# `nature-polishing` skill

An academic-writing skill for polishing, restructuring, and translating manuscript prose into concise `Nature`-leaning English.

Source hierarchy:

- `Main strategy`: the course notes in `Chapter1-Week1-7 full version.pdf`
- `Published article patterns`: curated Nature and Nature Communications examples
- `Reference support`: `Academic-Phrasebank-Navigable-PDF-2023.pdf`

## What changed

- The main `SKILL.md` now follows the first PDF's architecture: paper type, reader workflow, hourglass structure, writing order, section responsibilities, intellectual debt, and AI/ethics boundaries.
- Article-level polishing can now use the published-paper pattern reference for abstracts, introductions, Results, Discussions, conclusions, and titles.
- The reference folder now serves a narrower role: phrase families, move templates, and style checks derived from the second PDF.
- The skill now distinguishes `research papers` from `methods papers`.
- The skill treats `core argument ownership` as a central rule, not a side note.

## File structure

```text
nature-polishing/
├── SKILL.md
├── README.md
└── references/
    ├── published-article-patterns.md
    ├── phrasebank-playbook.md
    ├── section-moves.md
    ├── style-guardrails.md
    └── writing-strategy.md
```

## When to use

- polishing an abstract, introduction, results, discussion, conclusion, or title
- polishing a methods section or a methods paper with fair-comparison logic
- translating Chinese academic text into publishable English
- tightening section logic before submission
- softening overclaims and fixing evidence-weighted language
- making prose read more like strong journal English without inventing content

## Design intent

The skill should:

- preserve facts, citation intent, and author responsibility
- make the first PDF the governing writing strategy
- improve rhetorical sequencing at paragraph level
- keep sentences short and readable
- use the second PDF only as the phrase and reference layer
- avoid generic AI prose and unsupported claims

## Reference map

- `section-moves.md`: section order and move patterns
- `published-article-patterns.md`: writing patterns from curated Nature and Nature Communications articles
- `phrasebank-playbook.md`: hedging, transitions, evidence, limitations, future work
- `style-guardrails.md`: British style, articles, abbreviations, units, register, overclaim control
- `writing-strategy.md`: paragraph- and section-level argument logic

## Notes

- The skill is designed for polishing and restructuring, not for fabricating scientific content.
- The main strategic rules live in `SKILL.md`; the reference files should not overrule them.
- The reference files are intentionally selective. They are meant to guide choices, not to encourage boilerplate copying.
