Use when positioning a Communication Research (CR) manuscript against the literature so it reads as a cumulative, theory-testing contribution to communication science. CR reviewers expect engagement with the empirical communication literature and the rival accounts your hypotheses adjudicate. Stakes the contribution; it does not write the lit review.
SkillScore77Maintained
Automatic
◆Research pack
Last verified 9/1/2026
What it changes
Passed 17 of 22 test cases with the skill, and 4 of 22 without it.
Without skill18%
With skill77%
Checks it passed that the model alone missed
Includes a sibling venue guard assessment in the report.
Formats the response using the required bracketed output schema.
Includes the exact bracketed header 【Next】commres-theory-building.
and 16 more in the full report
14 fixed3 passed either way4 still failing1 broke
Pass-rate lift
+59 pp
Tokens
+31%
Agent turns
0%
Response time
-12%
Model gemini-3.6-flashMeasured 9/1/2026v117 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
I'm revising the introduction of my quantitative media-effects paper for Communication Research. A reviewer noted that my background section reads like an unorganized list of citations rather than a focused theoretical argument. Please evaluate my draft and return a structured breakdown detailing the live empirical debate, the key prior empirical works defining it, the precise gap or confound, how our hypotheses directly follow from this foundation, the strongest rival explanation to adjudicate, and the next step in the drafting process.
What was checked, without and with the skill
Checked
Without skill
With skill
Uses the exact bracketed header 【Debate】 to introduce the live empirical disagreement.
Missed
Passed
Includes the exact bracketed header 【Next】commres-theory-building for the next step.
Missed
Passed
Includes a three-column map detailing incumbent finding, unresolved tension, and tested delta.
Missed
Passed
case-01 · gemini-3.6-flash · 9/1/2026 · answers are capped and redacted
What's inside
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
SKILL.md78 linessingle file
Literature Positioning (commres-literature-positioning)
CR is a cumulative, social-scientific journal: reviewers ask how your hypotheses extend, qualify,
or adjudicate the prior empirical communication literature. Positioning is not throat-clearing —
it places the paper where a quantitative communication scientist can see the open question, the rival
accounts, and the move your tests make.
When to trigger
Drafting or revising the introduction and the "present study / hypotheses" paragraph
A reviewer said you "missed obvious work" or "don't engage the debate"
You need to distinguish your hypotheses from the closest prior empirical papers
Your effect is solid but the contribution to communication theory is unclear
How CR wants the literature engaged
Engage the empirical debate, not a pile of citations. Identify the live disagreement or open
question your hypotheses speak to, and cite the studies that define it — including the strongest
prior tests.
Build to hypotheses. CR introductions march from theory and prior findings to explicit,
numbered hypotheses (and research questions); positioning sets up exactly those predictions.
Name the gap precisely. Not "little is known" — say what is contested, mismeasured,
under-tested, or confounded in prior work, and why resolving it advances communication science.
Position against rivals. "Prior work argues X via mechanism M; we test whether M holds, is
conditional on C, or is better explained by M′." The rival becomes a tested alternative, not a foil.
Theory over platform. Frame around the communication process or construct, not the medium or
dataset — platforms change; tested mechanisms accumulate.
Cross-area engagement (CR is read across communication science)
If your paper is…
also engage…
a media-effects experiment
the general processing/persuasion theory it tests, not one stimulus literature
a survey of new-media use
the use→effect process literature, not just platform descriptions
a content analysis
the substantive effects/processing literature the coded features speak to
a health/political communication study
the message/audience mechanism literature beyond one topic
Anti-patterns
A "literature dump" with no organizing empirical debate
Use when positioning a Cognitive Psychology (Elsevier) manuscript against the field, especially against rival models and prior empirical programs. In a long-form, model-driven venue, positioning means showing what theoretical question your model adjudicates and why prior accounts fall short. Stakes the contribution against the right contrast class; it does not write the full literature review.