---
name: cell-summary
description: Use to write Cell's Summary — a single unstructured paragraph of ≤ ~150 words that conveys the complete story, the mechanism, and the broad significance, quantified and readable by a general life-scientist. Late-stage polish.
---

# Summary / Abstract (cell-summary)

## When to trigger

- Significance, framing, and structure are settled (do this late).
- The abstract reads like a method recap with no mechanism or result.
- It exceeds ~150 words, uses subheadings, or is dense with acronyms.
- It states *that* something happens but never *how* (no mechanism).

## What Cell calls it

Cell's abstract is the **Summary**: a **single, unstructured paragraph** (no subheadings, no citations) of roughly **≤150 words**, written for a broad life-sciences readership — not your subfield. It must convey the **complete story**: the question, the mechanism, and why it matters, with quantification.

## Five-move structure (no labels in the text)

1. **Context / stakes** (1 sentence) — the broad biological problem.
2. **Gap / question** (1 sentence) — what was unknown.
3. **What we did + what we found** (2–3 sentences) — the mechanism, with the key quantified results and the converging evidence that makes it a complete story.
4. **Mechanism stated explicitly** — name the molecular/cellular cause, not just the phenotype.
5. **Significance** (1 sentence) — why a broad community should care.

Because Cell demands completeness, the Summary should make clear that the mechanism is *established*, not merely proposed — convey that multiple lines of evidence converge.

## Hard constraints

- [ ] ≤ ~150 words (treat 150 as the ceiling; confirm the current cap).
- [ ] Single paragraph; **no subheadings, no citations**, no figure/table references.
- [ ] Define any acronym on first use, or avoid it.
- [ ] Names the **mechanism** explicitly (the *how*), not only the observation.
- [ ] At least one **quantified** result (e.g., "reduced 3-fold," not "significantly reduced").
- [ ] First sentence is comprehensible to a life-scientist outside the subfield.

## Jargon blacklist (rewrite on sight)

- "Herein we report…", "Importantly,", "Interestingly,", "Notably,", "Strikingly,"
- Strings of ≥2 undefined gene/protein acronyms in one sentence.
- "elucidate", "delineate", "interrogate", "dissect", "leverage" as filler verbs.
- Hedging stacks: "may potentially suggest that it could…".
- Ending on "further studies are needed" — end on significance.

## Quantification check

Every effect claim should carry a number somewhere in the paper, and the headline effect belongs in the Summary: magnitude + unit + (where natural) statistical support. A Summary with zero numbers is not finished.

## Output format

```
【Summary】 single paragraph (word count: N ≤ 150)
【Five moves present?】 context / gap / approach+result / mechanism named / significance
【Mechanism explicit?】 yes/no — the named molecular/cellular cause
【Quantified headline result?】 yes/no + the number
【Jargon hits removed】 [...]
【Next】 cell-highlights
```

## Anti-patterns

- **Do not** use subheadings or a structured-abstract format — Cell's Summary is one paragraph.
- **Do not** describe only the phenomenon; name the mechanism.
- **Do not** open with the organism or assay; open with the biological stake.
- **Do not** pad past ~150 words; the cap is a feature.
- **Do not** confuse the Summary with the eTOC blurb (that one is third-person and lay; see `cell-highlights`).

> The ~150-word cap is a working default — confirm against current Cell Press author guidelines.