kenya-academic-research

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

1. Identify the target institution or organization before applying a format rule.
2. Do not merge AUA page ranges with Kenyatta University page/page-count rules.
3. Treat RCGW as a research-organization governance source, not a student thesis-format manual.
4. For Kenyatta University School of Hospitality work, enforce proposal page limits, APA style, plagiarism threshold, concept/proposal/thesis sequencing, and methodology justification.
5. For AUA work, distinguish project, thesis, and dissertation; each has different page ranges and defence-panel expectations.
6. For RCGW work, require research approvals, rigorous data handling, PI accountability, authorship discipline, peer review/validation, and publication integrity.
7. 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

1. Identify institution, programme, artefact type, and handbook edition.
2. Load the matching section of the handbook standards reference and map each requirement to the draft.
3. Stop on conflicting, missing, or stale rules; verify before recommending a change.
4. 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

• Kenya handbook standards

Evidence Produced

Evidence	Consumer	Acceptance
Handbook compliance matrix	Student, supervisor, or researcher	Each finding has a handbook locator or not-assessed status