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Templates · empirical

Empirical

By E2ER contributors

Question and data in, empirical paper out. E2ER's default.

In placeValidated template file, chosen per paperempiricaltheoretical
Anyone can contribute. Improve this template Contribute a template
Input
A research question, your data and your literature
Output
A draft paper with a replication package and an evidence package
Template file
pipelines/empirical.toml validated against pipeline.schema.json
Always at the end
compileaudit_exportgithub_pushstructured_export runs however the run ended

Description

Data model
Discipline
Economics
Method family
Empirical (quantitative)Theoretical
Design
not specified
Research stage
ReviewRevision and editingReplicationResearch questionLiterature synthesisData acquisitionResearch designData analysisDrafting
Contributors
E2ER contributors (Software, Methodology)
Usage
1 published study · Examples: 3 example studies, 4 example forks
Source
E2ER repository · pipelines/empirical.toml · @3b91f0e
Record
template:empirical · JSON

Solid tags are declared by the source or mapped from its terms; dashed tags are inferred by a published rule. Hover a tag for its provenance.

Pipeline at a glance

The figures below follow the empirical template from input to output. You can pause the run for inspection after any step with e2er run --review-at <step>.

Input
Research question
your datayour literature (PDFs or Zotero)a model subscription or API key
01 · Design
  1. initial Strategist plans the paper literature · data · identification · specification
writespaper_plan.mdliterature_review.mdidentification_strategy.mddata_dictionary.json
02 · Analysis
  1. initial Estimation and first draft data_analyst · econometrics_specialist · paper_drafter
  2. iterative Further strategist rounds iterative mode only
  3. estimation_gate Estimation check halts the run if the estimation departs from the declared specification
writeseconometric_spec.mdestimation_results.jsonpaper_draft.tex
03 · Quality assurance
  1. self_attack Self-attack iterative mode only
  2. polish Polish five specialists in parallel · iterative mode only
  3. review Checks, then six reviewers numbers and citations first · aggregated verdict
writesnumber_verification.jsoncitation_integrity.jsonreview_aggregation.json
04 · Delivery
  1. revision Revision full revision and targeted edits
  2. replication Replication package replication_packager
  3. finalize Always at the end compile · audit export · GitHub push · evidence package
writespaper.pdfreplication/provenance.json
Output
Paper
replication packageevidence package that e2er verify can check
Fig. 1. Phases of the empirical template. Step names are the ones in pipelines/empirical.toml; green steps are checks.
self_attack · a specialist attacks the paper's own argument and evidence iterative mode
polish · formulas, numbers, institutions, equilibria, bibliography iterative mode
numbers and citations are checked before any reviewer reads the draft
MechanismTechnicalIdentificationLiteratureDataWriting
Aggregation, applied in order
  1. Mechanism score below 5 → MECHANISM_FAIL
  2. Any reviewer below 4 → HARD_REJECT
  3. Weighted average: 8 or more → ACCEPT, 6.5 → MINOR_REVISION, 5 → MAJOR_REVISION, below 5 → HARD_REJECT
Fig. 2. Quality-assurance stack. The verdict follows mechanically from the six scores, so no single reviewer accepts or rejects a paper alone.
Design
paper_plan.mdliterature_review.mdidentification_strategy.mddata_dictionary.json
Analysis
econometric_spec.mdestimation_results.jsonpaper_draft.tex
Quality assurance
number_verification.jsoncitation_integrity.jsonreview_aggregation.json
Delivery
paper.pdfreplication/provenance.json
Fig. 3. Files handed from one phase to the next. Every file ends up in the evidence package and gets a fingerprint in its file list (provenance.json).

Steps

Greyed steps do not run in the selected mode.

  1. 1
    initial
    Plans the paper and dispatches specialists for the literature, data, identification strategy, econometric specification, analysis and drafting.
    idea_developerliterature_scannerdata_architectidentification_strategisteconometrics_specialistdata_analystpaper_drafter
    strategist
  2. 2
    iterative
    Further rounds of the strategist, revisiting design and analysis.
    strategist
  3. 3
    estimation_gate
    Checks the estimation against the specification declared before it ran. Halts the run on failure.
    check
  4. 4
    self_attack
    A specialist attacks the paper's own argument and evidence.
    self_attacker
    specialists
  5. 5
    polish
    Five specialists polish formulas, numbers, institutional detail, equilibria and the bibliography.
    polish_formulapolish_numericspolish_institutionspolish_equilibriapolish_bibliography
    specialists, parallel
  6. 6
    review
    Numbers and citations are checked first. Six reviewers (mechanism, technical, literature, data, identification, writing) then score the draft.
    mechanism_reviewertechnical_reviewerliterature_reviewerdata_revieweridentification_reviewerwriting_reviewer
    aggregate, parallel
  7. 7
    revision
    Revises the draft in response to the reviews, as a full revision and as targeted edits.
    revisorpatch_revisor
    specialists
  8. 8
    replication
    Builds the replication package.
    replication_packager
    specialists

Versions and evaluations

One version, unreleased

One version so far: pipelines/empirical.toml on the development branch. It ships with the next release. No evaluation records exist yet.

Adapt this template Evaluate this template Report a failure
Cite this template
Persistent identifiers planned 
@software{e2ercontributors2026e2erempiricaltemplate,
  title   = {E2ER empirical template},
  author  = {E2ER contributors},
  year    = {2026},
  note    = {E2ER template. Persistent identifier planned},
  url     = {https://e2er.org/templates/empirical}
}
 Run it

Connectors this template can use

What a run of this template can reach outside your machine, and what each sends out.

Anthropic APILeaves your machine: Prompts, including passages and data summaries OpenRouterLeaves your machine: Prompts, including passages and data summaries Claude CodeLeaves your machine: Prompts, including passages and data summaries CodexLeaves your machine: Prompts, including passages and data summaries GeminiLeaves your machine: Prompts, including passages and data summaries PDF folderLeaves your machine: Nothing leaves your machine Zotero library (local)Leaves your machine: Nothing leaves your machine Zotero Web APILeaves your machine: Queries only OpenAlexLeaves your machine: References or search terms CrossrefLeaves your machine: References or search terms Semantic ScholarLeaves your machine: References or search terms Your data folderLeaves your machine: Nothing leaves your machine FREDLeaves your machine: Queries only Yahoo Finance (yfinance)Leaves your machine: Queries only AlliumLeaves your machine: Queries only Zenodo dataset by DOIplannedLeaves your machine: Queries only Harvard Dataverse dataset by DOIplannedLeaves your machine: Queries only GitHubLeaves your machine: Files, to your own account

Checks on this template

  • ✓Output contracts · Every step produced the artifact it declared, in the declared form
    Required of every template.
  • ✓Execution reliability · Analysis code ran and wrote a parseable, non-empty result
    Required of every template.
  • ○Numbers · Every number in tables and text matches the output of executed code
    Proposed. Proposed for the floor; runs log it but may not block on it.
  • ○Citations · Every reference resolves to an existing publication via OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar or Crossref
    Proposed. Proposed for the floor; runs log it but may not block on it.
  • ○Verbatim passages · Every claim about a source points to a passage found word for word in that source
    Proposed. Proposed for the floor; runs log it but may not block on it.

Runs of this template

No Cash Flows, New Owners: Spot Bitcoin ETFs and the Origins of Co-movementIn place

Use it

pip install e2er
e2er run "<your research question>"

The empirical template is the default. Other template files placed in ./pipelines or ~/.e2er/pipelines appear in the dashboard's new-paper form; this ships with the next release.