aer-rebuttallisted

# AER Rebuttal ## Overview A Revise & Resubmit at AER is precious — most submissions never get one. The goal of the rebuttal is **not** to "defend the paper." It is to give the editor a credible package they can send back to the referees with confidence, ending in either acceptance or a single short final round. The single most important rule: **revise the manuscript first; write the response letter against the revised manuscript, never against the old draft.** ## When to Use - An R&R decision has arrived - A "reject and resubmit" requires a structured response - A conditional acceptance comes with minor revisions - The user needs to decide which reviewer comments to concede, clarify, or push back on Do not use this skill for: - Initial submission (use `aer-submission`) - Pre-emptive robustness drafting (use `aer-robustness`) - Writing referee reports as a reviewer (different conventions) ## Response Principle Every reviewer comment ends in **exactly one** of: 1. **Clarified in response only** — no manuscript change; the answer was already there but hard to find 2. **Revised in manuscript only** — change made, briefly noted in response 3. **Revised in both manuscript and response** — change made, response explains the substance 4. **Respectfully declined with justification** — change not made, explicit rationale given No comment ends in the vague middle ground. ## Triage Workflow ### Step 1 — Parse Convert the editor letter and each referee report into an **atom