sci-workflow

Science Workflow Router (sci-workflow)

Overview

This is the router. It does not replace any specialized skill. It tells you which sci- skill to use at the current stage* of a manuscript aimed at Science (AAAS).

Default assumption: unless the user states otherwise, the target is Science (the flagship research journal), not Science Advances, Science Translational Medicine, or other family titles. Family titles share house style but differ on scope and length — flag the difference if the user names one.

When to trigger

• "What should I do next with this draft?"
• A draft arrives and you must diagnose the current bottleneck.
• The user is switching between experiments, writing, and revision and has lost the thread.
• Reviews arrive from Science and you need to switch into rebuttal mode.

The single most important gate

Science rejects most submissions without external review. The editorial bar is broad significance and general interest, not technical correctness alone. So the first question is never "is the science right?" — it is "does this clear the desk-reject filter for a general audience?" Route to sci-fit first, always.

Routing table

Current symptom	Next skill
Not sure the result is broad/general-interest enough	sci-fit
Result is significant but the "why it matters" is buried	sci-framing
No one-sentence summary; abstract reads narrow/jargon-heavy	sci-abstract
Unsure whether this is a Research Article or a Report; over length	sci-writing
Figures over panel/word budget; fonts/colors non-compliant	sci-figures
Stats under-reported; n/error bars/tests unclear; not reproducible	sci-statistics
No data/code/materials availability plan	sci-data
References not in Science numbered style	sci-citation
Need an editor-facing pitch for why Science should review it	sci-cover-letter
About to submit; need a preflight checklist	sci-submission
Received reviews / an R&R decision	sci-rebuttal

Default order

1. sci-fit — clear the broad-significance / general-interest bar first
2. sci-framing — lock the conceptual advance and the "why now"
3. sci-writing — choose format (Research Article vs Report) and hold length
4. sci-figures — finalize display items within budget
5. sci-statistics — rigor & reproducibility reporting
6. sci-data — data / code / materials availability
7. sci-abstract — abstract + one-sentence summary (late polish)
8. sci-citation — reference style pass
9. sci-cover-letter — significance-forward editor pitch
10. sci-submission — preflight
11. sci-rebuttal — after review

sci-abstract and sci-citation are late-stage polish. Do not perfect the abstract before the significance and format are settled.

Decision shortcuts

• "A specialist would care, but would a geneticist and a physicist?" → sci-fit
• "My intro starts with background, not with the advance" → sci-framing
• "My Report main text is 4,000 words" → sci-writing (Reports target ~2,500)
• "Methods are in the main text" → sci-writing (Reports push Methods to Supplementary)
• "Bar chart with no individual data points / no n" → sci-statistics + sci-figures
• "No accession numbers / no code repo" → sci-data
• "Editor needs to see the hook in 3 sentences" → sci-cover-letter

How Science differs from its siblings and from Nature

• Science (Reports / Research Articles) vs Science Advances (open-access, broader acceptance, longer): if the work is solid but not top-1% general interest, Advances may be the realistic target — say so.
• Science vs Nature: both gate on broad significance, but Science requires a one-sentence summary and uses a single numbered reference list with full author names; Nature uses a different reference and summary-paragraph convention. Do not copy a Nature-formatted manuscript over without a style pass (sci-citation, sci-abstract).

Anti-patterns

• Do not skip sci-fit and start polishing prose — the modal outcome is desk rejection.
• Do not let sci-figures beautify panels before the format/length decision in sci-writing.
• Do not generate a rebuttal before the main text is actually revised.