A complete academic writing pipeline: draft essays, proposals, reports, and systematic reviews with APA 7 citations, then audit, fix, and grade — all in one plugin.
| Skill | Invoke | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| research-proposal | /scholar:research-proposal |
Structured research proposals (2,000 words, SDG-linked, .docx output) |
| academic-essay | /scholar:academic-essay |
Essays, literature reviews, scoping reviews, PRISMA-compliant systematic reviews |
| project-report | /scholar:project-report |
Project reports with BMC, concept notes, theory integration |
| systematic-review | /scholar:systematic-review |
7-phase SLR pipeline: question → search → screen → extract → assess → synthesise → manuscript |
| academic-editor | /scholar:academic-editor |
5-pass editorial review (structural, copy, voice, citation, rubric) |
| proposal-grader | /scholar:proposal-grader |
Grade proposals against rubric, predict A-F, revision priorities |
| citation-helper | /scholar:citation-helper |
Search Zotero library, get [@citekey], format APA 7 entries |
| citation-checker | /scholar:citation-checker |
5-agent citation audit: cross-refs, APA 7, DOI validation, claim grounding |
| citation-fixer | /scholar:citation-fixer |
3-agent correction: metadata fixes, format fixes, gap markers |
Skills chain together for end-to-end academic work:
DRAFT → research-proposal / academic-essay / project-report / systematic-review
REVIEW → academic-editor (5-pass) + proposal-grader
AUDIT → citation-checker (5 parallel verification agents)
FIX → citation-fixer (3 parallel correction agents)
- 9 skills covering the full academic writing lifecycle
- Configurable Zotero integration — connects to any Zotero library via CSL-JSON export
- 4-tier source lookup — Zotero → Local PDFs → NotebookLM → Web (graceful degradation if any tier is unavailable)
- Cross-skill chaining — skills reference each other and hand off results automatically
- APA 7 throughout — consistent citation style across all skills
- Dual .docx output — Pandoc (primary, with automatic citation rendering) or docx-js (fallback, fine-grained control)
- Adaptable rubrics — proposal-grader uses Hug & Aeschbach by default, accepts custom rubrics
- Voice profiles — academic-editor maintains author voice consistency via configurable profiles
- Report merging — citation-checker's 5 agents produce a unified report with defined ownership, severity mapping, and deduplication rules
| Tool | Required | Used by |
|---|---|---|
| Zotero 7 + Better BibTeX | Yes (for citation skills) | citation-helper, citation-checker, citation-fixer |
Node.js + docx package |
Yes (for .docx output) | research-proposal, academic-essay, project-report, systematic-review |
| Pandoc | Recommended (primary .docx pathway) | citation-helper, systematic-review |
Python 3 + openpyxl |
Optional (for .xlsx output) | systematic-review |
# Node.js docx library (for Word document generation)
npm install -g docx
# Pandoc (recommended, for automatic citation rendering)
brew install pandoc # macOS
# sudo apt install pandoc # Linux
# winget install JohnMacFarlane.Pandoc # Windows
# Python openpyxl (optional, for review matrix spreadsheets)
pip3 install openpyxlclaude plugin install --from github:mcmespinaa/scholar-supportOr clone manually:
git clone https://github.com/mcmespinaa/scholar-support.git ~/.claude/scholarclaude plugin install ./scholar- Package:
cd scholar && zip -r ../scholar.zip . -x "*.DS_Store" -x ".git/*" && cd .. - Open Claude Desktop > Cowork tab
- Click Customize > Browse plugins > Upload a custom plugin file
- Select
scholar.zip> Install
See SETUP.md for a complete step-by-step guide that takes you from zero (no VS Code, no Node.js, nothing) to a fully working setup. Works on macOS, Windows, and Linux.
The citation skills need a CSL-JSON export of your Zotero library:
- Install Zotero 7 and Better BibTeX
- Create a collection in Zotero for your research
- Right-click the collection > Export > Better CSL JSON > check "Keep updated"
- Save to a known path (e.g.,
references/my-library.json)
See skills/citation-helper/references/zotero-setup.md for the full guide.
Copy the template and update paths:
cp templates/local.md .local.mdEdit .local.md to set:
ZOTERO_LIBRARY— path to your CSL-JSON exportCSL_FILE— path to your APA 7 CSL fileLOCAL_PDFS— path to your downloaded academic PDFs
If you want Pandoc to render citations automatically:
curl -o references/apa7.csl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/citation-style-language/styles/master/apa.csl# Write a research proposal
/scholar:research-proposal "SDG 12 and circular economy leadership in Swedish SMEs"
# Write a systematic literature review
/scholar:systematic-review "digital transformation in social enterprises" phase:1
# Edit a draft before submission
/scholar:academic-editor "drafts/my_essay_draft.md"
# Check all citations in a document
/scholar:citation-checker "drafts/my_essay_draft.md"
# Fix citation issues automatically
/scholar:citation-fixer "drafts/my_essay_draft.md"
# Grade a research proposal
/scholar:proposal-grader "drafts/research_proposal_v2.md"
# Find references on a topic
/scholar:citation-helper "transformative social innovation"
# Write a project report with BMC
/scholar:project-report "sustainable food cooperative" framework:BMC
- No reference list in document? Citation-checker switches to reduced-scope mode (completeness check only)
- .docx input? Converted to markdown via Pandoc before processing. If Pandoc unavailable, export as .md/.txt first
- Zotero not configured? Citation skills skip Zotero lookup and fall back to local PDFs → web search
- Non-APA citation style? Cross-reference and grounding checks still work, but formatting validation is APA 7 only
- Systematic review with few studies? The pipeline adapts — narrative synthesis works with any count, but flags thin evidence
scholar/
├── .claude-plugin/
│ └── plugin.json
├── skills/
│ ├── research-proposal/ (SKILL.md + references/grading-rubric.md)
│ ├── academic-essay/ (SKILL.md)
│ ├── project-report/ (SKILL.md + references/theory-frameworks.md)
│ ├── systematic-review/ (SKILL.md + references/search-strategy-templates.md)
│ ├── academic-editor/ (SKILL.md + references/voice-profiles/)
│ ├── proposal-grader/ (SKILL.md + references/grading-rubric.md)
│ ├── citation-helper/ (SKILL.md + references/zotero-setup.md, csl-json-schema.md)
│ ├── citation-checker/ (SKILL.md + references/verification-patterns.md)
│ └── citation-fixer/ (SKILL.md + references/correction-rules.md)
├── references/
│ ├── apa7-guide.md (shared APA 7 formatting rules)
│ ├── prisma-checklist.md (shared PRISMA 2020 checklist)
│ └── review-methodology.md (shared SLR methodology guide)
├── templates/
│ └── local.md (configuration template — copy to .local.md)
├── SETUP.md (zero-to-working guide for macOS, Windows, Linux)
├── settings.json
├── .gitignore
├── LICENSE (MIT)
└── README.md
- Initial release: 9 skills bundled
- Cross-platform SETUP.md (macOS, Windows, Linux)
- Windows-specific guidance from real user testing (Git Bash, PowerShell execution policy, PATH issues)
- Semantic QA pass on citation-checker and systematic-review:
- Citation-checker: Report Merging Rules (agent ownership, severity mapping, confidence→symbol, health %, dedup)
- Citation-checker: edge case handling (no reference list, .docx parsing, Zotero graceful degradation)
- Systematic-review: Pandoc as primary .docx pathway, docx-js as fallback
- Systematic-review: explicit Phase 2→3 handoff with user instructions
- Systematic-review: Phase 5→6 quality score consumption rules
- Systematic-review: PCC question template alongside PICO
MIT