scribe

name	scribe
description	Use when adding research papers, managing bibliography entries, or adding quotes to citation files. Ensures papers are cataloged consistently across bibliography, quotes, and review files so research is findable and citable. Triggers on: add paper, add citation, new source, add quote, update bibliography, cite this, catalog this paper, add to references, scribe.

Scribe

Catalog research papers into a references directory. One shared bibliography; quotes and reviews split by topic.

The Pattern

A references directory contains:

File	What it is
index.md	Explains the directory structure
bibliography.md	All papers — one entry per paper, keyed by [Author Year]
quotes-{topic}.md	Direct quotes organized by theme, each citing a bibliography key
review-{topic}.md	Detailed per-paper analysis with effect sizes and principle implications

Papers can span multiple topics — one bibliography entry, quotes in multiple files.

Finding the References Directory

Look for a references/ directory containing a bibliography.md. Check:

1. Subdirectories of the skill or context the user is working in
2. Common locations: references/, docs/references/, skills/*/references/

If no references directory exists and the user wants to start one, create it with index.md and bibliography.md.

Known References Directories

Location	Topics
skills/writing-skills/references/	Persona prompting, constraint specificity, skill authoring techniques

Adding a New Paper

1. Extract findings from the paper

Read the full paper (not just the abstract). Extract:

• Quantitative findings with exact numbers (accuracy, effect sizes, p-values)
• Model names and dataset names
• Direct quotes — exact language, not paraphrases

2. Add bibliography entry

Read bibliography.md in the target references directory. Add an entry in alphabetical order by author surname:

**[Surname Year]** Surname, A. et al. "Paper Title." Month Year. https://arxiv.org/abs/XXXX.XXXXX

Disambiguation: [Surname 2025a], [Surname 2025b] for same author, same year.

3. Add review section

Add to the appropriate review-{topic}.md:

### Paper N: [Title](url)
**Citation:** Author et al., Year, [arXiv:XXXX.XXXXX](url)
**Key findings relevant to [topic]:**
- **Finding with exact numbers.** Context.

**Supports principle:** [which]
**Challenges principle:** [which]
**New principle suggested:** [if any]

Update the Papers Reviewed table and Effect Sizes Reference Table if they exist.

4. Add quotes

Add to the appropriate quotes-{topic}.md under the right theme section:

> "Exact quote from the paper"
> — [Surname Year], context if needed

Create a new theme section if no existing one fits. If the paper spans multiple topics, add quotes to multiple files.

5. Consistency check

After adding, confirm:

• Bibliography key exists in bibliography.md for every [Author Year] referenced in quotes
• Effect Sizes table has rows for all quantitative findings in the review (if table exists)
• Papers Reviewed table count matches actual paper sections (if table exists)

Bootstrapping

If the target directory has no references/ yet, create the scaffold before adding the first paper:

references/
  index.md
  bibliography.md

index.md:

# References

Research backing the principles in this skill.

| File | What it is |
|------|------------|
| `bibliography.md` | All papers — one entry per paper, keyed by `[Author Year]` |
| `quotes-*.md` | Direct quotes organized by theme, each citing a bibliography key |
| `review-*.md` | Detailed per-paper analysis with effect sizes and principle implications |

Quotes and reviews reference bibliography keys.
Add new papers via the `/scribe` skill.

bibliography.md:

# Bibliography

All papers referenced across reviews and quotes files. Keyed by `[Author Year]`, alphabetical.

---

Then create quotes-{topic}.md and review-{topic}.md as needed when adding the first paper. Add the new location to the Known References Directories table in this skill.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Paraphrasing in the quotes file	Use exact language from the paper
Missing effect sizes in the review	Go back to the paper and extract numbers
Citation key not in bibliography	Add the bibliography entry first
Adding quotes from the abstract only	Read the full paper — abstracts miss the important numbers
Creating a separate bibliography per topic	One bibliography.md per references directory — papers span topics
Hardcoding file paths	Use the Known References table to find the right directory