dissertation-research-search-protocol

name	dissertation-research-search-protocol
description	Plan, run, and record source-grounded literature or web research for the dissertation, with search questions, source screening, evidence boundaries, citation readiness, and knowledge-base updates.

Dissertation Research Search Protocol

Use this skill when searching, screening, or synthesizing literature, websites, LMS/module sources, supervisor resources, policy guidance, or other external sources for the dissertation.

Purpose

Turn broad research needs into a traceable source workflow. This skill adapts the ECC deep-research idea to dissertation work: split the search, verify sources, separate evidence from inference, and update the local knowledge base.

Start Gate

Before searching, define:

1. research purpose
2. 3-5 focused search questions
3. source types needed
4. inclusion and exclusion boundaries
5. whether the output is for proposal, ethics, literature review, concept-card design, or supervisor discussion

If the task needs current or exact external information, browse and cite sources. Prefer primary sources, official policy pages, publisher pages, DOI records, module pages, and peer-reviewed articles.

Search Clusters For This Dissertation

Use these default clusters unless the user narrows the scope:

• active learning implementation in higher education
• AI agents / GenAI support for teaching and learning
• university teacher adoption of educational technology
• trust, autonomy, workload, accountability, and pedagogic identity
• co-design, participatory design, and design elicitation with teachers
• responsible AI, privacy, governance, and educational risk
• qualitative methodology, interview design, reflexive thematic analysis, and small-scale dissertation design

Source Screening

For each source, record:

• citation or working citation
• link / DOI / local path
• source type
• status: METADATA VERIFIED, ABSTRACT REVIEWED, FULL TEXT REVIEWED, WEBSITE REVIEWED, or NEEDS VERIFICATION
• relevance to the dissertation
• evidence boundary: what the source can and cannot support
• whether it is usable in formal proposal/dissertation text now

Use CONTEXTUAL SOURCE / NOT PEER REVIEWED for websites or supervisor resources that help thinking but should not support formal empirical claims.

Synthesis Rules

• Build a synthesis matrix, not a source-by-source list, unless the user asks for annotated bibliography.
• Every substantive claim needs a source or a clear INFERENCE label.
• Do not convert metadata into full evidence.
• Do not cite sources in formal text until they have been checked enough for the claim being made.
• Separate confirmed information, interpretation, and next search needed.
• Use dissertation-learning-loop after useful new sources are screened so reusable knowledge reaches the source register, literature map, Obsidian, or open-question list.

Output Files

Update these when useful:

• knowledge-base/SOURCE_REGISTER.md
• knowledge-base/ACADEMIC_SEARCH_LOG.md
• research-wiki/LITERATURE_MAP.md
• research-wiki/OPEN_QUESTIONS.md
• Obsidian source notes under <OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH>/03_Literature/Sources/

Output Shape

Use this compact structure:

结论:
...

Search scope:
...

Confirmed sources:
...

Useful but limited sources:
...

Evidence boundary:
...

Next reading:
...

Guardrails

• Do not hallucinate sources, article details, quotations, DOIs, page numbers, or author claims.
• If a source is only skimmed, say so.
• If a source is useful for thinking but not formal evidence, mark it clearly.
• Do not store raw participant data in literature notes.