slop","citations","arxiv","ieee","plain-text"],"category":"creative","related_skills":["humanizer","arxiv"]}}

Academic Paper Writing (Plain Text)

Compose scholarly research papers as .txt documents following IEEE formatting conventions, rigorous anti-AI-tell writing rules, and verified citations. This skill addresses the patterns that the humanizer skill does not specifically cover: formal academic structure, voice conventions, mathematical definitions, and citation validation.

When to load: Activate when the user requests a research paper, scholarly article, or technical report saved as a .txt file — particularly when explicit stylistic constraints or anti-AI requirements are in play.

Workflow

1. Research Citations First

Before drafting any prose, locate genuine arXiv IDs for every paper you intend to reference.

# Use web_search with targeted queries:
web_search('arXiv "paper title" arXiv ID')
web_search('arXiv author surname keyword 2023 2024')

• Confirm each ID follows the correct format: arXiv:YYMM.NNNNN
• Favor arXiv IDs rather than DOIs for broader accessibility
• Include a minimum of 15 references in research papers
• Never invent citations. If a paper cannot be found, cite a related genuine paper instead, or explicitly acknowledge the gap.

2. Write the Paper

Adhere to the IEEE-style structure outlined below. Maintain "we" voice throughout. Incorporate formal definitions and propositions where they strengthen the argument.

3. Verify Before Delivery

Apply the verification checklist (below) to the draft. Correct ALL violations prior to saving.

4. Save

Write the completed paper to the designated path using write_file.

IEEE-Style Structure for Plain Text

Title (may span multiple lines)
(blank line)
Author, Affiliation
Correspondence: email
(blank line)
ABSTRACT
(one paragraph, 150-250 words)
(blank line)
Index Terms: term1, term2, term3
(blank line)
I. INTRODUCTION
II. BACKGROUND (or related sections)
III-X. Body sections (varies by topic)
[Optional: Related Work, Limitations]
X. CONCLUSION
(blank line)
REFERENCES
[numbered bracket entries, IEEE style]

References follow bracket-number format: [1], [2], etc.

Voice Rules

• Employ "we" consistently. Never use "I" or passive constructions like "it can be observed that." Write "we observe" instead.
• No em dashes. Neither Unicode U+2014 (—) nor double-hyphen (--) in prose. Use commas, parentheses, or hyphens (for compound terms).
  • "X, which is Y" not "X — which is Y"
  • "X (a type of Y)" not "X — a type of Y"
• Precise claim boundaries. Resist hedging with "may" or "might" unless genuine uncertainty exists. Favor "X implies Y" over "X may suggest Y."

Banned AI-Tell Words and Phrases

VIOLATING ANY OF THESE CONSTITUTES A FAILURE. Execute the verification grep before delivering.

Single Words

delve, landscape, tapestry, crucial, furthermore, moreover, aforementioned, notably, particularly

Phrases

• "it is important to note"
• "in the realm of"
• "in conclusion" (the section header "X. CONCLUSION" is acceptable; the phrase within running prose is not)

Why

These serve as statistical fingerprints of LLM-generated text. Their presence signals machine generation to reviewers. The humanizer skill (Pattern #7) covers a broader list; this is the strict subset for academic contexts.

Verification Checklist

Execute ALL checks before saving the file. Correct any violation.

FILE="path/to/paper.txt"

# 1. Word count (typically 4000-6000 for research papers)
wc -w "$FILE"

# 2. Banned words (should return nothing)
grep -inE '\bdelve\b|\blandscape\b|\btapestry\b|\bcrucial\b|it is important to note|in the realm of|\bfurthermore\b|\bmoreover\b|in conclusion|\baforementioned\b|\bnotably\b|\bparticularly\b' "$FILE"

# 3. Em dashes — Unicode (should return 0)
grep -cP '\x{2014}' "$FILE"

# 4. Em dashes — ASCII double-hyphen (check manually; table borders with --- are OK)
grep -n '\-\-' "$FILE"

# 5. First-person voice (should not find "I " at sentence start)
grep -nP '^I [a-z]|\. I [a-z]' "$FILE"

# 6. Reference count (typically 15+)
grep -cP '^\[\d+\]' "$FILE"

Formal Definitions and Propositions

Academic papers benefit from structured definitions and propositions. Use this pattern:

Definition N (Name). A [thing] is [formal definition] if and only if [condition].

Proposition N. [Statement of the claim].

Proof sketch or intuition follows.

Definitions employ "if and only if" for biconditionals. Propositions state claims with precision, using quantifiers where appropriate ("for all", "there exists").

Common Pitfalls

1. Writing before researching citations. Always locate genuine arXiv IDs first. Fabricated citations constitute a hard failure.
2. Using "landscape" or "tapestry" metaphorically. These are banned in academic writing. Use "field", "area", "body of work" instead.
3. Starting the conclusion with "In conclusion." The section header suffices; repeating it in prose is a banned AI-tell.
4. Forgetting the "we" voice. Scan the draft for sentences beginning with "I" or passive constructions.
5. Using em dashes in tables. Table separator lines using --- are acceptable (they are borders, not em dashes). But em dashes in running text are not.
6. Treating presence in context as memory. This is the conceptual pitfall the paper "Context Windows Are Not Memory" addresses. Similarly, having a citation in your draft does not mean you verified it exists.

Related Skills

• humanizer — General anti-AI-tell patterns (29 patterns). Load it for prose-level editing beyond the academic subset listed here.
• arxiv — Search arXiv papers by keyword, author, category, or ID. Use during the citation research phase.