Skip to content
Research
Skill

/fill-icmje-coi

Use when each author needs an ICMJE Conflict of Interest disclosure form (coi_disclosure.docx) for submission. Clones a pre-filled synthetic seed with every item marked None and replaces only date, name and manuscript title, so most authors just confirm or amend.

BOOST
From plugin
medsci-skills
34462 skills
Install
$ npx -y skills add Aperivue/medsci-skills --skill fill-icmje-coi --agent claude-code

How it fires

How this skill gets triggered: by you, by Claude, or both.

  • Fires itselfAuto-invocation. Claude auto-loads it when your prompt matches the work.Auto-invocation is when the right skill fires by itself at the right moment, driven by a FLOW.md router and a hook, instead of you invoking it by name. It is the difference between a skill being installed and a skill actually getting used.Read the full definition →
  • You can call itInvoke it directly when you want it.
  • Slash command/fill-icmje-coi

Context preview

The summary Claude sees to decide when to auto-load this skill.

Use when each author needs an ICMJE Conflict of Interest disclosure form (coi_disclosure.docx) for submission. Clones a pre-filled synthetic seed with every item marked None and replaces only date, name and manuscript title, so most authors just confirm or amend.

SKILL.md

fill-icmje-coi.SKILL.md
name: fill-icmje-coi
description: Use when each author needs an ICMJE Conflict of Interest disclosure form (coi_disclosure.docx) for submission. Clones a pre-filled synthetic seed with every item marked None and replaces only date, name and manuscript title, so most authors just confirm or amend.
metadata:
  triggers: "ICMJE, COI form, conflict of interest form, disclosure form, coi_disclosure.docx, 이해상충, 이해상충 폼, icmje 폼, 저자 동의서, submission forms"

Fill-ICMJE-COI Skill

The official ICMJE `coi_disclosure.docx` keeps every field inside Word Content Controls (SDTs), which `python-docx` `cell.text` silently ignores. The script therefore does literal-string replacement in `word/document.xml`, which only works when the target strings already exist — hence the shipped pre-filled synthetic seed.

Core Principles (Do Not Violate)

1. **Never author SDT XML from scratch.** Only replace existing strings in an already-populated seed, because programmatic Content Controls are fragile and Word-version-dependent. If an error seems to require altering the seed structure, stop and escalate to the user. 2. **Never use or commit a seed that contains a real author's data.** The shipped `templates/icmje_coi_seed_synthetic.docx` is PII-scrubbed (synthetic name, title, date; metadata `ICMJE` / `Anonymous`); real-person seeds leak PII through both `document.xml` and `docProps`. Keep custom seeds with real names in private per-project directories, and before promoting any seed check `unzip -p seed.docx docProps/core.xml` for real names. 3. **Never modify the 13 disclosure items or the certification checkbox.** The script replaces only Date, Name and Title; the ☒ None entries come from the seed unchanged. Never say the script "handled the disclosures": it cloned the seed, and no author-specific disclosure reasoning happened. An author with a real disclosure edits their own form in Word. 4. **The seed must be pre-filled** (all-None ☒ + text). The script does not work on a blank ICMJE template.

Skip this skill when the target journal uses its own declaration form (Elsevier Declaration of Interest, a BMJ ICMJE derivative, etc.) rather than the canonical ICMJE form — check the author guidelines first.

Execution

Phase 1 — Intake

Ask the user (or extract from the conversation): 1. **Manuscript title** (exact, as on the title page) 2. **Submission date** (e.g., "April 20, 2026") 3. **Author list** — ordered, one name per slot: `[(1, "Author One"), (2, "Author Two"), ...]`, taken verbatim from the manuscript title page or the user's list 4. **Output directory** — typically `submission/{journal}/icmje_forms/`

**Gate 1 — user approval.** Present the intake back before generating anything. Name which authors will get all-None forms and remind the user that anyone with a real disclosure must fill their own form in Word instead.

Phase 2 — Generate

python3 ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/fill_icmje_coi.py \
  --seed ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/templates/icmje_coi_seed_synthetic.docx \
  --seed-name "Placeholder Author" \
  --seed-title "Placeholder Manuscript Title" \
  --seed-date "January 1, 2000" \
  --new-title "{exact manuscript title}" \
  --new-date "{submission date}" \
  --out-dir {out_dir} \
  --authors '[[1,"Author One"],[2,"Author Two"],...]'

It writes one `ICMJE_COI_{NN}_{Name}.docx` per author and exits nonzero if any seed string is not found. It exits 2, before writing anything, if any `--seed-*` or `--new-*` value or author name is empty: an empty seed string would match nothing and leave the seed's value in every form.

Phase 3 — Verify

For each generated docx confirm: ☒ count = 14 (13 disclosure items + final certification); "None" disclosures = 13; the correct name after "Your Name:" and title after "Manuscript Title:"; no seed strings left. `SEED` must be the exact `--seed-name`, `--seed-title` and `--seed-date` values used in Phase 2 (the shipped placeholders below, or a custom seed's own strings); `TITLE` must be the `--new-title` value.

python3 - {out_dir}/*.docx <<'PY'
import sys, zipfile
SEED = ("Placeholder Author", "Placeholder Manuscript Title", "January 1, 2000")  # = --seed-* values
TITLE = "{exact manuscript title}"                                                 # = --new-title
assert all(s.strip() for s in SEED) and TITLE.strip(), "empty SEED/TITLE value"
for f in sys.argv[1:]:
    xml = zipfile.ZipFile(f).read("word/document.xml").decode("utf-8")
    assert xml.count("☒") == 14, f"{f}: bad ☒ count"
    assert xml.count(">None<") + xml.count(">None ") == 13, f"{f}: bad None count"
    for ph in SEED:
        assert ph not in xml, f"{f}: seed leak {ph!r}"
    t = TITLE.replace("&", "&amp;").replace("<", "&lt;").replace(">", "&gt;")
    assert t in xml, f"{f}: title missing"
    print("✓", f)
PY

This snippet does not locate the name inside the "Your Name:" field; confirm the name by opening each form.

**Gate 2 — user review.** Present the verification results before handing off the files.

Phase 4 — Circulation Guidance

Give the user this copy to send with each personalized form, written in the co-authors' language:

> Please review the attached ICMJE COI form. > - If the contents are correct, sign and reply with a PDF. > - If a change is needed, edit/check the relevant item, sign, and reply. > - If there are no changes at all, reply "no changes" and return the signed PDF separately.

All authors can be emailed in one draft batch (e.g., `gws gmail draft`). **Gate 3 — the user approves the batch** before anything is sent.

Custom Seeds and Seed Provenance

Read `${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/seeds.md` when the user wants a custom seed (different default wording, a common grant pre-filled in items 2/3) or asks how the shipped seed was made.

Read more
Ships withmedsci-skills

Created & maintained by Yoojin Nam, MD Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea MedSci Skills is a set of Agent Skills for clinical research: literature

Get the whole plugin

Other skills on medsci-skills.