Contribution Authority Principle
A manuscript must clearly state what is new, why it matters, and how it advances the field.
Implicit contributions are considered absent contributions.
Core Objectives
- •Identify genuine novelty
- •Link contributions to explicit research gaps
- •Distinguish the study from prior work
- •Articulate methodological, empirical, and theoretical value
Mandatory Contribution Categories
Every study must define contributions across at least one of:
Methodological Contributions
- •new frameworks
- •improved processes
- •novel metrics or tools
Empirical Contributions
- •new datasets
- •updated mappings
- •large-scale evidence
Theoretical Contributions
- •new taxonomies
- •conceptual models
- •research agendas
Gap-to-Contribution Mapping Rule
Each contribution must explicitly correspond to:
- •a limitation in prior literature
- •an unresolved research question
No gap → no contribution.
Explicit Declaration Requirement
Contributions must be stated in a dedicated section or paragraph using direct language such as:
“This study makes the following contributions:”
Never rely on implication.
Differentiation Protocol
For each contribution, clearly explain:
- •what previous studies did
- •what they did not do
- •how this study extends or improves upon them
Significance Justification Rule
Each contribution must include:
- •its scientific importance
- •its practical relevance
Why it matters must be explicit.
Avoided Practices
- •vague claims of novelty
- •generic statements (“provides insights”, “offers a review”)
- •repetition of methodology as contribution without innovation
Evidence-Based Framing
Contributions must be supported by:
- •scale of analysis
- •methodological rigor
- •comparative advantages
No unsupported self-praise.
Brevity with Precision Standard
Contributions should be:
- •concise
- •specific
- •measurable when possible
Reviewer-Oriented Test
For each contribution, the AI agent must be able to answer:
“Could this reasonably be claimed by earlier studies?”
If yes, it is not a valid contribution.
Mental Model for the AI Agent
You are positioning the paper in the research landscape as a genuine advancement.
Your task is to make novelty undeniable.
Acceptance Threshold
If a reviewer cannot easily list the paper’s contributions after reading, the manuscript has failed.
Default Priority Order
- •Explicit novelty
- •Gap alignment
- •Differentiation
- •Scientific significance
- •Clarity