115 lines
4.2 KiB
Markdown
115 lines
4.2 KiB
Markdown
# Published Article Patterns
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Use this file when polishing should improve scientific argument, not just English.
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The patterns below are distilled from curated Nature and Nature Communications
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research articles across materials, energy systems, construction decarbonization
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and machine learning. Do not copy their wording. Use the patterns to diagnose
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and reshape the user's manuscript.
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## Abstract pattern
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Strong abstracts usually move in six steps:
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1. name the field-scale problem or opportunity
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2. show why existing approaches are incomplete
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3. state the specific intervention or method
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4. give the decisive result with scale, comparison or constraint
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5. explain why the result changes what is possible
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6. close with scope, application or boundary
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Polishing rule: if an abstract starts with the method, add the problem and gap
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first. If it ends with enthusiasm, replace it with a bounded implication.
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## Introduction pattern
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High-performing introductions often use `scale -> bottleneck -> prior attempts ->
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missing capability -> present study`.
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- `Scale`: quantify why the problem matters, preferably with field-level stakes.
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- `Bottleneck`: name the physical, computational, clinical or practical barrier.
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- `Prior attempts`: acknowledge existing strategies fairly.
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- `Missing capability`: explain what those strategies still cannot do.
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- `Present study`: state what the paper does, not what it hopes to do.
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Polishing rule: keep the gap narrow enough that the study can actually fill it.
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Avoid novelty claims that depend on weakening prior work.
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## Results pattern
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Results sections usually work best as an evidence ladder:
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1. overview of the system, workflow or design space
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2. validation that the platform works under controlled conditions
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3. primary performance result
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4. comparison with baselines or current practice
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5. mechanism, interpretation or diagnostic analysis
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6. scale-up, generalization or real-world application
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Each Results paragraph should begin with the question or test, then report the
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observation, then give the quantitative or comparative support. Interpretation
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should be brief unless the paragraph is explicitly bridging into Discussion.
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## Discussion pattern
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Effective Discussion writing starts from the central advance and then widens:
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- what the study demonstrates
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- why the evidence is credible
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- how it changes an existing workflow, design rule or conceptual boundary
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- what constraints remain
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- what future work is enabled, without promising untested outcomes
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Do not turn the Discussion into a second Results section. Use it to state what
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the results mean and where that meaning stops.
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## Conclusion pattern
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Nature-style conclusions are compact. They usually combine:
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1. the contribution in one sentence
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2. the mechanism, performance or feasibility evidence that supports it
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3. the scale or application implied by the work
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4. one boundary condition, if the claim could otherwise overreach
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Polishing rule: remove new data from conclusions. Preserve confidence, but add
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scope control.
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## Title pattern
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Strong titles are concrete and searchable. They often combine:
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- object or system
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- action or capability
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- application, scale or consequence
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Prefer titles that reveal the central scientific move. Avoid titles that sound
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like grant aims, slogans or broad fields.
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## Sentence-level pattern
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Published prose often looks simple because each sentence does one job:
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- background sentence: field stake or known fact
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- gap sentence: unresolved limitation
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- method sentence: what was done
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- result sentence: observed effect plus condition
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- comparison sentence: baseline or previous state
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- implication sentence: meaning with scope
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- limitation sentence: boundary or dependency
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When polishing, label each sentence by job. If two jobs compete in one sentence,
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split it or subordinate one job.
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## Overclaim checks from article patterns
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Flag and soften claims when:
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- a laboratory or simulation result is written as an immediate field-wide solution
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- a single material, model or system is described as universally applicable
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- correlation is rewritten as mechanism
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- a comparison lacks a fair baseline
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- a future application is stated as an achieved outcome
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Good Nature-leaning prose can be ambitious, but the ambition must be attached to
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evidence, scale and boundary.
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