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name: "Writing & Publication Skill" description: "Patterns for technical writing, academic publication, content strategy, and Word-compatible research formatting."

Writing & Publication Skill

Patterns for technical writing, academic publication, and content strategy.

Writing Formats

Format	Audience	Length	Review
Academic Paper	Researchers	4-10K words	Peer (2-6 mo)
Workshop Paper	Researchers	2-4K words	Light (1-2 mo)
Trade Publication	Practitioners	1-2K words	Editorial (2-4 wk)
Blog Post	Developers	500-1.5K words	Self
Documentation	Users	Variable	Internal

Academic Paper Structure

1. Abstract — Problem, approach, results, implications (150-300 words)
2. Introduction — Motivation, problem, contributions, outline
3. Related Work — Position within existing research
4. Methodology — How you did it (reproducible)
5. Implementation — Technical details (if applicable)
6. Evaluation — Evidence for claims
7. Discussion — Interpretation, limitations
8. Conclusion — Summary, future work
9. References — Venue-specific format

Writing Principles

• Precision over flair
• Evidence for claims (data or citations)
• Acknowledge limitations
• Active voice preferred
• Define terms on first use
• Break sentences at 25-30 words

Pitfalls to Avoid

Bad	Fix
"might possibly perhaps"	"may"
"revolutionary"	"novel approach"
"was performed"	"we performed"
Jargon without definition	Define on first use
Buried contributions	State explicitly in intro

Structuring Arguments

CARS Model (Introductions):

1. Establish territory (topic importance)
2. Establish niche (gap in knowledge)
3. Occupy niche (your contribution)

Heilmeier Catechism (Motivation):

• What are you trying to do?
• How is it done today? Limits?
• What's new in your approach?
• Who cares? What difference?
• What are the risks?

Audience Adaptation

Audience	Adjust
Researchers	Add theoretical framing, citations
Practitioners	Add code examples
Executives	Add business value
General tech	Remove jargon

Publication Strategy

Venue sequencing:

1. Trade publication → immediate visibility
2. arXiv pre-print → establish priority
3. Workshop paper → academic credibility
4. Journal/conference → peer-reviewed validation

First-time author:

• Start with lower-barrier venues
• Collaborate with established authors
• Target workshops first
• Conduct user studies (empirical data strengthens)

Responding to Reviews

Feedback	Response
"Missing related work"	Add citations, explain positioning
"Claims not supported"	Add evidence or soften claims
"Unclear methodology"	Expand description
"Limited evaluation"	Add studies or acknowledge

Response letter: Thank → Summarize changes → Address each point → Highlight extras

Pre-Submission Checklist

• Abstract stands alone
• Contributions stated in intro
• Claims supported by evidence
• Limitations acknowledged
• References complete
• Figures/tables readable
• Page limit respected
• Code available (if applicable)

Word-Compatible Research Writing Style

Conventions for research documents authored in Markdown and converted to Word via Pandoc or md-to-word.

Punctuation Rules

Instead of	Use	When
Em-dash (—)	Colon (:)	Elaboration or definition: "The framework provides: integration across domains"
Em-dash (—)	Comma (,)	Parenthetical aside: "The model, originally designed for therapy, applies broadly"
Em-dash (—)	Semicolon (;)	Related independent clauses: "The theory is sound; the implementation follows"
Em-dash (—)	Period (.)	Full sentence break: "This completes Phase 1. The next phase begins"
Double-hyphen (--)	Same as above	Never use -- as a substitute; apply proper punctuation directly

Definition List Formatting

Use bold term followed by colon, no dash separators:

<!-- Bad -->
**Term** — description
**Term** -- description

<!-- Good -->
**Term**: description

Formal Tone

Avoid	Use
Contractions (isn't, it's, don't)	Full forms (is not, it is, do not)
Em-dashes for drama	Colons for precision
First person plural ("we find")	Active voice with subject ("the analysis reveals")

Markdown Elements to Avoid for Word

Element	Problem	Alternative
--- horizontal rules	Renders as full-width line in Word	Use headings or blank lines for separation
\n in Mermaid labels	Not rendered; breaks labels	Use <br/> for line breaks
Nested blockquotes	Inconsistent Word rendering	Use single-level blockquotes only
HTML tags in body text	May not convert	Use pure Markdown

APA 7 Conventions for Markdown

• In-text citations: parenthetical (Author, Year) or narrative Author (Year)
• References: alphabetical by last name, hanging indent, sentence-case titles
• Title page: title, authors, date, abstract paragraph (no page numbers in Markdown)
• Headings: H1 for title, H2 for major sections, H3 for subsections (maps to APA levels)
• Tables: include descriptive captions above, notes below
• Figures: Mermaid diagrams count as figures; caption with "Figure N." prefix

Mermaid Diagram Conventions for Research

• Use %%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': {...}}}%% for consistent styling
• Line breaks: <br/> only; never \n
• Keep node text concise; move detail to surrounding prose
• GitHub Pastel v2 palette for professional appearance
• Export as PNG before Word conversion if diagram fidelity is critical

Tools

Tool	Purpose
Overleaf	LaTeX collaboration
Grammarly	Grammar/style
Zotero	References
Connected Papers	Literature discovery
Pandoc	Markdown to Word conversion
md-to-word skill	Markdown + Mermaid to Word pipeline

Synapses

See synapses.json for connections.