| name | research-writing |
| description | Research writing conventions for academic and professional contexts. Covers the research process (question formation, literature review, methodology, evidence evaluation), academic genres (research paper, literature review, annotated bibliography, thesis/dissertation, conference paper), citation and attribution (MLA, APA, Chicago, IEEE, in-text vs. footnote, bibliography construction), source evaluation (CRAAP test, peer review, primary vs. secondary, bias detection), research argument construction (hypothesis-driven, question-driven, thesis as evolving claim), and ethical research practices (plagiarism, paraphrase integrity, IRB considerations, data transparency). Use when writing research papers, evaluating sources, constructing academic arguments, or teaching research methodology. |
| type | skill |
| category | writing |
| status | stable |
| origin | tibsfox |
| modified | false |
| first_seen | "2026-04-11T00:00:00.000Z" |
| first_path | examples/skills/writing/research-writing/SKILL.md |
| superseded_by | null |
Research Writing
Research writing is argumentation grounded in systematic inquiry. It differs from personal essay or opinion writing not in the presence of a thesis but in the nature of the evidence: research writing draws on sources that have been found, evaluated, and synthesized through a disciplined process. The research paper is not a report of what others have said -- it is an original argument supported by a curated body of evidence. This skill covers the research process, academic genres, citation systems, source evaluation, argument construction, and ethical practice.
Agent affinity: orwell (argument clarity), baldwin (research as moral inquiry), calkins (teaching research process), strunk (citation precision)
Concept IDs: writ-textual-evidence, writ-close-reading, writ-thematic-analysis, writ-interpretive-frameworks
Part I -- The Research Process
Question Formation
Research begins with a question, not a topic. "Climate change" is a topic. "How do carbon pricing mechanisms affect industrial emissions in developing economies?" is a research question. The question must be specific enough to be answerable, significant enough to be worth answering, and open enough that the answer is not predetermined.
The funnel model:
- Broad interest: Climate policy.
- Narrowed focus: Market-based climate policy instruments.
- Research question: How do carbon pricing mechanisms affect industrial emissions in developing economies?
- Working thesis: Carbon pricing reduces emissions in developing economies only when paired with energy access guarantees.
The working thesis is provisional -- it guides research but is revised as evidence accumulates.
Literature Review
A literature review is not a list of summaries. It is a map of the scholarly conversation: who has investigated this question, what methods they used, what they found, where they agree and disagree, and what remains unknown.
Structure options:
- Chronological: Traces the development of the field over time.
- Thematic: Groups sources by subtopic or argument.
- Methodological: Groups sources by approach (quantitative, qualitative, mixed).
- Debate-oriented: Organizes around competing positions.
The gap statement. Every literature review ends by identifying what the existing research has not addressed. This gap is the justification for the current project.
Evidence Evaluation
Not all evidence is equal. The strength of a research argument depends on the quality of its sources.
