research-topic

name	research-topic
description	Research a technical or academic topic in depth to support article writing. Finds key papers, surveys the state of the art, identifies competing approaches, and produces a research brief with citations. Use when preparing to write an article and needing to understand the landscape and find references.
argument-hint	<topic> [output_dir] [target_journal]
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Glob, Grep, WebSearch, WebFetch, Task

Topic Research for Article Writing

Research a topic deeply to support writing a technical or academic article, with a focus on what has been published and what gaps remain.

Arguments

• $0 — The topic to research (required; can be a short phrase or a question, e.g. "LLM-based code generation for embedded systems" or "does pair programming improve code quality?")
• $1 — Output directory (optional; defaults to output/<topic_slug>/)
• $2 — Target journal (optional; shapes the depth and style of research — practitioner vs. research)

Workflow

Phase 1: Understand the Topic

Break the topic down into:

1. Core concept — What is the subject?
2. Key sub-questions — What specific aspects need to be covered?
3. Key terms — What search terms will find the best material?
4. Competing framings — Are there different schools of thought?

Phase 2: Literature Search

Search for material systematically. For each category below, run 2–4 targeted searches.

2a. Foundational Papers and Surveys

Search: <topic> survey, <topic> review, <topic> overview Look for papers with >100 citations or from top venues (ICSE, FSE, ISSTA, PLDI, OOPSLA, etc.)

2b. Recent Work (last 3 years)

Search: <topic> 2024, <topic> 2025, <topic> 2026 Focus on novel results, tools, datasets, benchmarks.

2c. Practical/Industry Angle

Search: <topic> industry, <topic> practice, <topic> case study Especially important for IEEE Software and CACM Practice submissions.

2d. Contrarian or Critical Views

Search: <topic> limitations, <topic> criticism, <topic> failure, <topic> challenges A strong article acknowledges the limits of the approach.

2e. Tools, Benchmarks, Datasets

Search: <topic> tool, <topic> benchmark, <topic> dataset, <topic> open source

Phase 3: Read and Extract

For the top 5–10 most relevant sources found, use WebFetch to read abstracts and key sections.

Extract for each source:

• Title, authors, year, venue
• Key claim / contribution
• Methodology (if applicable)
• Key findings / numbers
• Limitations
• Relation to the target article topic

Phase 4: Identify the Gap

After surveying the landscape, identify:

1. What is well-established — broadly accepted, widely replicated
2. What is actively debated — multiple competing approaches, no consensus
3. What is missing — topics not covered, approaches not tried, questions not asked
4. Where the article fits — how the author's contribution relates to the above

Phase 5: Produce Research Brief

Write a research brief to output/<topic_slug>/<topic_slug>_research_brief.md with this structure:

# Research Brief: <Topic>

**Prepared:** <date>
**Target journal:** <journal or "General">
**Topic query:** <original topic phrase>

---

## 1. Topic Overview

<2-3 paragraphs explaining the topic, why it matters, and how it is typically studied>

## 2. Key Concepts and Terminology

| Term | Definition | First use |
|------|-----------|-----------|
| ... | ... | ... |

## 3. Foundational Work

| Paper/Work | Authors | Year | Contribution | Venue |
|-----------|---------|------|-------------|-------|
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |

## 4. State of the Art (Recent Work)

| Paper/Work | Authors | Year | Contribution | Key Result |
|-----------|---------|------|-------------|-----------|
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |

## 5. Industry / Practitioner Perspective

<What practitioners know/believe about this topic; what tools exist; what problems remain unsolved in practice>

## 6. Key Debates and Open Questions

(What is contested? What has been tried and failed?)

## 7. The Gap — Where New Work Fits

<What is missing that a new article could contribute>

## 8. Suggested Related Work to Cite

(Organized by section/argument of a potential article)

## 9. Sources

| # | Title | URL / Reference | Year | Notes |
|---|-------|----------------|------|-------|
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |

Phase 6: (Optional) Search for Competing Submissions

If time permits, search for recent arXiv preprints or workshop papers on this topic to check whether very similar work has already been published recently:

• Search: arxiv <topic> 2025, arxiv <topic> 2026

Output

• output/<topic_slug>/<topic_slug>_research_brief.md — Research brief with structured findings and citations

Notes

• Prioritize papers from top-tier venues (ICSE, FSE, PLDI, SOSP, etc.) and IEEE/ACM publications
• For IEEE Software and CACM Practice, spend more time on the industry/practitioner angle; these editors expect work grounded in real-world experience
• For IEEE TSE, cover methodology and related work in depth — reviewers expect comprehensive literature awareness
• If the user's core claim is already well-established in the literature, flag this prominently — it means the framing or contribution needs sharpening
• Use the data/journal_profiles.json file in this project to understand what each journal values