# Radiology Polishing

> Polish finished imaging-research prose to Radiology (RSNA), Nature-portfolio/npj, European Radiology, NEJM, Science, or Lancet-family house style: concise sentences, correct tense, precise statistical reporting, venue-specific p-value/number/reference style, AI/data-sharing declarations, abbreviation control, and overclaim/causal-language detection. Uses The Lancet Digital Health guide as the default Lancet-series proxy. Use when the user wants to tighten, copyedit, or align existing paragraphs to a target journal style, not draft new content. Returns clean copy-paste prose plus a short change log; never alters reported numbers or invents content.

- Skill: `huang-sir1/radiology-polishing` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 6 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add huang-sir1/radiology-polishing`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/huang-sir1/radiology-polishing/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Research & Search
- Author: huang-sir1 (https://skillmd.com/u/huang-sir1)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/huang-sir1/radiology-polishing

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# 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](references/radiology-house-style.md) | Voice, tense, abbreviations, American spelling, terminology, units |
| [references/stat-reporting.md](references/stat-reporting.md) | Formatting p-values, CIs, decimals, percentages, n, ranges, and test names |
| [references/style-guardrails.md](references/style-guardrails.md) | Overclaim/causation detection, hedging calibration, forbidden phrasings |
| [references/venue-voice-and-house-style.md](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

0. **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.
0. **For venue-specific voice**, open `venue-voice-and-house-style.md` and apply the target
   family's wording, abbreviation, p-value, data-availability, and pending-guide checks.
1. **Identify the section** (sets tense and expectations).
2. **Pass 1 — clarity:** split long sentences, cut filler, fix vague verbs, ensure each
   sentence has one idea and the subject is clear.
3. **Pass 2 — statistics & numbers:** enforce estimate + CI, exact p, decimal/unit format,
   named tests (stat-reporting.md). Do **not** change values.
4. **Pass 3 — house style:** American English, abbreviation rules (define at first use; not
   in Key Results), terminology, units.
5. **Pass 4 — guardrails:** flag overclaiming, causal language unsupported by design,
   "first/novel," scope creep; propose calibrated wording (style-guardrails.md).
6. **Return** clean prose + a concise change log; list any flags the author must resolve.

## Output format

1. **`Polished`** — clean, copy-paste-ready prose.
2. **`Change log`** — grouped bullets (clarity / stats / style / claims); brief.
3. **`Venue checks`** — house-style items applied, plus any exact limits marked
   `VERIFY FROM GUIDE`.
4. **`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`.