# Paper A Round 25 Review - v4 round 5

Reviewer: gpt-5.5 xhigh  
Date: 2026-05-12  
Target: `paper/v4/paper_a_results_v4_section_iv.md` (§IV v3.1 target; file header still says Draft v3)  
Paired methodology: `paper/v4/paper_a_methodology_v4_section_iii.md` (§III v5)  
Rubric: `paper/codex_review_gpt55_v4_round4.md` (3 Major-PARTIAL, 2 Minor-PARTIAL, 1 Editorial-OPEN, plus 7 next-step actions)

## Verdict

Minor Revision.

The round-24 empirical and cross-reference residuals have mostly converged. §III v5 now aligns the K=3 LOOO weight drift to 0.023, fixes the §IV-I / v3.20.0 Table X FAR pointer, makes the low-cosine rule inclusive at `cos <= 0.837`, and adds the full-dataset `n = 686` provenance row. §IV v3.1 remains numerically/provenance-faithful.

I do not recommend Accept yet because the partner-facing package still contains internal draft notes/checklists and unresolved table-numbering/version residues. There is also a small anonymisation regression in §III's v5 changelog: the body now uses Firm A-D, but the internal note itself reprints two real firm names (§III:11).

## Round-24 Finding Closure Table

| Round-24 item | v5/v3.1 status | v5/v3.1 line evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Major 1. Table numbering was incoherent and inherited v3 tables collided with current v4 tables. | PARTIAL | Core collision remains fixed: §IV says fresh v4 tables are V-XVIII and inherited v3 tables keep `v3.20.0 Table N` (§IV:3); inherited detection/all-pairs/ablation are cited as v3.20.0 Tables III/IV/V/XVIII (§IV:13, 19, 256). Residual remains: the same note still says "Tables IV-XVIII" despite the v4 sequence starting at Table V (§IV:3), and the close-out checklist repeats "Tables IV-XVIII" with `Table XV-B` (§IV:265). |
| Major 2. §III stale cross-references not supported by §IV. | CLOSED | §III now points signature-level classification to §IV-J and inherited inter-CPA FAR to §IV-I (§III:18), scopes v4-new vs inherited §IV sections accurately (§III:28), cites the FAR evidence as §IV-I / v3.20.0 §IV-F.1 Table X (§III:124), and no longer sends the moderate-band open question to current §IV-F (§III:204). |
| Major 4. Anonymisation leak in paired §III/§IV package. | PARTIAL | The manuscript body is repaired: §III uses Firm A-D in the score discussion (§III:104), and §IV tables/prose use Firm A-D (§IV:95-98, 181-184, 217-222). However §III's internal v5 changelog reprints real names while saying they were removed (§III:11). This is not a body-table leak, but it keeps the file-level anonymisation cleanup incomplete until draft notes are stripped. |
| Minor 1. K=3 LOOO C1 weight drift should be 0.023/0.0235, not 0.025. | CLOSED | §III now reports 0.023 in the K=3 LOOO discussion (§III:76, 120) and provenance table (§III:178); §IV reports 0.023 (§IV:139). This matches Script 37 (`k3_loo_report.md`:79). |
| Minor 3. Low-cosine cutoff inclusivity should match Script 42 (`cos <= 0.837`). | CLOSED | §III-L now defines Likely hand-signed as "Cosine at or below" the crossover with `cos <= 0.837` (§III:148); §IV repeats `cosine <= 0.837 => Likely-hand-signed` and explicitly ties it to Script 42 (§IV:19). |
| Editorial 1. Remove draft notes and Phase 3 close-out checklist before submission. | OPEN | Internal notes remain in both files: §III has a draft note, cross-reference index, and open questions (§III:3, 193-208); §IV has a draft note and Phase 3 checklist (§IV:3, 260-269). §IV also still identifies itself as Draft v3 / post rounds 21-23 (§IV:1, 3) despite this round targeting v3.1. |
| Action 1. Scrub §III real firm names/aliases. | PARTIAL | The old body leaks are gone, but §III:11 now quotes two real firm names in the v5 changelog. Replace with "real firm names/aliases" or remove the changelog before partner review. |
| Action 2. Align K=3 LOOO weight drift to Script 37 throughout §III. | CLOSED | §III:76, §III:120, and §III:178 all use 0.023; §IV:139 matches. |
| Action 3. Fix stale §III refs: FAR pointer and moderate-band open question. | CLOSED | FAR pointer now cites §IV-I / v3.20.0 §IV-F.1 Table X (§III:124); the moderate-band open question now points to v3.20.0 Tables IX/XI/XII/XII-B and §IV-J, not current §IV-F (§III:204). |
| Action 4. Make §III-L low-cosine rule inclusive. | CLOSED | §III:148 says `cos <= 0.837`; §IV:19 and Script 42 agree. |
| Action 5. Remove/move internal notes and fix stale v2/v3/round-23 text. | OPEN | Notes remain (§III:3, 193-208; §IV:3, 260-269). Some stale text is still visible: §IV title and draft note say Draft v3 / post rounds 21-23 (§IV:1, 3), and the checklist says "this v3 of §IV" (§IV:267). |
| Action 6. Finalise table numbering and remove residual "Tables IV-XVIII" if sequence starts at Table V. | PARTIAL | The current body table sequence is internally usable (V-XVIII with XV-B), but the finalisation note still says Tables IV-XVIII (§IV:3, 265), and §III leaves table numbering open (§III:208). |
| Action 7. Add §III provenance for full-dataset `n = 686`. | CLOSED | §III now states §IV-K uses `n = 686` (§III:28) and adds a provenance row citing Script 41 / `fulldataset_report.md` (§III:184). §IV reports the same full-dataset count (§IV:230, 247). |

