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-writing
3description: "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."
4metadata: { "openclaw": { "emoji": "📝" } }
5---
6
7# Paper Writing Skill
8
9Draft, structure, and refine scientific papers across all disciplines.
10
11## When to Use
12
13- "Write the methods section for..."
14- "Draft an abstract for these results"
15- "Help me structure this paper"
16- "Format these citations in APA/IEEE"
17- "Improve the introduction of my paper"
18- Generating LaTeX-formatted content
19
20## When NOT to Use
21
22- Literature searching (use literature-search)
23- Data analysis (use code-execution + scipy-analysis)
24- Non-academic writing
25- Grant proposals (different structure)
26
27## Paper Structure (IMRaD)
28
29### Title
30- Concise, informative, contains key terms
31- Avoid abbreviations and jargon
32- 10-15 words ideal
33
34### Abstract (150-300 words)
35```
36Background: [1-2 sentences: context and gap]
37Objective: [1 sentence: what this study does]
38Methods: [2-3 sentences: approach and data]
39Results: [2-3 sentences: key findings with numbers]
40Conclusions: [1-2 sentences: implications]
41```
42
43### Introduction
441. Broad context (funnel from general to specific)
452. Literature review (key findings, organized thematically)
463. Research gap (what's missing or contradictory)
474. Study objective and hypothesis
485. Brief approach overview
496. Significance statement
50
51### Methods
52- Study design and setting
53- Participants/samples (inclusion/exclusion criteria)
54- Materials and instruments
55- Procedure (reproducible detail)
56- Data analysis plan
57- Ethical approvals
58
59### Results
60- Present in order of research questions
61- Text + tables + figures (no redundancy)
62- Statistical results: test statistic, df, p-value, effect size
63- Report exact p-values (not just p < 0.05)
64
65### Discussion
661. Summary of key findings
672. Comparison with prior literature
683. Mechanistic explanation
694. Strengths of the study
705. Limitations and their impact
716. Future directions
727. Conclusions and implications
73
74## Citation Formats
75
76### APA 7th Edition
77- In-text: (Author, Year) or Author (Year)
78- Two authors: (Smith & Jones, 2024)
79- 3+ authors: (Smith et al., 2024)
80
81### IEEE
82- Numbered: [1], [2], [3]
83- Reference list: [1] A. Author, "Title," Journal, vol. X, no. Y, pp. Z-Z, Year.
84
85### Chicago (Author-Date)
86- In-text: (Author Year, page)
87- Bibliography: Author. Year. "Title." Journal Vol(Issue): Pages.
88
89### Vancouver/NLM
90- Numbered: (1), (2), (3)
91- Reference: Author(s). Title. Journal. Year;Vol(Issue):Pages.
92
93## LaTeX Templates
94
95### Article
96```latex
97\documentclass[12pt]{article}
98\usepackage{amsmath,graphicx,natbib}
99\title{Title}
100\author{Author}
101\begin{document}
102\maketitle
103\begin{abstract}
104...
105\end{abstract}
106\section{Introduction}
107...
108\bibliographystyle{plainnat}
109\bibliography{refs}
110\end{document}
111```
112
113## Integration with MCP Tools
114
115**Citation Workflow**
1161. Search papers via `academic-mcp` (19 databases) or `semantic-scholar-mcp`
1172. Export BibTeX/APA/MLA citations directly from Semantic Scholar MCP
1183. Manage references with `zotero-mcp` (if Zotero is available)
1194. Use `arxiv-latex-mcp` to read LaTeX source for accurate equation citing
120
121**Related Skills**
122- For detailed LaTeX formatting → use `latex-writing` skill
123- For citation network analysis → use `citation-analysis` skill
124- For systematic reviews → use `systematic-review` skill
125- For meta-analysis → use `meta-analysis` skill
126
127## Guidelines
128
1291. Use active voice where appropriate
1302. Be precise — avoid vague qualifiers ("somewhat", "relatively")
1313. Define abbreviations on first use
1324. Every claim needs a citation or data reference
1335. Tables and figures must be self-contained with captions
1346. Follow target journal's style guide
1357. Report effect sizes, not just p-values
1368. Include CRediT author contributions, data availability, and COI statements
beita6969 