# Systems Paper Writing

Comprehensive guide for writing systems papers targeting OSDI, SOSP, ASPLOS, NSDI, and...

- Repository: https://github.com/Orchestra-Research/AI-Research-SKILLs (14176 stars)
- Category: Writing
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-10-11
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add Orchestra-Research/AI-Research-SKILLs --skill systems-paper-writing -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add Orchestra-Research/AI-Research-SKILLs --skill systems-paper-writing -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add Orchestra-Research/AI-Research-SKILLs --skill systems-paper-writing -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add Orchestra-Research/AI-Research-SKILLs --skill systems-paper-writing -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add Orchestra-Research/AI-Research-SKILLs`

## Description

Comprehensive guide for writing systems papers targeting OSDI, SOSP, ASPLOS, NSDI, and EuroSys. Provides paragraph-level structural blueprints, writing patterns, venue-specific checklists, reviewer guidelines, LaTeX templates, and conference deadlines. Use this skill for all systems conference paper writing.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Systems Paper Writing: Paragraph-Level Structural Blueprint

Fine-grained structural guidance for writing **10, 12 page systems papers** targeting top systems venues: OSDI, SOSP, ASPLOS, NSDI, and EuroSys. This skill provides page allocation per section, paragraph-level blueprints, and writing patterns distilled from authoritative guides and best-paper analysis.

## When to Use This Skill

| Scenario | Use This Skill | Use ml-paper-writing Instead |
|----------|---------------|------------------------------|
| Structuring a 12-page OSDI/SOSP paper | ✅ | |
| Page budget and paragraph planning | ✅ | |
| Systems-specific evaluation structure | ✅ | |
| General ML paper writing philosophy | | ✅ |
| Citation verification workflow | | ✅ |
| LaTeX templates and formatting | | ✅ |
| NeurIPS/ICML/ICLR paper structure | | ✅ |

**Boundary**: ml-paper-writing provides general writing philosophy, multi-venue templates, and citation verification. This skill focuses exclusively on **paragraph-level structural blueprints** for systems conferences.

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## Authoritative Sources

This blueprint synthesizes guidance from established systems researchers:

1. **Levin & Redell**, "How (and How Not) to Write a Good Systems Paper" (SOSP'83 PC Chairs, USENIX/ACM SIGOPS)
2. **Irene Zhang** (MSR/UW), "Hints on how to write an SOSP paper" (SOSP/OSDI PC)
3. **Gernot Heiser** (UNSW, seL4), Style Guide + Paper Writing Talk
4. **Timothy Roscoe** (ETH Zürich), "Writing reviews for systems conferences"
5. **Mike Dahlin** (UT Austin/Google), "Giving a Conference Talk"
6. **Yi Ding**, "How to write good systems papers?"
7. **hzwer & DingXiaoH**, WritingAIPaper (GitHub 1.3k+ stars)

Full citations and URLs: see [references/section-blueprints.md](references/section-blueprints.md).

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## 12-Page Systems Paper Blueprint

### Overview: Page Allocation

The rest: https://github.com/Orchestra-Research/AI-Research-SKILLs/blob/HEAD/20-ml-paper-writing/systems-paper-writing/SKILL.md