manuscript-writing

Manuscript Writing

Overview

Guide the writing of a research manuscript with the same discipline Eureka applies to everything else: gates before each section, traceability for every claim, fresh-eyes review after each section, and a hard prohibition on writing about results that don't exist yet.

Core principle: A manuscript is a report of work done, not a plan for work to do. Every section has a prerequisite, every claim has a source, and every figure was generated by a script.

The Iron Law

NO MANUSCRIPT CLAIM WITHOUT A TRACEABLE SOURCE.
NO SECTION WITHOUT ITS PREREQUISITE DATA.

Writing a Results section before results exist is fabrication. Writing a Discussion before Results are finalized is fiction. The prerequisites are not negotiable.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• The user says "let's write the paper", "draft the methods section", "start the manuscript", "write up the results"
• At least one section's prerequisites are met (typically: design doc exists → Introduction can be written)
• Research-review has passed for the relevant experiment phase

Do NOT use when:

• The user is still designing or running experiments (use the appropriate earlier skill)
• The user wants to write a research journal entry (use eureka:research-journal)
• The user wants to audit an already-written manuscript (use eureka:claims-audit)

Checklist

You MUST create a task for each of these and complete them in order:

1. Determine manuscript structure — ask the user: what sections does this paper have? What format (LaTeX, Markdown)? What target journal?
2. Verify prerequisites per section — check which sections can be written now (see Prerequisites Gate below)
3. Lock the narrative arc (Discovery-Adjusted Framing) — before writing any section, run the checkpoint (Per-Section Workflow Step 3) to confirm or revise the altitude and story arc committed at brainstorming, now that results exist. Fires once per manuscript.
4. Write sections in prerequisite order — start with the earliest-ready section
5. Per section: write → inline self-check → dispatch section-reviewer → fix → approve
6. Write Abstract last — only after all other sections pass review
7. Final pass — read the complete manuscript for cross-section flow and consistency
8. Transition — invoke eureka:claims-audit for the full manuscript audit