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Scientific Critical Thinking

Lets the agent appraise scientific claims, study design, statistics, bias and evidence quality.

Source Download skill
Repository
K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills
Stars
55,780
Licence
MIT
Files
9 files

What it does

Once installed, the agent evaluates scientific studies and claims more rigorously. It checks whether a study's design, controls, statistics, and possible biases actually support its conclusions, and grades how strong the evidence is using recognised frameworks such as GRADE and Cochrane Risk of Bias. It explains flaws constructively, separating fatal problems from minor limitations, and points to specific parts of a paper. It is guidance for analysis, not a formal peer review.

Great for

  • Students learning to read research papers critically
  • Researchers doing a quick methodological check of a study before relying on it
  • Teachers preparing critical analysis exercises
  • Journalists or analysts checking whether a scientific claim is well supported

Skip it if

  • Writing a formal peer review report, which the skill says belongs to a separate peer-review skill
  • Medical or patient-specific decisions, since the reference examples are teaching material and not validated advice
  • Producing verified literature citations, because the skill's sources are a guide the agent cannot fully check without network access

Try asking

  • “Critique the methodology and confounders in this study abstract: [paste text]”
  • “Explain whether this trial supports its claimed effect, using GRADE domains”
  • “Check this paper's statistics for multiplicity and p-value misuse”
  • “Teach me the common biases to look for in observational studies”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Scientific Critical ThinkingInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 9 original files, the MIT licence and an attribution note.

    scientific-critical-thinking.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip scientific-critical-thinking.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip scientific-critical-thinking.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Paste the full methods and results sections, not just the abstract, so the appraisal can check design and analysis.
  • Name the outcome and comparison you care about, since the skill grades evidence per outcome.
  • Treat the output as a structured starting point and verify key claims against the original paper and primary sources.

What's inside

  • references/common_biases.md
  • references/core_capabilities.md
  • references/evidence_hierarchy.md
  • references/experimental_design.md
  • references/logical_fallacies.md
  • references/review_sources.md
  • references/scientific_method.md
  • references/statistical_pitfalls.md
  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills under the MIT licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.