paper-writing

name	paper-writing
description	Guides writing academic papers section by section using an 11-step workflow with LaTeX templates and counterintuitive writing tactics. Covers Abstract, Introduction, Method, Experiments, Related Work, Conclusion, and Supplementary. Use when: user asks to write or draft a paper section, needs LaTeX templates, wants to improve academic writing quality, optimize novelty framing, or mentions 'write introduction', 'draft method', 'paper writing'. Do NOT use for pre-submission review (use paper-review), experiment execution (use experiment-design/experiment-track/result-analysis), or paper planning/story design (use paper-planning).
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep
metadata	{"author":"EvoScientist","version":"1.0.0","tags":["core","research","writing","academic-writing","latex"],"source":"EvoScientist/EvoSkills","license":"Apache-2.0"}

Vendored from EvoScientist/EvoSkills (Apache-2.0), adapted for ReadPaperMachine（工具名/交叉引用/Guard/Verify 本地化）。License: references/licenses/EvoSkills-Apache-2.0.txt

Paper Writing

Purpose

按 11 步工作流系统性地撰写学术论文各个 section（Abstract、Introduction、Method、Experiments、Related Work、Conclusion、Supplementary），配套 LaTeX 模板与经过实践检验的写作原则。输入是 paper-planning 产出的 story/experiment plan 等 artifact，以及 Experiments/ 中记录的实验结果；输出是可直接编译的 LaTeX 论文草稿，供 paper-review 做 self-review。

When to Use This Skill

• User asks to write or draft a paper or paper section
• User needs LaTeX templates for Abstract, Introduction, Method, Experiments, etc.
• User wants to improve academic writing quality
• User mentions "paper writing", "write introduction", "draft method section", etc.

Artifact Sources

If you used upstream vault skills, pull these artifacts before writing:

Source Skill	Artifact	Used In
paper-planning	Story summary (task → challenge → insight → contribution → advantage)	Steps 1-2 (Introduction writing plan)
paper-planning	Module Motivation Mapping table	Step 3 (Method subsections)
paper-planning	Experiment plan (comparisons + ablations + demos)	Step 5 (Experiments section)
paper-planning	Pipeline figure sketch	Steps 1, 6 (Method overview figure)
paper-planning	Claim-to-experiment mapping	Steps 2, 5 (Abstract, Introduction, Experiments)
paper-planning	Fallback narrative (if planned)	Steps 7-8 (Introduction / Conclusion pivot)
experiment-track / result-analysis	Experiment results, ablation tables, and failure analysis recorded in Experiments/	Step 5 (write experiments), Step 9 (limitations)
experiment-design	Implementation tricks and design rationale captured during experiment planning	Step 3 (Method section)

Steps

The 11-step writing process. Follow these steps in order — each step builds on the previous one.

1. Draw a pipeline figure sketch — Sketch the method's pipeline figure to clarify the overall approach. The figure highlights novelty, not just explanation.
2. Design the story and plan experiments — Outline the paper's story (core contribution, module motivations). List comparison experiments and ablation studies. Draft an Introduction writing plan.
3. Write Method — Organize the Method writing plan, then draft Method. Run experiments in parallel.
4. Revise Introduction and Method — Iterate on both sections while experiments continue.
5. Write Experiments — Once experiments are mostly done, organize the Experiments writing plan, then draft.
6. Polish figures — Finalize the pipeline figure. Create the teaser figure.
7. Write Related Work — List related papers, group into topics, write paragraphs. Prefer drafting this section with the vault's related-work skill so citations trace to references.bib.
8. Review the paper — Self-review Introduction, Method, and Experiments. Use the paper-review skill.
9. Write Abstract — Organize the Abstract writing plan, then draft.
10. Choose the title — List important keywords, then compose an informative title.
11. Iterate — Repeatedly review and revise the entire paper.

Counterintuitive Writing Rules

Apply these rules when aiming for higher acceptance probability:

1. Underclaim in prose, overdeliver in evidence: Reduce adjective intensity in Abstract/Introduction; let tables and figures carry the strength.
2. State one meaningful limitation early: A controlled limitation statement increases credibility and lowers reviewer suspicion.
3. Lead with mechanism, not only metric: Explain why the method works before listing numbers; reviewers trust causal logic more than isolated gains.
4. Prefer one decisive figure over many average figures: Build one "cannot-ignore" figure that validates the central claim under hard conditions.
5. Remove weak but flashy claims: Any claim without direct evidence should be deleted, even if it sounds impressive.
6. Declare scope boundaries explicitly: One sentence in Introduction and Conclusion stating what your method targets reduces reviewer fear of hidden assumptions.
7. Show one failure case: Include one representative failure with diagnosis — it signals competence, not weakness.

See references/counterintuitive-writing.md for all 7 tactics with before/after examples.

Section Quick Reference

Abstract

Answer these questions before drafting:

1. What technical problem do we solve, and why is there no well-established solution?
2. What is our technical contribution?
3. Why does our method fundamentally work?
4. What is our technical advantage / new insight?

