Use when positioning an Agricultural Systems (AgSy) manuscript against the literature so it reads as a systems contribution. AgSy readers span agronomy, modelling, livestock, economics, environment, and food-system science, so the paper must engage the systems and modelling literatures they expect — not only one subfield. Stakes the contribution; it does not write the lit review.
SkillScore64Maintained
Automatic
◆Writing & Editing pack
Last verified 8/15/2026
What it changes
Passed 14 of 22 test cases with the skill, and 3 of 22 without it.
Without skill14%
With skill64%
Checks it passed that the model alone missed
The output specifies agsy-systems-framing-and-modeling under 【Next】.
The output includes a sibling-venue omission that would raise reviewer doubt.
The output specifies agsy-systems-framing-and-modeling under the 【Next】 section.
and 16 more in the full report
14 fixed0 passed either way5 still failing3 broke
Pass-rate lift
+50 pp
Tokens
+52%
Agent turns
0%
Response time
-1%
Model gemini-3.6-flashMeasured 8/15/2026v114 of 22 cases passed with skill
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
See it in action
One of 14 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
1 of 14
Prompt
We are submitting a simulation paper on maize yield under climate variability to Agricultural Systems. We only cited plot-level crop physiology papers. Outline the literature positioning pass needed to avoid referee pushback about scope.
What was checked, without and with the skill
Checked
Without skill
With skill
The output advises citing the whole-farm or bio-economic trade-off literature to complement the plot-level crop model.
Passed
Passed
The output structures the positioning using 【Systems debate】, 【Key works】, 【Model landscape】, 【Gap】, 【Move】, 【Strongest rival】, and 【Next】.
Missed
Passed
case-03 · gemini-3.6-flash · 8/15/2026 · answers are capped and redacted
What's inside
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
SKILL.md92 linessingle file
Literature Positioning (agsy-literature-positioning)
AgSy is read by a systems-science audience that spans crop and livestock modelling, whole-farm and
bio-economic analysis, sustainability assessment, and food-system science. Positioning is therefore not
throat-clearing — the paper must show it advances the systems and modelling conversation, not just
add another data point to one subfield.
When to trigger
Drafting or revising the introduction and the "contribution" paragraph
A reviewer said you "ignored the relevant modelling work" or "don't engage the systems debate"
Your agronomic or model results are solid but the framing reads as single-discipline
You need to distinguish your contribution from the closest prior systems studies / models
How AgSy wants the literature engaged
Engage the systems debate, not a citation pile. Identify the open systems question — an
unresolved trade-off, a contested mechanism, a model limitation, a scaling gap — that your paper
addresses. Cite the works that define it.
Two literatures at once. The domain literature (the crop/livestock/farm/food system you
study) and the methods literature (the model family, calibration/evaluation, sensitivity,
trade-off analysis). AgSy reviewers expect both.
Locate your model among existing models. Why this model and not the standard alternatives
(APSIM/DSSAT/STICS, whole-farm/bio-economic, ABM, integrated assessment)? What does yours add?
Name the gap precisely. Not "little is known" — say what is mismodelled, untested across scales,
or missing a trade-off, and why resolving it advances systems understanding.
Pre-empt the obvious objection. Acknowledge the strongest rival explanation or competing model
and say how your design/evaluation adjudicates it (hand off to agsy-data-and-model-evaluation).
Cross-system engagement (a distinctive AgSy demand)
If your paper is…
also engage…
a crop-model application
the whole-farm / trade-off literature it feeds into
a whole-farm or bio-economic study
the process-model and the economic/decision literatures
a landscape/regional analysis
the aggregation/emergence and land-use-competition literature
a food-system study
the production, environment, and policy literatures it connects
Worked micro-example: locating one contribution (illustrative)
Use when positioning an American Educational Research Journal (AERJ) manuscript in the literature. AERJ readers span the whole field, so the paper must engage the literatures a general education-research audience expects and speak past its own subfield. Builds the positioning argument; it does not write the literature review for you.