coauthor-engine

Activate when the user needs to manage multi-author collaboration on a paper. Tracks author contributions using the CRediT taxonomy, manages responsibility assignments, documents the human-AI division

SKILL.md

GitHub

Orchestration Log: When this skill is activated, append a log entry to outputs/orchestration_log.md:

### Skill Activation: Co-Author Engine
**Timestamp:** [current date/time]
**Actor:** AI Agent (coauthor-engine)
**Input:** [N] authors, task: [contribution tracking / responsibility assignment / CRediT statement]
**Output:** author_contributions.md saved

Co-Author Engine

Core Principle

Modern academic publishing increasingly requires transparent documentation of who did what. The CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) system standardizes this. For AI-assisted papers, documenting the human-AI division of labor is not optional — it's becoming a requirement at major venues.

When to Activate

  • User says "author contributions", "CRediT statement", "who did what"
  • User says "add co-author", "assign responsibilities", "contribution tracking"
  • Before submission (submission-engine may trigger this)
  • When documenting AI involvement in the research process

Step 1: DEFINE Author Roster

Author Information Template

## Authors

| # | Name | Affiliation | Role | ORCID | Corresponding |
|---|------|-------------|------|-------|--------------|
| 1 | [Name] | [University/Org] | [Senior/Junior/PI] | [ORCID] | [Yes/No] |
| 2 | [Name] | [University/Org] | [Senior/Junior] | [ORCID] | [No] |
| 3 | AI Agent (Claude) | Anthropic | AI Assistant | N/A | No |

Author Order Conventions

  • IS/Business conventions: First author did most work, last author is senior/PI
  • CS conventions: First author did most work, alphabetical otherwise or by contribution
  • Note: If AI is listed, typically in acknowledgments, not as author (venue-dependent)

Step 2: ASSIGN CRediT Roles

CRediT Taxonomy (14 Roles)

For each author (including AI), indicate contribution level:

# CRediT Role Definition Author 1 Author 2 AI Agent
1 Conceptualization Ideas, formulation of research goals Lead Supporting —
2 Data curation Managing, annotating, maintaining data Lead — Supporting
3 Formal analysis Statistical, mathematical, computational analysis Supporting — Lead
4 Funding acquisition Obtaining financial support — Lead —
5 Investigation Conducting the research, data collection Lead Supporting Supporting
6 Methodology Development or design of methodology Lead Supporting Supporting
7 Project administration Managing and coordinating the project Lead — —
8 Resources Provision of study materials, tools, computing — Lead —
9 Software Programming, implementation, code — — Lead
10 Supervision Oversight and leadership responsibility — Lead —
11 Validation Verification and replication of results Lead Supporting Supporting
12 Visualization Creating figures, diagrams, plots Supporting — Lead
13 Writing — original draft Creating the initial manuscript Supporting — Lead
14 Writing — review & editing Critical review, commentary, revision Lead Lead Supporting

Levels: Lead / Supporting / — (not involved)

AI-Specific Contribution Documentation

For the AI agent, document specifically:

## AI Contribution Statement

This paper was produced with the assistance of an AI writing system (Claude,
via the Open Academic Paper Machine). The AI system contributed to:

- **Literature search and synthesis:** Automated multi-database search, deduplication,
  and initial thematic clustering of [N] papers
- **First draft generation:** Initial drafts of all sections following academic
  writing templates, subsequently revised by human authors
- **Figure generation:** [N] figures generated via AI (PaperBanana)
- **Citation verification:** Automated verification of [N] citations against source abstracts
- **LaTeX compilation:** Automated conversion and PDF generation

**Human oversight and quality control:**
- All research questions, theoretical framing, and methodological decisions were
  made by human authors
- All AI-generated text was reviewed, revised, and approved by human authors
- Empirical data collection and analysis were conducted by human authors
- Final manuscript was reviewed and approved by all human co-authors

**AI disclosure:** [Statement per venue requirements, e.g., "In accordance with
[Venue]'s AI policy, we disclose that AI tools were used in the preparation of
this manuscript as described above. All authors take full responsibility for the
content."]

Step 3: TRACK Responsibilities

Task Assignment Matrix

For ongoing collaboration, track who is responsible for what:

## Task Assignment

| Task | Responsible | Deadline | Status |
|------|------------|----------|--------|
| Finalize RQs | Author 1 | [date] | Done |
| Data collection | Author 1 | [date] | In progress |
| Method section review | Author 2 | [date] | Pending |
| Figure 3 redesign | AI Agent | [date] | Done |
| Discussion revision | Author 1 + Author 2 | [date] | Pending |
| Final proofread | Author 2 | [date] | Pending |
| Cover letter | Author 1 | [date] | Pending |
| Submission | Author 1 (corresponding) | [date] | Pending |

Step 4: GENERATE Output

Author Contribution Statement (for manuscript)

Generate venue-appropriate contribution statement:

CRediT format (most journals):

Author Contributions: [Author 1]: Conceptualization (lead), Investigation (lead),
Methodology (lead), Project administration (lead), Validation (lead), Writing —
review & editing (lead). [Author 2]: Conceptualization (supporting), Funding
acquisition (lead), Resources (lead), Supervision (lead), Writing — review &
editing (lead).

Prose format (some journals):

[Author 1] conceived the study, conducted the literature review, designed the
methodology, and wrote the initial manuscript. [Author 2] supervised the project,
provided critical feedback on theoretical framing, and co-edited the final
manuscript. Both authors approved the final version.

Save

File Content
author_contributions.md Full CRediT matrix + AI statement + task tracker
Add to paper.tex CRediT statement in Author Contributions section
Add to submission/ AI disclosure statement for venue requirements

Integration

Scenario Integration
Submission-engine Provides author contribution statement for submission
Orchestration log Complements the AI audit trail
Review-engine Tracks who addresses which reviewer comment