Three template versions: challenge-first, insight-bridge, multi-contribution. See references/abstract-templates.md

Introduction

Thinking process (reverse then forward):

• Reverse: (1) What is the technical problem? (2) What are our contributions? (3) Benefits and new insights? (4) How to lead into the challenge?
• Forward: (1) Task → (2) Previous methods → challenge → (3) Our contributions → (4) Technical advantages and insights

Four ways to introduce the task, three ways to present challenges, four ways to describe the pipeline. See references/introduction-templates.md

Anti-pattern: Never write "here is a naive solution, then our improvement" — this makes the work appear incremental.

Method

Every pipeline module needs three elements:

1. Module design — Data structure, network design, forward process (given X input, step 1..., step 2..., output Y)
2. Motivation — Why this module exists (problem-driven: "A remaining challenge is...")
3. Technical advantages — Why this module works well

Start with an Overview paragraph (setting + core contribution + section roadmap), then one subsection per module. See references/method-templates.md

Experiments

Three key questions to answer:

1. How to prove our method is better → comparison experiments
2. How to prove our modules are effective → ablation studies
3. How to showcase the method's upper limit → demos on challenging data

Ablation studies need: one big table (core contributions) + several small tables (design choices, hyperparameters). See references/experiments-guide.md

Related Work

Three-step process:

1. List papers closely related to our method (most important — missing key references can cause rejection)
2. Determine topics based on research direction and algorithm techniques
3. Organize writing plan based on listed papers

该节优先用本 vault 的 related-work skill 起草——它能确保每个 \cite 都可溯源到 references.bib 中的真实 cite_key。本节及 references/related-work-guide.md 作为写作质量的参考标准（三步流程、常见反模式），而非替代 related-work skill 的执行。

Conclusion

• Must include Limitation section (reviewers frequently cite "no limitation" as a weakness)
• Limitation = task goal / setting limitations (like future work), NOT technical defects
• Rule: "If our method does not fall below current SOTA metrics, it is not a technical defect"

Supplementary Material

For page-limited venues, decide what goes in main paper vs. supplementary:

• Core evidence for claims must stay in the main paper
• Implementation details, extra ablations, full visual galleries go in supplementary
• Reference supplementary at the point of need, not as a blanket statement

See references/supplementary-guide.md

Core Writing Principles

1. One message per paragraph — Each paragraph conveys exactly one point
2. Topic sentence first — The first sentence tells readers what this paragraph is about
3. Plan before writing — Outline the writing plan, refine each part, then write English sentences
4. Flow between sentences — Ensure logical continuity between consecutive sentences
5. Terminology consistency — Use the same term throughout; do not alternate names
6. Reverse-outlining — After writing, extract the outline from paragraphs; check if the flow is smooth
7. Iterate relentlessly — Polish repeatedly, asking whether readers can follow

See references/writing-principles.md

Key Insight

Visual polish directly influences review outcomes. See the paper-planning skill's figure-design.md for the full visual quality guide.

Paper Title Guidelines

• The title attracts specific reviewers — choose keywords carefully
• Before writing the title, list important keywords, then compose
• Title must be informative: include the technique, task, or problem solved
• Avoid generic titles; specific phrases are more memorable

LaTeX Assets

• assets/paper-skeleton.tex — Annotated LaTeX skeleton with section structure
• assets/table-style.tex — Booktabs table macros with color highlighting

Guard

• 所有引用一律走 vault 的 citation 链——cite_key 必须来自 references.bib，禁止编造不存在的文献或引用信息
• Related Work 一节的起草交给本 vault 的 related-work skill 完成；本 skill 的 related-work-guide.md 仅作为写作质量参考
• 不修改用户论文中已有的作者贡献陈述（author contribution statement）
• 不为了"读起来更强"而在 Abstract/Introduction 中加入没有实验支撑的 claim；underclaim in prose, overdeliver in evidence
• Limitation 章节必须诚实反映 scope 边界，不得用它掩盖真实的技术缺陷或省略已知失败案例

Verify

• 全文无残留 \todo{} 标记
• 每条 claim（尤其 Abstract/Introduction）都锚定到具体的图/表/实验证据
• LaTeX 可编译（无语法错误、无未闭合环境、引用/标签无悬空）
• Related Work 中引用的 cite_key 均可在 references.bib 中找到
• Method 每个模块都包含 design / motivation / advantage 三要素

Handoff to Review

Before invoking paper-review, verify this checklist:

• All sections (Abstract, Introduction, Method, Experiments, Related Work, Conclusion) drafted
• Every claim in Abstract/Introduction anchored to a table or figure
• Limitation section present in Conclusion
• Pipeline figure and teaser figure finalized
• All \todo{} markers resolved or removed

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Section Navigation

Section	Reference File	When to Load
Abstract	abstract-templates.md	Step 9: Writing abstract
Introduction	introduction-templates.md	Step 2: Story design
Method	method-templates.md	Step 3: Writing method
Experiments	experiments-guide.md	Step 5: Writing experiments
Related Work	related-work-guide.md	Step 7: Writing related work
Writing Principles	writing-principles.md	Any time during writing
Supplementary	supplementary-guide.md	Deciding main vs. supplementary content
Counterintuitive strategy	counterintuitive-writing.md	Improving reviewer trust and novelty perception
Writing Practice	writing-practice.md	Building writing ability through deliberate practice