Intends to produce first-class manuscript (4)
I believe the answer is:
aims
'intends' is the definition.
(aiming is a kind of intending)
'first-class manuscript' is the wordplay.
'first class' becomes 'ai' (A1 - top quality).
'manuscript' becomes 'ms' (abbreviation for manuscript).
'ai'+'ms'='AIMS'
'to produce' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for aims that I've seen before include "Trains - intentions" , "Proposes or intends" , "Objectives, purposes" , "Objectives; points" , "Targets and ambitions" .)