/academic-pipeline

Team Collaboration Protocol

Purpose

Guidelines for coordinating multi-person academic research teams using the pipeline. Claude Code runs as a single-user session; this protocol documents the human coordination layer that wraps around pipeline executions.

Role Definitions

Role Assignment Rules

• One person may hold multiple roles (common in small teams)
• Research Lead and Lead Author are the minimum required roles (can be the same person)
• Integration Lead is recommended for teams of 3+
• Methods Specialist is strongly recommended for empirical papers
• All role assignments should be documented at pipeline intake

Handoff Protocol

For each stage transition, the following handoff procedure applies:

Stage 1 -> Stage 2 (Research -> Write)

Stage 2 -> Stage 2.5 (Write -> Integrity)

Stage 2.5 -> Stage 3 (Integrity -> Review)

Stage 3 -> Stage 4 (Review -> Revise)

Stage 4 -> Stage 3' (Revise -> Re-Review)

Stage 4.5 -> Stage 5 (Final Integrity -> Finalize)

Version Control

Git Branching Strategy

main
  |-- paper/draft-v1          (Stage 2 output)
  |-- paper/post-integrity-v1 (Stage 2.5 output)
  |-- paper/post-review-v1    (Stage 4 output)
  |-- paper/final-v1          (Stage 5 output)

Tagging Convention

Rules

• Never overwrite; always create a new version
• All versions are preserved for audit trail
• Version labels must match the Material Passport version_label field (Schema 9 in shared/handoff_schemas.md)
• Each team member's changes should be attributable (use git author info)

Conflict Resolution

Disagreement Documentation

All disagreements must be documented in the revision tracking:

## Disagreement Record

**Date**: [date]
**Stage**: [stage]
**Parties**: [who disagreed]
**Issue**: [what the disagreement was about]
**Resolution**: [how it was resolved]
**Authority**: [who made the final call]
**Rationale**: [why this decision was made]

Communication Templates

1. Handoff Notification

## Handoff: Stage [X] -> Stage [Y]

**From**: [Role] ([Name])
**To**: [Role] ([Name])
**Date**: [date]

**Materials Delivered**:
- [Material 1] (version: [version_label])
- [Material 2] (version: [version_label])

**Status Summary**:
[1-2 sentence summary of what was accomplished and any open items]

**Action Required**:
[What the receiving person needs to do next]

**Deadline**: [if applicable]

2. Review Request

## Review Request: [Paper Title]

**From**: [Review Coordinator]
**To**: [Team / External Reviewer]
**Date**: [date]

**Paper Version**: [version_label]
**Word Count**: [N]
**Review Type**: [Internal simulated / External journal / Team peer review]

**Focus Areas**:
1. [specific area to focus on]
2. [specific area to focus on]

**Deadline**: [date]
**Return Format**: [Use Schema 6 format from shared/handoff_schemas.md]

3. Revision Assignment

## Revision Assignment: [Paper Title]

**From**: [Review Coordinator]
**To**: [Lead Author / Methods Specialist]
**Date**: [date]

**Revision Round**: [N]
**Total Items**: [N] (must_fix: [N], should_fix: [N], consider: [N])

**Your Assignments**:
- [REV-001]: [brief description] — assigned to [name]
- [REV-003]: [brief description] — assigned to [name]

**Deadline**: [date]
**Coordination Notes**: [any dependencies between revision items]

Workflow for Teams

Small Team (2-3 people)

Person A (Research Lead + Lead Author):
  - Runs Stage 1 (RESEARCH) with their Claude session
  - Runs Stage 2 (WRITE) with their Claude session
  - Receives revision items, runs Stage 4/4'
  - Runs Stage 5 (FINALIZE)

Person B (Methods Specialist + Review Coordinator):
  - Reviews Stage 1 methodology output
  - Reviews Stage 2 methods section
  - Manages Stage 3/3' review process
  - Handles specific methodology revision items

Handoff: via shared folder or git repo
Materials: conform to schemas in shared/handoff_schemas.md

Large Team (4+ people)

Add Integration Lead role:
  - Monitors all stage transitions
  - Validates handoff completeness
  - Resolves cross-stage inconsistencies
  - Maintains pipeline state document (shared with all team members)

Limitations

• Claude Code runs as a single-user session; this protocol documents the HUMAN coordination layer
• Each team member runs their own pipeline stages independently in separate Claude sessions
• Handoff materials (conforming to schemas in shared/handoff_schemas.md) ensure consistency across sessions
• Real-time co-editing is not supported; use git or shared documents for synchronization
• Pipeline state tracking is per-session; the Integration Lead must manually synchronize state across sessions
• The pipeline does not enforce team role permissions; discipline is maintained by convention