brycewang-stanford Write Paper Draft
Draft an academic manuscript from existing analysis outputs. Follows propose-first — the outline is always shown for approval before writing begins.
Input: $ARGUMENTS — a paper title, research question, or from spec to read from quality_reports/specs/.
Step 1: Orient
Read project context:
CLAUDE.md— project name, author, institution- Most recent file in
quality_reports/specs/— research question and identification strategy - Most recent file in
quality_reports/lit_review_*.md— related literature (if it exists) - Most recent file in
quality_reports/research_ideation_*.md— hypotheses (if it exists)
If no spec exists, ask the user for the core research question before proceeding.
Step 2: Inventory Analysis Outputs
Glob for available outputs:
output/tables/**/*.tex— regression tablesoutput/tables/**/*.html— HTML table versionsoutput/figures/**/*.pdf,output/figures/**/*.png— figuresoutput/**/*.rds,output/**/*.pkl,output/**/*.parquet— saved objects
List what exists. Note any gaps (e.g., "no summary statistics table found").
Step 3: Propose Outline (WAIT FOR APPROVAL)
Draft a paper outline using standard social science structure:
1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Related Literature
4. Data and Institutional Background
5. Empirical Strategy
6. Results
7. Robustness and Extensions
8. Conclusion
References
Present the outline with a one-sentence description of each section's content, linking specific output files to each section (e.g., "Table 2 → Section 6, Results"). Do NOT start writing until the user approves the outline or requests changes.
Step 4: Draft Section by Section
Write in this order (minimizes backtracking):
- Data section — describe the dataset, summary statistics. Reference
output/tables/summary_stats.texif it exists. - Empirical Strategy — describe the identification approach from the research spec.
- Results — one paragraph per main finding. Reference each table/figure with
\input{}or\includegraphics{}— do NOT copy table content inline. - Robustness — brief description of robustness checks, referencing additional output files.
- Literature — synthesize from the lit review document if one exists.
- Introduction — write after results are known. State the question, preview the findings, and map the paper.
- Abstract — write last: one sentence each for motivation, question, method, finding, and implication.
- Conclusion — summarize and state limitations and next steps.
Step 5: Save the Draft
Save to manuscripts/[project-name]-draft.tex (or .qmd if the user prefers Quarto).
Create manuscripts/ directory if it does not exist.
Use \input{} for tables and \includegraphics{} for figures — reference the actual files in output/, do not embed content directly.
Step 6: Run Domain Review
After saving the draft, launch the domain-reviewer agent via Task:
Task prompt: "Review the draft at manuscripts/[filename] for argument structure, identification assumptions, and citation fidelity. Check that the identification strategy is clearly stated, assumptions are explicit, and all cited tables/figures exist in output/." Task agent: domain-reviewer
Wait for the review to complete, then present the findings to the user.
Step 7: Recommend Next Steps
Inform the user:
/review-paper— for a full top-journal-style review of the manuscript/validate-bib— to check all citations are in the bibliography/quality-gate— to verify every claim in the paper is backed by an output file
Key Rules
- Propose outline first. Never start writing without outline approval.
- Reference, don't embed. Tables and figures go in
output/; the paper references them by path. - No fabrication. Only write results that exist in output files. If a number isn't in
output/, flag it rather than guessing. - Report only. The domain-reviewer agent proposes fixes; you apply them only after user approval.