| name | kenya-academic-research |
| description | Use when an academic proposal, thesis, dissertation, project, defence, or research-governance artefact must be checked against a named Kenya-based handbook; use primary-research for fieldwork design and source-evaluation for evidence quality. |
| metadata | {"portable":true,"compatible_with":["claude-code","codex"]} |
Kenya Academic Research
Use this skill when an academic or applied-research artefact must meet Kenyan university or Kenya-based research-organization handbook expectations.
Always load source-evaluation/references/evidence-discipline.md first. All handbook-derived requirements must remain traceable to references/kenya-handbook-standards.md.
Router
| Task | Load |
|---|
| Kenyatta University hospitality/tourism/leisure proposal or thesis | references/kenya-handbook-standards.md section "Kenyatta University" |
| Adventist University of Africa project, thesis, or dissertation | references/kenya-handbook-standards.md section "Adventist University of Africa" |
| Groundwater research project, data, authorship, publication, or PI conduct | references/kenya-handbook-standards.md section "Regional Centre on Groundwater Resources" |
| Viva / final oral defence | references/kenya-handbook-standards.md sections "AUA" and "Kenyatta University" + academic-reporting-standards/references/viva-defense-preparation.md |
| Ethics, plagiarism, publication integrity | references/kenya-handbook-standards.md sections "Ethics and integrity" and "Research-organization controls" |
Operating Rules
- Identify the target institution or organization before applying a format rule.
- Do not merge AUA page ranges with Kenyatta University page/page-count rules.
- Treat RCGW as a research-organization governance source, not a student thesis-format manual.
- For Kenyatta University School of Hospitality work, enforce proposal page limits, APA style, plagiarism threshold, concept/proposal/thesis sequencing, and methodology justification.
- For AUA work, distinguish project, thesis, and dissertation; each has different page ranges and defence-panel expectations.
- For RCGW work, require research approvals, rigorous data handling, PI accountability, authorship discipline, peer review/validation, and publication integrity.
- If the target institution is not named, use the Kenya default scaffold and mark institution-specific formatting as a gap.
Companion Skills
academic-reporting-standards for examiner-defensible dissertation logic and reporting checklists.academic-writing for APA, plagiarism prevention, paraphrase, and academic register.research-design for research design and report-building.source-evaluation for source credibility and anti-hallucination discipline.
Use When
- Use when a named Kenya-based handbook governs an academic or research artefact.
Do Not Use When
- Do not assume one institution's rules apply to another; use general academic skills when no Kenya-specific handbook governs.
Inputs
| Artefact | Source or provider | Required? | If absent |
|---|
| Target institution, artefact, applicable handbook edition, and source register | Requester and verified handbook sources | required | Apply only general academic structure and mark institutional rules as gaps |
Workflow
- Identify institution, programme, artefact type, and handbook edition.
- Load the matching section of the handbook standards reference and map each requirement to the draft.
- Stop on conflicting, missing, or stale rules; verify before recommending a change.
- Review in read-only mode, then edit only when authorised; recover from a missing rule by preserving the gap in the disposition record.
Capability contract
Default to read-only review. Search and network verification may confirm current handbooks; editing, submission, or certification claims require explicit authority.
Degraded mode
If the governing handbook cannot be accessed, return a general academic checklist with every institution-specific check marked not assessed.
Decision rules
| Choice | Action | Failure avoided |
|---|
| Named handbook contains an explicit requirement | Apply and cite that requirement | Unsupported institutional rule |
| Handbooks conflict | Follow the governing institution and flag the conflict | Blended rule set |
Outputs
| Artefact | Consumer | Observable acceptance condition |
|---|
| Compliance matrix and authorised revision | Student, supervisor, or researcher | Each institutional finding cites the handbook section or is marked not assessed |
Kenya Academic Research Evidence Notes
- Record handbook identity, requirement location, finding, disposition, and unresolved gap.
Quality Standards
Do not claim institutional compliance from a generic checklist; preserve academic integrity and exact source traceability.
Anti-Patterns
- Applying one university's format to another. Fix: identify the governing handbook.
- Citing a handbook without a requirement location. Fix: record the section or page locator.
- Treating a missing rule as permission. Fix: mark it as a gap.
- Editing before a read-only review is accepted. Fix: separate findings from remediation.
- Certifying plagiarism or ethics compliance without evidence. Fix: report only checks actually performed.
Worked example
For a thesis review, map each heading and submission requirement to the named handbook section and leave unavailable defence rules marked not assessed.
References
Evidence Produced
| Evidence | Consumer | Acceptance |
|---|
| Handbook compliance matrix | Student, supervisor, or researcher | Each finding has a handbook locator or not-assessed status |