## Newly Introduced Issues

1. **§III v5 changelog reintroduces real firm names.** The body anonymisation fix succeeded, but §III:11 quotes two real names in the internal changelog. If the note is stripped before partner review, this disappears; if the file is circulated as-is, anonymisation is still not clean.

2. **§III empirical-anchor range is stale after the Script 41/42 additions.** §III:14 says empirical anchors reference Scripts 32-40, but the same file now cites Script 41 for full-dataset `n = 686` (§III:184) and references Scripts 38-42 in the classifier-validation caveat (§III:136). §IV's anchor statement already uses Scripts 32-42 (§IV:3). Align §III:14 to Scripts 32-42.

3. **§IV v3.1 is not labelled as v3.1 in the file.** The requested target is §IV v3.1, but the file title and draft note still say v3 / post rounds 21-23 (§IV:1, 3). This is editorial, but it will confuse the Phase 4 handoff.

## Cross-Reference Checks (§III v5 <-> §IV v3.1)

| Linkage | §III v5 evidence | §IV v3.1 evidence | Status |
|---|---:|---:|---|
| Big-4 scope and inherited/full-dataset exceptions. | §III:28, 36 | §IV:9, 15, 230, 254-256 | Tight. |
| K=2/K=3 mixtures are descriptive, not operational. | §III:62, 76-84, 154 | §IV:75, 139, 224 | Tight. |
| Three-score internal-consistency and per-firm ranking nuance. | §III:88-104 | §IV:79-102 | Tight in body; anonymisation note issue remains outside body (§III:11). |
| Positive-anchor miss rate and inherited inter-CPA FAR. | §III:122-132, 186 | §IV:143-159 | Tight; the old bad "§III-J inherited; Table X" pointer is gone. |
| Five-way classifier retained; MC band inherited only. | §III:136-150, 204 | §IV:163, 213 | Tight. |
| Inclusive LH cutoff at `cos <= 0.837`. | §III:148 | §IV:19 | Tight and matches Script 42. |
| Full-dataset robustness is light scope only. | §III:28, 184, 204 | §IV:230-252 | Tight. |
| Internal notes / table-numbering handoff. | §III:193-208 | §IV:260-269 | Not partner-ready; remaining editorial open items are all here. |

## Provenance Spot-Checks Of v5 Changes

| v5 change checked | Manuscript evidence | Spike-report evidence | Status |
|---|---:|---:|---|
| K=3 LOOO C1 weight drift is 0.023, not 0.025. | §III:76, 120, 178; §IV:139 | `k3_loo_report.md`:76 lists fold C1 weights; `k3_loo_report.md`:79 reports max C1 weight deviation 0.023. | Confirmed. |
| Full-dataset `n = 686` provenance row added. | §III:28, 184; §IV:230, 247 | `fulldataset_report.md`:10-13 reports Big-4 437 and full dataset 686; lines 29-31 report full rho 0.9558 and drift 0.0069, matching §IV:246-248. | Confirmed. |
| Low-cosine Likely-hand-signed rule is inclusive at `cos <= 0.837`. | §III:148; §IV:19 | `five_way_report.md`:6-10 defines HC/MC/HSC/UN/LH and gives `LH : cos <= 0.837`. | Confirmed. |
| Full-dataset component rows in §IV-K. | §IV:236-240 | `fulldataset_report.md`:19-23 reports the same full component centers, drifts, and BIC values after rounding. | Confirmed. |

## Phase 4 Readiness

Partial.

The empirical content and §III-§IV technical cross-references are ready for Phase 4 technical review. The package is not yet clean enough for partner-facing circulation because the internal notes/checklists remain, §IV still carries v3/round-23 labels, table numbering is still provisional, and §III:11 reprints real firm names inside the changelog.

## Recommended Next-Step Actions

1. Strip or move all internal draft notes, cross-reference indices, open questions, and the §IV Phase 3 checklist before partner review. This also removes the §III:11 anonymisation regression if the changelog is deleted.

2. If any changelog remains, replace the real names in §III:11 with "real firm names/aliases" and update §III:14 from Scripts 32-40 to Scripts 32-42.

3. Finalise §IV table numbering: either make the current v4 sequence explicitly Tables V-XVIII with XV-B accepted, or renumber to remove XV-B; in either case remove residual "Tables IV-XVIII" wording (§IV:3, 265).

4. Update the §IV header/draft note to the actual target version and round status, or remove the draft note entirely (§IV:1, 3, 267).