coulomb-research/seed/PublicationInterface.md

# Publication Interface

## Purpose

The Publication Interface connects Coulomb-native research to conventional scientific literature and institutions.

The governing rule is:

> The living research graph is canonical. Papers are import/export containers.

This allows Coulomb to interoperate with traditional science without making the paper the primary internal unit of knowledge.

## 1. Inbound: Paper Digestion

An external paper should be treated as an externally authored artifact that can be decomposed into reusable research objects.

### 1.1 Ingestion pipeline

```text
external paper
   ↓
identity resolution
   ↓
metadata extraction
   ↓
content parsing
   ↓
claim / method / evidence extraction
   ↓
relation mapping
   ↓
provenance capture
   ↓
Coulomb research graph
```

### 1.2 Candidate input formats

- DOI
- arXiv identifier
- URL
- PDF
- BibTeX
- RIS
- JATS XML
- Crossref metadata
- DataCite metadata
- repository metadata

### 1.3 PaperDigest model

A useful normalized representation:

```yaml
source:
  doi:
  arxiv:
  url:

identity:
  title:
  authors:
  institutions:
  publication_date:
  venue:

digest:
  research_question:
  propositions:
  methods:
  evidence:
  limitations:
  conclusions:

relations:
  depends_on:
  supports:
  challenges:
  extends:
  uses_dataset:
  uses_software:

provenance:
  digest_actor:
  digest_model:
  created_at:
  confidence:
  human_verified:
```

### 1.4 Epistemic separation

The system must preserve the distinction between:

- what the paper states,
- what an extraction agent inferred,
- what external evidence supports,
- what Coulomb participants currently accept.

No ingestion pipeline should silently convert extraction into endorsement.

## 2. Recursive Literature Digestion

Once ingested, a paper may trigger additional work:

```text
references
   ↓
missing foundational work

cited-by graph
   ↓
later extensions and criticism

extracted propositions
   ↓
matching Coulomb propositions

methods
   ↓
replication candidates

limitations
   ↓
open problems
```

Traditional scientific publishing becomes an external sensor network for Coulomb.

## 3. Outbound: Paper Projection

A paper is generated from a selected region of the research graph.

```text
research graph
   ↓
scope selection
   ↓
narrative synthesis
   ↓
paper representation
   ↓
target-specific rendering
```

The exported paper may include:

- research question,
- context,
- propositions,
- methods,
- evidence,
- results,
- criticism,
- limitations,
- contribution statements,
- references,
- supplementary artifacts.

## 4. Publication Stages

Publication state is orthogonal to epistemic state.

A paper may be epistemically weak but externally published, or epistemically strong but unpublished.

### P1 — Internal Circulation

Purpose:
- collaborator review,
- narrative coherence,
- limitation discovery,
- synthesis of current state.

Characteristics:
- restricted visibility,
- mutable revisions,
- stable Coulomb version identifiers,
- no expectation of venue compliance.

Example:

```yaml
publication_stage: P1
publication_state: internal-circulation
visibility: collaborators
```

### P2 — External Preprint

Purpose:
- public disclosure,
- wider criticism,
- prior-art visibility,
- citable public version.

Characteristics:
- public artifact,
- external identifier where appropriate,
- explicit versioning,
- linkage back to Coulomb provenance.

Example:

```yaml
publication_stage: P2
publication_state: external-preprint
external_identifiers:
  arxiv:
  doi:
```

### P3 — Venue Candidate

Purpose:
- target a specific conference, journal, workshop, or other conventional venue.

Characteristics:
- venue-specific format,
- scope matching,
- submission constraints,
- anonymization if required,
- targeted revision cycle.

Example:

```yaml
publication_stage: P3
publication_state: venue-candidate
target:
  venue:
  track:
  deadline:
```

### External Version of Record

A published conference/journal version should be tracked as an external event, not as a superior Coulomb epistemic state.

```yaml
external_publication:
  venue:
  doi:
  accepted_at:
  published_at:
```

## 5. Publication Adapter

Conceptual interface:

```text
                 COULOMB GRAPH
                      │
              Publication Adapter
              ┌───────┴────────┐
              ▼                ▼
           IMPORT            EXPORT
              │                │
        DOI / PDF / ...   graph selection
              │                │
              ▼                ▼
           Digest          renderer
                                │
                                ▼
                         venue-compatible paper
```

## 6. Export Targets

Potential exporters:

- Markdown
- LaTeX
- PDF
- DOCX
- JATS
- arXiv bundle
- BibTeX
- CSL JSON
- venue-specific templates

The long-term interface may resemble:

```text
publish --stage P2 --target arxiv
publish --stage P3 --target neurips
```

without making those targets part of the core ontology.

## 7. Scientific Identity Interoperability

Where useful, map Coulomb identities and contributions to:

- ORCID for researchers,
- DOI for persistent outputs,
- ROR for institutions,
- CRediT for conventional contribution statements.

Coulomb's internal contribution graph may remain richer than any external standard.

## 8. Agent Authorship and Contribution

Coulomb should record machine contributions explicitly.

External publication adapters must comply with target-venue rules while preserving internal provenance.

Example internal provenance:

```yaml
contributors:
  - actor: human:alice
    contributions: [conceptualization, validation]
  - actor: agent:critic-v4
    contributions: [literature-analysis, counterexample-search]
```

If an external venue does not recognize agent authorship, the adapter should transform presentation without erasing the internal record.

## 9. Design Principle

> Interoperate at the boundary; do not duplicate legacy publication infrastructure internally.