# Answer key: the practice proposal

For the practice folder of "Check Your Proposal Against the Rules" (AI for Research Efficiency, In Practice:
https://douglashutchings.com/ai/proposal). **Keep this file out of the folder your agent can read,** and open it only
after your run.

**The proposal:** an NSF CAREER proposal made for the film, to NSF 22-586 under PAPPG 24-1 with Supplements NSF 26-200
and NSF 26-202, from a fictional PI (Dr. Wren Castellano) at a fictional university (Prairie Ridge State University), on
methane and nitrous oxide under alternate wetting and drying in rice. Every rule quoted below was found word for word in
the funder's documents as read on 27 October 2026.

## The eight planted problems

| # | File and place | What is planted | The rule (document, section: words) | Would Research.gov stop it? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | `02-project-description.pdf`, all 16 pages | 16 pages | PAPPG 24-1 II.D.2.d(ii): "the Project Description (including Results from Prior NSF Support, which is limited to five pages) may not exceed 15 pages."; NSF 22-586: "The Project Description may not exceed 15 pages." | Yes: NSF's list (January 30, 2023), check 29 (the solicitation's page count), Error; the list adds "Not all program solicitations can be checked due to system constraints." |
| 2 | `02`, page 14, section 7 | "The Broader Impacts of this project reach farmers, ..." inside a sentence; no heading line | PAPPG 24-1 II.D.2.d(i): "... a section labeled "Broader Impacts", and "Broader Impacts" must appear as a heading on its own line." | Yes: check 35, Error |
| 3 | `02`, page 14, section 7 | https://awd-lab.prsu.example/build (text and link) | PAPPG 24-1 II.D.2.d(ii): "PIs are cautioned that the Project Description must be self-contained, and that URLs must not be used" | Yes: check 36, Error |
| 4 | `02`, every page | body text in 10-point Computer Modern (CMR10 at 10.0 pt) | PAPPG 24-1 II.C.2: "Arial (not Arial Narrow), Courier New, or Palatino Linotype at a font size of 10 points or larger;" ... "Computer Modern family of fonts at a font size of 11 points or larger." | Not on the list (Inference): a person only |
| 5 | `02`, section 9, pages 15 and 16 | Results from Prior NSF Support without the two headings | PAPPG 24-1 II.D.2.d(iii)(c): "The results must be separately described under two distinct headings: Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts;" | Not on the list (Inference): a person only |
| 6 | `05-budget-justification.pdf` page 1 against `04-budget-as-entered.pdf` line B.3 | "Two graduate research assistants ... each at $26,400" against one funded ($26,400) | PAPPG 24-1 II.D.2.f: "The amounts for each budget line item requested must be documented and justified in the budget justification as specified below." | Not on the list (its budget checks cover the form): a person only |
| 7 | `05` page 1 against `04` line E.1 | travel "$8,000 per year" against $5,000 | as 6 | Not on the list: a person only |
| 8 | `10-letter-of-collaboration-harlow-bend-schools.pdf` | an endorsement ("I give this proposal my highest recommendation and urge you to fund it"), no single sentence | NSF 22-586: "Letters of collaboration should be limited to stating the intent to collaborate and should not contain endorsements or evaluation of the proposed project. Letters of collaboration should follow the single-sentence format:"; "Departure from this format may result in the proposal being returned without review." | Not on the list (Inference): a person only |

Three the system would also stop; five only a person catches today. Problem 4 is 10-point Computer Modern, which breaks
the same rule as 10-point Times New Roman would (both need 11 points). Line spacing (5.9 lines per inch) and margins
(1 inch) are compliant, so problem 4 is the type size alone.

## Decoys (compliant; reporting them as violations is a false finding)

URLs in References Cited (allowed there); 9- and 8-point captions, tables and figure text and 7-point chemical
subscripts in `02` (allowed); a 7.7-point degree sign in `06` (a special character); the Project Summary's three
headings, each on its own line; "No publications were produced under this award." (the required sentence); the award
number 0000000 (fictional); a title beginning "CAREER:"; no co-PIs; $573,681 against the $500,000 ENG minimum; one
summer month (two is the limit); the definition of a year; a two-page justification; a one-page mentoring plan; a
compliant Departmental Letter; Teal Slough Farms' letter in the exact single sentence; about 16 characters per inch
in `02` (an NIH limit, not NSF's); no statement on AI use (encouraged, not required).

## Not in the folder (correctly "not checked")

The data management and sharing plan (Research.gov's tool), the biographical sketch and current and pending support
(SciENcv), synergistic activities and collaborators and other affiliations, the optional PECASE statement.

## Scoring your run

Found X of 8 (one finding per planted problem, however many symptoms it names); missed, named; false findings Y;
invented rules Z (a quoted rule not found word for word in the funder's documents, or cited from the wrong document).
The film shows all four numbers for its run.

## Added after the film's run (2026-10-28)

Two true observations the key did not plant, found while scoring the film's recorded run; not scored:

- **No destination for the national meeting** (`05-budget-justification.pdf`, E. Travel: "one national meeting each
  year"): PAPPG 24-1 II.D.2.f(iv)(a): "When anticipated, travel and its relation to the proposed activities must be
  specified, itemized, and justified by destination and cost." Minor; session B folded it into its travel finding
  (planted problem 7).
- **A letter's hook in the right margin** (`02-project-description.pdf`, pages 2 and 10): the ink of an f at the end of
  justified lines reaches 0.48 point past the right one-inch line (the studio's 600-dpi render; session D measured 71.52
  points of margin on page 2). True under a strict reading of "Margins, in all directions, must be at least an inch.";
  the text's box ends at the line. Session B left visible-ink clearance Unverifiable; session D flagged it on NIFA's
  rules.