Academic Writing StyleSAFE

An agent skill published by revfactory.

The instruction file, verbatim from the audited commit — this is the text the model reads, and the surface the audit's instruction layer examines. Quoted here so you can judge it without cloning anything.

---
name: academic-writing-style
description: "A specialized skill that systematically guides academic thesis style, structure, and citation rules. Used by writing-coach and proofreader agents to improve academic writing quality and verify format compliance. Automatically applied in contexts such as 'academic style', 'thesis structure', 'citation format', 'APA style', 'argumentation structure', 'scholarly expression'. However, running plagiarism detection software (Turnitin) and journal submission on behalf of the user are outside the scope of this skill."
---

# Academic Writing Style — Academic Thesis Writing Style Guide

A specialized skill that enhances the writing-coach and proofreader agents' academic writing capabilities.

## Target Agents

- **writing-coach** — Thesis structure design, draft writing
- **proofreader** — Style verification, format consistency checking

## Per-Chapter Thesis Structure and Writing Guide

### Chapter 1: Introduction

| Component | Purpose | Length Guideline |
|-----------|---------|-----------------|
| Research background | Engage the reader, establish context | 30-40% of chapter |
| Problem statement | Justify the need for research, prior study limitations | 20-30% |
| Research purpose | State specific objectives | 10% |
| Research questions/hypotheses | Specify questions to be investigated | 10% |
| Research scope | Temporal/spatial/subject boundaries | 10% |
| Thesis organization | Chapter-by-chapter overview | 5% |

**Introduction funnel structure:**
```
[Broad] Macro context, societal issues
  |
[Medium] Academic context, prior research trajectory
  |
[Narrow] Research gap, unresolved questions
  |
[Pinpoint] This study's purpose and questions
```

### Chapter 2: Theoretical Background / Literature Review

**Organizational approaches:**

| Approach | Best suited when |
|----------|-----------------|
| Thematic | Addressing multiple theories/variables |
| Chronological | Development process matters |
| Methodological | Comparing methods is central |
| Theoretical | Comparing competing theories |

**Critical review sentence patterns:**
- "While studies have found ~, they have the limitation of ~"
- "The findings of ~ and ~ are contradictory, indicating the need for further research"
- "Prior studies have overlooked ~, which means ~"

### Chapter 3: Research Methods

**Required components:**
1. Research design and rationale
2. Participants (population, sample, selection criteria)
3. Measurement instruments (item composition, validity, reliability)
4. Data collection procedures
5. Analysis methods and rationale
6. Ethical considerations (IRB, etc.)

### Chapter 4: Results

**Writing principles:**
- Report results only; interpretation goes in Chapter 5
- Follow statistical reporting format (APA: *t*(24) = 2.31, *p* = .029)
- Always reference tables/figures in the body text
- Report in the order of research questions/hypotheses

### Chapter 5: Discussion

```
Summary of results -> Comparison with prior studies -> Theoretical implications -> Practical implications -> Limitations -> Future research suggestions
```

## Academic Style Rules

### Expressions to Use

| Situation | Academic Expression | Expression to Avoid |
|-----------|-------------------|-------------------|
| Hedging claims | "may," "suggests that," "it appears that" | Definitive statements (in survey studies) |
| Causal relationships | "was found to be associated with" | "is caused by" (in survey studies) |
| Generalization | "in the context of this study" | "in all cases" |
| Self-reference | "this study," "the present research" | "I think that" |
| Prior research | "According to Kim (2023)" | "Something I read in a paper" |

### Hedging Expression Levels

| Confidence Level | Expression |
|-----------------|-----------|
| High | "demonstrates," "indicates," "shows" |
| Medium | "suggests," "implies," "appears to" |
| Low | "may," "could," "it is possible that" |

## Citation Format (APA 7th Focus)

### In-Text Citations

| Type | Format | Example |
|------|--------|---------|
| 1 author | (Author, Year) | (Kim, 2023) |
| 2 authors | (Author1 & Author2, Year) | (Kim & Lee, 2023) |
| 3+ authors | (First Author et al., Year) | (Kim et al., 2023) |
| Direct quote | (Author, Year, p. Page) | (Kim, 2023, p. 45) |
| Secondary source | (Original, Year, as cited in Citer, Year) | Minimize usage |

### Reference List Format

```
Journal: Author. (Year). Title. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), Pages. https://doi.org/xxx
Book: Author. (Year). Title (Edition). Publisher.
Thesis: Author. (Year). Title [Master's/Doctoral thesis, University]. Database.
```

## Proofreading Checklist (for proofreader)

### Format
- [ ] Title page format (follows institutional template)
- [ ] Page numbers, margins, font/size comply with guidelines
- [ ] Table of contents matches body headings
- [ ] Table/figure numbers are sequential, title format is uniform
- [ ] Reference list format is consistent (APA/MLA/Chicago)

### Content
- [ ] Are all research questions answered in the results?
- [ ] Are claims in the introduction consistently resolved in the conclusion?
- [ ] Are technical terms defined at first use?
- [ ] Are abbreviations spelled out at first use?
- [ ] Is passive/active voice usage consistent?

SAFEgrade B · trust 89/100 Nothing in the source contradicts what it says it does. Grade A is reserved for packages that have also passed the behavioural sandbox.

What the source does

Filesystem

none-observed

Network

none-observed

Shell

none-observed

Dependencies

pinned

Secrets in source

none-found

Findings (0)

No findings outside the package's declared scope.

Gates applied: no_behavioural_pass.