rt-submission-readiness

Submission-Readiness Self-Check (rt-submission-readiness)

The mechanical/structural go/no-go that catches avoidable desk rejects before you hit

submit. Full rubric:

[shared-resources/submission-readiness/readiness-checklist.md](../../../shared-resources/submission-readiness/readiness-checklist.md).

It is the outward-facing analogue of the repo's internal tools/quality_scorecard.py.

When to trigger

• The draft is "done" and the author is about to submit to a named venue.
• Before paying a submission fee / starting the portal.
• After rt-journal-match selects the target and after rt-execution-bridge has run any

empirical checks the paper depends on.

Inputs to load

1. The manuscript or submission packet, including front matter, main text, exhibits,

appendix, data/code statement, and cover letter if drafted.

1. The target journal pack's README.md, relevant skills, and

resources/official-source-map.md.

1. Any executed analysis artifacts from rt-execution-bridge: result handles, audit gaps,

robustness outputs, and replication/package notes.

What it does

Reads the target pack's skills + resources/official-source-map.md, inspects the actual

manuscript (cite §/table for every flag), and scores nine dimensions PASS / FLAG / FAIL:

1. Fit & general interest · 2. Contribution clarity · 3. Identification / method ·
2. Robustness & inference · 5. Exhibits self-contained · 6. Exposition (magnitude up front)

· 7. Venue mechanics (page limit / anonymization / fee / cover letter) · 8. Data & code /

reproducibility · 9. Pre-empted referee objections.

Go/no-go: any FAIL on Fit, Identification, or Venue-mechanics is a no-go (the classic

desk-reject triggers).

Decision contract

| Result | Meaning | Required next action |

|---|---|---|

| GO | No blocking FAIL and all venue mechanics are verified. | Run rt-simulated-referee for the substantive attack surface before submission. |

| CONDITIONAL GO | No fatal desk-reject trigger, but one or more FLAG items will draw reviewer pressure. | Fix or explicitly justify each FLAG; rerun this check on the changed sections. |

| NO-GO | Any FAIL on fit, identification/method, or venue mechanics, or an unverifiable required venue rule. | Route each blocking item to the owning target-pack skill and rerun before opening the portal. |

For UNKNOWN, name the missing evidence and the smallest artifact needed to resolve it. Do

not silently upgrade UNKNOWN to PASS.

Hard rules

1. Read the manuscript; cite locations — no status without a §/table/page reference.
2. Venue facts live from the source-map, never from memory.
3. No false green — unverifiable dimension → UNKNOWN, not PASS.
4. Map every FAIL/FLAG to the owning skill (and its execution bridge) so the author

knows exactly where to fix it.

1. Separate mechanics from judgment — this skill catches preventable desk-reject risk;

use rt-simulated-referee for the substantive probability of surviving peer review.

Output format

【Venue】… (bar: pack skills + source-map, read live)
【Scorecard】1 Fit … PASS/FLAG/FAIL — note (§ cited) · … (dims 2–9)
【Go / No-go】GO / NO-GO — deciding dimension(s)
【Blocking gaps (FAIL)】ranked; each with the fix + owning skill
【Will-be-pushed (FLAG)】referee-anticipation list
【Unknowns】missing evidence required before a green light
【Desk-reject risk】low / medium / high — why

Next: if readiness passes, rt-simulated-referee for the substantive adversarial review.