Research Paper Writer

---
name: research-paper-writer
description: Write academic papers with AI assistance — outlining, drafting sections, tightening arguments, managing citations, and responding to reviewers. Use when turning research into a publishable manuscript.
category: ai-research
---

# Research Paper Writer

Writing a paper is engineering an argument: the claim, the evidence, and the story that connects 
them. AI assistance helps at every stage — but the researcher owns the argument, the evidence, 
and the honesty.

## Overview

Work section by section, not front to back. Start with the figures and results — the paper's 
skeleton. Write the methods from your lab notes while they're fresh. Draft the introduction last, 
when you know what story the results actually tell. Use AI for outlining, drafting, tightening 
prose, and checking consistency — never for inventing results, citations, or related work you 
haven't read.

## When to use

- Turning completed research into a conference or journal manuscript.
- Structuring a messy set of results into a coherent narrative.
- Revising: tightening prose, fixing flow, responding to reviewers.
- Writing related work honestly from papers you've actually read.

## Core concepts

- **Argument first**: one central claim per paper, supported by 2–4 sub-claims each tied to 
evidence. If you can't state the claim in one sentence, you're not ready to write.
- **Results-driven structure**: figures and tables first; the text explains what the reader sees. 
Write captions that stand alone.
- **Methods reproducibility**: enough detail for an expert to replicate — parameters, data 
versions, code links. Written from notes, not memory.
- **Honest related work**: cite what you read, characterize it fairly, position your contribution 
precisely. No strawmen, no citation padding.
- **Reviewer response**: address every comment — agree and change, or disagree with evidence. 
Never ignore; never be dismissive.
- **Integrity boundaries**: AI drafts prose; humans verify every claim, number, and citation. 
Fabricated references are career-ending — check each one.

## Practical workflow

1. State the one-sentence claim and list the evidence for each sub-claim. Cut results that don't 
serve the claim (save them for the next paper).
2. Build figures and tables; write standalone captions.
3. Outline section by section: the point of each paragraph in one line. Get feedback on the outline 
before drafting.
4. Draft methods from lab notes; results describing the figures; discussion interpreting honestly 
— including what didn't work.
5. Write the introduction last: the problem, why it matters, what you did, what you found — in 
that order.
6. Revise in passes: argument → structure → clarity → precision → proofread. Use AI for 
tightening, then verify every edit preserved meaning.

```text
Revision passes (one at a time):
1. ARGUMENT:  does every section serve the central claim?
2. STRUCTURE: does the order build the case logically?
3. CLARITY:   would a non-specialist follow the story?
4. PRECISION: are claims hedged correctly, numbers exact?
5. PROOFREAD: grammar, formatting, reference integrity
```

## Common pitfalls

- **Writing before the argument is clear**: drafting to discover what you think. Outline first; the 
outline is where thinking happens.
- **AI-invented citations**: models fabricate plausible references. Verify every citation exists 
and says what you claim.
- **Burying limitations**: hiding weaknesses reviewers will find anyway. State them; frame what 
they imply for future work.
- **Introduction first**: writing the intro before results are final produces fiction. Results 
first, intro last.
- **Ignoring the rebuttal**: defensive or dismissive reviewer responses. Engage each point 
substantively — reviewers are doing you a favor.
- **Salami slicing**: splitting one contribution across papers. One paper, one clear contribution, 
fully evidenced.