How to use AI for academic writing without drift
AI can make a paragraph smoother. Academic writing needs more than fluency: research objective, evidence boundary, and terminology consistency matter more.
Put the research question in @system
Create @system/research-question.md:
- what the paper answers
- what it does not answer
- how core concepts are defined
- how sections connect
This gives AI a stable boundary when revising.
Give AI small tasks
Instead of “write my paper,” use narrower tasks:
- “Revise the second literature-review paragraph using these three notes.”
- “Check whether this section drifts from the research question.”
- “Normalize terminology only; do not rewrite the argument.”
Small tasks reduce unsupported invention and make review easier.
Use a review checklist
In @system/review-checklist.md, write:
- terminology must stay consistent
- unsupported judgments should be flagged
- do not add facts or data that were not provided
- preserve citation positions
Then ask the Review Agent to inspect against the checklist.
Diff is the final gate
AI suggestions are not manuscript changes yet. Before merging, inspect:
- Did it add unsupported claims?
- Did it change definitions?
- Did smoother prose weaken the argument?
- Did it remove necessary qualifiers?
Accept reliable edits and skip the rest.