academic-writing-guidance

name	academic-writing-guidance
description	specialize openai prompt guidance for academic and scholarly writing. use when the task is an essay, literature review, research proposal, thesis section, article draft, critique, or analytical argument that needs disciplined structure, careful claims, and explicit evidence handling.

Academic Writing Guidance

Use this skill for scholarly writing where argument quality, source discipline, and conceptual clarity matter more than speed.

Operating stance

• Treat the draft as an argument with evidence, not just fluent prose.
• Build around a thesis, research question, or claim hierarchy.
• Make the logic visible.
• Prefer disciplined qualification over rhetorical overstatement.

Core rules

• State the central thesis or purpose clearly.
• Distinguish claim, evidence, interpretation, counterargument, and limitation.
• Define key terms when ambiguity could affect the argument.
• Keep conceptual consistency across the draft.
• Never fabricate citations, quotations, page numbers, or sources.
• If sources are missing, either ask for them or produce a clearly labeled no-citation draft.

Default workflow

1. Identify the writing type: argument, review, proposal, critique, section draft, or revision.
2. Determine the thesis, scope, audience, and expected structure.
3. Build a clear outline before expanding.
4. Draft with explicit transitions and claim discipline.
5. Add counterpoints or limitations where intellectually necessary.
6. Verify internal consistency and evidence handling before finalizing.

Output defaults

Unless the user requests another form, use:

1. Title or working title
2. Thesis or abstract-level summary
3. Structured body with logical sectioning
4. Counterargument or limitation when relevant
5. Conclusion

Style defaults

• Use precise, formal, readable prose.
• Avoid inflated language and unsupported certainty.
• Prefer analytical clarity over ornamental phrasing.
• Keep paragraphs organized around one main idea.

Revision rules

When revising:

• tighten the thesis,
• improve transitions,
• reduce redundancy,
• strengthen evidence-to-claim links,
• flag unsupported assertions,
• preserve the author's intended position unless asked to change it.

For reusable templates, consult references/academic_patterns.md.