Paper Writing Skill
Draft, structure, and refine scientific papers across all disciplines.
When to Use
- "Write the methods section for..."
- "Draft an abstract for these results"
- "Help me structure this paper"
- "Format these citations in APA/IEEE"
- "Improve the introduction of my paper"
- Generating LaTeX-formatted content
When NOT to Use
- Literature searching (use literature-search)
- Data analysis (use code-execution + scipy-analysis)
- Non-academic writing
- Grant proposals (different structure)
Paper Structure (IMRaD)
Title
- Concise, informative, contains key terms
- Avoid abbreviations and jargon
- 10-15 words ideal
Abstract (150-300 words)
Background: [1-2 sentences: context and gap]
Objective: [1 sentence: what this study does]
Methods: [2-3 sentences: approach and data]
Results: [2-3 sentences: key findings with numbers]
Conclusions: [1-2 sentences: implications]
Introduction
- Broad context (funnel from general to specific)
- Literature review (key findings, organized thematically)
- Research gap (what's missing or contradictory)
- Study objective and hypothesis
- Brief approach overview
- Significance statement
Methods
- Study design and setting
- Participants/samples (inclusion/exclusion criteria)
- Materials and instruments
- Procedure (reproducible detail)
- Data analysis plan
- Ethical approvals
Results
- Present in order of research questions
- Text + tables + figures (no redundancy)
- Statistical results: test statistic, df, p-value, effect size
- Report exact p-values (not just p < 0.05)
Discussion
- Summary of key findings
- Comparison with prior literature
- Mechanistic explanation
- Strengths of the study
- Limitations and their impact
- Future directions
- Conclusions and implications
Citation Formats
APA 7th Edition
- In-text: (Author, Year) or Author (Year)
- Two authors: (Smith & Jones, 2024)
- 3+ authors: (Smith et al., 2024)
IEEE
- Numbered: [1], [2], [3]
- Reference list: [1] A. Author, "Title," Journal, vol. X, no. Y, pp. Z-Z, Year.
Chicago (Author-Date)
- In-text: (Author Year, page)
- Bibliography: Author. Year. "Title." Journal Vol(Issue): Pages.
Vancouver/NLM
- Numbered: (1), (2), (3)
- Reference: Author(s). Title. Journal. Year;Vol(Issue):Pages.
LaTeX Templates
Article
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,graphicx,natbib}
\title{Title}
\author{Author}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
\begin{abstract}
...
\end{abstract}
\section{Introduction}
...
\bibliographystyle{plainnat}
\bibliography{refs}
\end{document}
Integration with MCP Tools
Citation Workflow
- Search papers via
academic-mcp (19 databases) or semantic-scholar-mcp
- Export BibTeX/APA/MLA citations directly from Semantic Scholar MCP
- Manage references with
zotero-mcp (if Zotero is available)
- Use
arxiv-latex-mcp to read LaTeX source for accurate equation citing
Related Skills
- For detailed LaTeX formatting → use
latex-writing skill
- For citation network analysis → use
citation-analysis skill
- For systematic reviews → use
systematic-review skill
- For meta-analysis → use
meta-analysis skill
Guidelines
- Use active voice where appropriate
- Be precise — avoid vague qualifiers ("somewhat", "relatively")
- Define abbreviations on first use
- Every claim needs a citation or data reference
- Tables and figures must be self-contained with captions
- Follow target journal's style guide
- Report effect sizes, not just p-values
- Include CRediT author contributions, data availability, and COI statements
1---2name: paper-writing3description: Write scientific papers following IMRaD structure with proper citations. Use when: user asks to draft or improve a scientific paper, write specific sections, or format citations. NOT for: non-academic writing or presentation slides.4---5
6# Paper Writing Skill
7
8Draft, structure, and refine scientific papers across all disciplines.
9
10## When to Use
11
12- "Write the methods section for..."
