Paper Style Calibration

Paper Style Calibration

Overview

Use this skill to calibrate the writing style of a target manuscript based on external style samples.

What it does:

1. Profile: Extract complete style profile from reference paper/source
2. Diagnosis: Analyze target paper against style profile, identify gaps
3. Restructure: Create a copy of target paper with style adjustments applied

Core guarantee: Original files are never modified. All outputs go to ./paper-style/runs/<run-id>/.

When to Use

• Want to make current paper match style of reference paper
• Want to apply style patterns from previous work to new paper
• Want structured diagnosis of writing style issues

When NOT to Use

• Need formal academic polishing → use paper-refine-special-en first
• Need light humanization after calibration → use paper-polish-human after
• Only want to check style without restructuring → this skill always restructures

Input

Single Source (Standard)

/paper-style-calibration source=<path> target=<path>

Parameters:

• source: Reference paper/style source (PDF/TeX/Markdown/Word)
• target: Target paper to calibrate (TeX/Markdown recommended)

Multiple Sources (Multi-source Aggregation)

/paper-style-calibration sources=<path1,path2,path3> target=<path>

Parameters:

• sources: Comma-separated list of reference papers (2-5 papers recommended)
• target: Target paper to calibrate

Multi-source mode:

• Each source independently analyzed
• Patterns aggregated across sources
• Common patterns kept (high confidence)
• Source-specific patterns filtered out
• Conflicts marked as no_consensus

Examples:

# Single source
/paper-style-calibration source=reference.tex target=my.tex

# Multiple sources (comma-separated)
/paper-style-calibration sources=paper1.tex,paper2.tex,paper3.tex target=my.tex

# Multiple sources with directory
/paper-style-calibration sources=paper1.tex,papers/,paper2.md target=my.tex

Note: source= and sources= are mutually exclusive. Use one or the other.

Format auto-detection (no need to specify):

• .tex → TeX
• .md → Markdown
• .docx/.doc → Word
• .pdf → PDF (last resort, may lose formatting)

System will ask if format cannot be determined.

Execution Pipeline

Fixed three-stage execution:

Stage 1: Profile ──► Stage 2: Diagnosis ──► Stage 3: Restructure

Stage 1: Profile

Extract complete style profile from source(s):

Single source:

• Extract profile from one reference paper

Multiple sources:

• Extract profile from each source independently
• Aggregate patterns across sources
• Identify consensus patterns (common across sources)
• Filter out source-specific patterns
• Mark conflicts as no_consensus

Extracted elements:

• Introduction rhetorical architecture (Move 1-3)
• Research status synthesis patterns
• Gap/problem framing patterns
• Contribution-response alignment
• Voice, sentence rhythm, transitions (secondary)

Output (single source): profile/style_profile.md, profile/style_metrics.json

Output (multi-source): profile/style_profile.md, profile/aggregation_report.md

Stage 2: Diagnosis

Analyze target paper against style profile:

• Map target's current structure
• Identify gaps and deviations
• Generate prioritized modification plan

Output: diagnosis/target_diagnosis.md, diagnosis/gap_analysis.json

Stage 3: Restructure

Create styled copy of target paper:

• Copy target to restructured/<stem>.style-restructured<ext>
• Apply style adjustments to copy only
• Original file untouched

Output: restructured/<target>.style-restructured.*

Output Directory Structure

All outputs go to current working directory:

./paper-style/
└── runs/
    └── 20260608-153012-my_paper/          # <timestamp>-<target_slug>
        ├── manifest.json                   # Run metadata & status
        ├── profile/                        # Stage 1: Style profile
        │   ├── style_profile.md
        │   └── style_metrics.json
        ├── diagnosis/                      # Stage 2: Diagnosis
        │   ├── target_diagnosis.md
        │   └── gap_analysis.json
        └── restructured/                   # Stage 3: Styled copy
            └── my_paper.style-restructured.tex

Naming:

• target_slug: From target file stem, safe characters only
• Conflicts: Append -02, -03 if same second
• Runs are immutable, old runs preserved

Hard Constraints

1. Never modify original files

   • Target paper copied before any modification
   • Original remains unchanged

2. Style-only changes

   • Only modify voice, structure, rhythm, transitions
   • Preserve all factual content: claims, numbers, citations, equations

3. No content migration

   • Do not copy methods, arguments, or specific content from source(s)
   • Extract only abstract, de-identified patterns
   • For multi-source: aggregate only common patterns, filter source-specific content

4. Target-grounded

   • Every change must use facts already in target paper
   • Do not introduce new claims, examples, or evidence

5. Multi-source safety

   • Each source independently analyzed
   • Source-specific patterns filtered out
   • Only consensus patterns (supported by 2+ sources) recommended
   • Conflicts marked as no_consensus, not averaged

Relationship with Other Skills

Recommended pipeline:

paper-refine-special-en → paper-style-calibration → paper-polish-human (optional)

What This Skill Does NOT Do

• Does NOT provide depth parameter (always full analysis)
• Does NOT provide mode parameter (always full pipeline)
• Does NOT modify original files (creates copies)
• Does NOT generate output to psmfiles/ (uses paper-style/)
• Does NOT require source_kind (auto-detects format)
• Does NOT support more than 5 sources (limit: 2-5 for quality)
• Does NOT average conflicting styles (marks as no_consensus)

Error Handling

If any stage fails:

• Previous stages' outputs preserved
• manifest.json updated with failed or partial status
• Error details recorded in manifest.json
• Original files never touched

Example Usage

# Single source
/paper-style-calibration source=reference.tex target=my_paper.tex

# Multiple sources (comma-separated)
/paper-style-calibration sources=paper1.tex,paper2.tex,paper3.tex target=my_paper.tex

# Output will be at:
# ./paper-style/runs/20260608-153012-my_paper/