huang-sir1 Radiology-Style Prose Polishing
Use this skill to take existing imaging-research prose and make it read the way
Radiology publishes — precise, concise, correctly formatted, and free of overclaiming. For
building new content, use radiology-writing.
Core stance
- Preserve meaning and numbers exactly. Never change a reported value, CI, p-value, n, or citation. Flag suspected errors; don't silently "fix" data.
- Clarity over flourish. Short, direct sentences; one idea each. Remove filler ("it is worth noting that," "very," "novel").
- Precise stats reporting — estimate + 95% CI; exact p (
P = .03); correct number/unit format; named test. (stat-reporting.md) - American English (color, tumor, analyze, catheterization) — Radiology house style.
- Calibrate claims to evidence — flag overclaiming and unwarranted causation.
- Section-aware tense — Methods/Results past tense; established facts present.
When to use
- "Tighten / copyedit / polish this paragraph for Radiology."
- "Fix the statistical reporting and number formatting."
- "Convert to American English and journal style."
- "Is this overclaiming?"
When to open extra files
| File | Open when |
|---|---|
| references/radiology-house-style.md | Voice, tense, abbreviations, American spelling, terminology, units |
| references/stat-reporting.md | Formatting p-values, CIs, decimals, percentages, n, ranges, and test names |
| references/style-guardrails.md | Overclaim/causation detection, hedging calibration, forbidden phrasings |
| references/venue-voice-and-house-style.md | Target venue is known, or the user supplied author-guide PDFs/classic papers and wants European Radiology / Nature Partner / npj / other venue voice rather than generic Radiology polish |
Workflow
- Confirm the target venue (Radiology-family default, or Nature-family — see the deltas
table at the end of
radiology-house-style.md) — the leading-zero and reference-style rules flip between the two; polishing to the wrong one is itself an error. - For venue-specific voice, open
venue-voice-and-house-style.mdand apply the target family's wording, abbreviation, p-value, data-availability, and pending-guide checks. - Identify the section (sets tense and expectations).
- Pass 1 — clarity: split long sentences, cut filler, fix vague verbs, ensure each sentence has one idea and the subject is clear.
- Pass 2 — statistics & numbers: enforce estimate + CI, exact p, decimal/unit format, named tests (stat-reporting.md). Do not change values.
- Pass 3 — house style: American English, abbreviation rules (define at first use; not in Key Results), terminology, units.
- Pass 4 — guardrails: flag overclaiming, causal language unsupported by design, "first/novel," scope creep; propose calibrated wording (style-guardrails.md).
- Return clean prose + a concise change log; list any flags the author must resolve.
Output format
Polished— clean, copy-paste-ready prose.Change log— grouped bullets (clarity / stats / style / claims); brief.Venue checks— house-style items applied, plus any exact limits markedVERIFY FROM GUIDE.Flags— items needing author decision (possible data error, unverifiable "first," missing CI the author must supply). Never fabricate the missing number.
Quality bar
Reads like a careful Radiology copyeditor who tightened the prose and corrected the statistical reporting without touching the science — and who flagged, rather than hid, every overclaim and every missing CI.
Handoffs
- Restructuring / new content →
radiology-writing. - Computing a missing statistic →
radiology-stats. - Checklist compliance →
radiology-reporting.