13- "Draft an abstract for these results"
14- "Help me structure this paper"
15- "Format these citations in APA/IEEE"
16- "Improve the introduction of my paper"
17- Generating LaTeX-formatted content
18
19## When NOT to Use
20
21- Literature searching (use literature-search)
22- Data analysis (use code-execution + scipy-analysis)
23- Non-academic writing
24- Grant proposals (different structure)
25
26## Paper Structure (IMRaD)
27
28### Title
29- Concise, informative, contains key terms
30- Avoid abbreviations and jargon
31- 10-15 words ideal
32
33### Abstract (150-300 words)
34```
35Background: [1-2 sentences: context and gap]
36Objective: [1 sentence: what this study does]
37Methods: [2-3 sentences: approach and data]
38Results: [2-3 sentences: key findings with numbers]
39Conclusions: [1-2 sentences: implications]
40```
41
42### Introduction
431. Broad context (funnel from general to specific)
442. Literature review (key findings, organized thematically)
453. Research gap (what's missing or contradictory)
464. Study objective and hypothesis
475. Brief approach overview
486. Significance statement
49
50### Methods
51- Study design and setting
52- Participants/samples (inclusion/exclusion criteria)
53- Materials and instruments
54- Procedure (reproducible detail)
55- Data analysis plan
56- Ethical approvals
57
58### Results
59- Present in order of research questions
60- Text + tables + figures (no redundancy)
61- Statistical results: test statistic, df, p-value, effect size
62- Report exact p-values (not just p < 0.05)
63
64### Discussion
651. Summary of key findings
662. Comparison with prior literature
673. Mechanistic explanation
684. Strengths of the study
695. Limitations and their impact
706. Future directions
717. Conclusions and implications
72
73## Citation Formats
74
75### APA 7th Edition
76- In-text: (Author, Year) or Author (Year)
77- Two authors: (Smith & Jones, 2024)
78- 3+ authors: (Smith et al., 2024)
79
80### IEEE
81- Numbered: [1], [2], [3]
82- Reference list: [1] A. Author, "Title," Journal, vol. X, no. Y, pp. Z-Z, Year.
83
84### Chicago (Author-Date)
85- In-text: (Author Year, page)
86- Bibliography: Author. Year. "Title." Journal Vol(Issue): Pages.
87
88### Vancouver/NLM
89- Numbered: (1), (2), (3)
90- Reference: Author(s). Title. Journal. Year;Vol(Issue):Pages.
91
92## LaTeX Templates
93
94### Article
95```latex
96\documentclass[12pt]{article}
97\usepackage{amsmath,graphicx,natbib}
98\title{Title}
99\author{Author}
100\begin{document}
101\maketitle
102\begin{abstract}
103...
104\end{abstract}
105\section{Introduction}
106...
107\bibliographystyle{plainnat}
108\bibliography{refs}
109\end{document}
110```
111
112## Integration with MCP Tools
113
114**Citation Workflow**
1151. Search papers via `academic-mcp` (19 databases) or `semantic-scholar-mcp`
1162. Export BibTeX/APA/MLA citations directly from Semantic Scholar MCP
1173. Manage references with `zotero-mcp` (if Zotero is available)
1184. Use `arxiv-latex-mcp` to read LaTeX source for accurate equation citing
119
120**Related Skills**
121- For detailed LaTeX formatting → use `latex-writing` skill
122- For citation network analysis → use `citation-analysis` skill
123- For systematic reviews → use `systematic-review` skill
124- For meta-analysis → use `meta-analysis` skill
125
126## Guidelines
127
1281. Use active voice where appropriate
1292. Be precise — avoid vague qualifiers ("somewhat", "relatively")
1303. Define abbreviations on first use
1314. Every claim needs a citation or data reference
1325. Tables and figures must be self-contained with captions
1336. Follow target journal's style guide
1347. Report effect sizes, not just p-values
1358. Include CRediT author contributions, data availability, and COI statements
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