brycewang-stanford/research-ideation

Research Ideation

Supports the complete workflow for the research project initiation phase, from literature review to research question definition, method selection, and research planning.

Core Features

1. Idea Brainstorming (5W1H Framework)

Systematically brainstorm research ideas using the 5W1H framework:

• What: What problem or phenomenon to study
• Why: Why this problem is important
• Who: Target audience and stakeholders
• When: Time scope and context of the research
• Where: Application scenarios and domains
• How: Preliminary research methodology ideas

Integration with superpowers:brainstorming: Can invoke the superpowers:brainstorming skill for interactive brainstorming to help rapidly generate and evaluate research ideas.

2. Literature Review

Systematically search, analyze, and synthesize related literature:

• Build effective search keywords
• Search via WebSearch across academic databases (arXiv, Google Scholar, etc.)
• Screen and evaluate paper quality
• Identify research trends and gaps
• Generate structured literature reviews
• Zotero Integration: Papers are automatically added to Zotero via DOI, organized into topic-based collections, and open-access PDFs are auto-attached for full-text reading

3. Gap Analysis

Systematically identify and evaluate research gaps:

• Literature gaps: Identify topics or questions not yet sufficiently studied
• Methodological gaps: Discover limitations and improvement opportunities in existing methods
• Application gaps: Identify opportunities for theory-to-practice transfer
• Interdisciplinary gaps: Discover research opportunities at the intersection of different fields
• Temporal gaps: Identify new research needs arising from changes over time

Analysis Dimensions:

• Coverage of research topics
• Comparison of strengths and weaknesses of existing methods
• Completeness of experimental setups
• Availability of datasets and benchmarks
• Gap between theory and practice

4. Research Question Definition

Formulate specific research questions based on literature analysis:

• Identify research gaps and opportunities
• Apply SMART principles to formulate questions
• Evaluate importance, novelty, and feasibility
• Define research objectives and expected contributions

5. Method Selection

Select appropriate research methods:

• Analyze strengths and weaknesses of existing methods
• Evaluate method applicability
• Identify required technologies and resources
• Consider method feasibility

6. Research Planning

Develop detailed research plans:

• Plan research timeline
• Define milestones and deliverables
• Identify potential risks
• Assess resource requirements

When to Use

Scenarios for This Skill

Use the research-ideation skill in the following situations:

1. Starting a new research project - Have research interests but no clear research question yet
2. Literature review - Need to systematically understand a research field
3. Research question formulation - Need to transform vague ideas into specific research questions
4. Method selection - Need to choose appropriate research methods and technical approaches
5. Research planning - Need to plan research timeline and resources

Typical Workflow

Research interest → Idea brainstorming (5W1H) → Literature review → Gap analysis → Define question → Select method → Create plan

Output Files:

• literature-review.md - Structured literature review
• research-proposal.md - Research proposal (including question, method, plan)
• references.bib - References in BibTeX format
• Zotero collection with organized papers and PDFs

Integration with Other Systems

Complete Research Workflow

research-ideation (Research initiation)
    ↓
Experiment execution (completed by user)
    ↓
results-analysis (Results analysis)
    ↓
ml-paper-writing (Paper writing)

Data Flow

• research-ideation output → Guides experiment design and method selection
• Experimental results → results-analysis for statistical analysis
• Analysis results → Related Work and Methods sections of ml-paper-writing

Zotero Integration

Through the Zotero MCP server, the research-ideation workflow automates literature management:

• Paper Discovery: WebSearch finds relevant papers across academic databases
• Auto-Import: Extract DOI / arXiv ID / landing-page URLs from search results, then use zotero_add_items_by_identifier to prefer paper/preprint imports before any webpage fallback
• Collection Organization: zotero_create_collection creates topic-based collections with standard sub-collections (Core Papers, Methods, Applications, Baselines, To-Read)
• PDF Attachment: zotero_add_items_by_identifier(..., attach_pdf=true) runs a PDF cascade (landing-page PDF hints → direct PDF → Unpaywall), and zotero_find_and_attach_pdfs can be used as a follow-up sweep for remaining items
• Full-Text Reading: zotero_get_item_fulltext reads indexed PDF content for analysis and note-taking
• Library Search: zotero_search_items and zotero_get_collection_items browse existing papers to avoid duplicates

Key Configuration

• Literature search scope: Papers from the last 3 years by default, configurable
• Output format: Markdown format for easy editing and version control
• Citation management: Generates references in BibTeX format
• Zotero collection naming: Research-{topic}-{YYYY} format
• PDF auto-attach: Enabled by default for open-access papers via Unpaywall

Additional Resources

Reference Files

Detailed methodology guides, loaded on demand:

• references/5w1h-framework.md - 5W1H Framework Guide

  • What, Why, Who, When, Where, How — six dimensions
  • Systematic approach to brainstorming research ideas
  • Integration with superpowers:brainstorming
  • Usage examples and best practices

• references/literature-search-strategies.md - Literature Search Strategies

  • Keyword construction techniques
  • Academic database selection (arXiv, Google Scholar)
  • Search tips and screening criteria
  • Paper quality evaluation methods
  • DOI extraction and Zotero auto-import workflow

• references/zotero-integration-guide.md - Zotero MCP Integration Guide

  • Available Zotero MCP tools (browse, add, cite)
  • Collection organization strategy and naming conventions
  • Automated workflow: WebSearch → DOI → Zotero import → PDF attach
  • Full-text reading and structured note-taking
  • Common issues and troubleshooting

• references/gap-analysis-guide.md - Gap Analysis Guide

  • 5 types of Gap Analysis (literature, methodological, application, interdisciplinary, temporal)
  • 5 analysis dimensions
  • Systematic approach to identifying research opportunities
  • Usage examples and best practices

• references/research-question-formulation.md - Research Question Formulation

  • Applying SMART principles
  • Question type classification (exploratory, confirmatory, applied)
  • Evaluation criteria (importance, novelty, feasibility)
  • Defining research objectives and contributions

• references/method-selection-guide.md - Method Selection Guide

  • Common research method classification
  • Method applicability analysis
  • Strengths and weaknesses comparison
  • Resource requirement assessment

• references/research-planning.md - Research Planning

  • Timeline planning methods
  • Milestone definition techniques
  • Risk identification and mitigation
  • Resource allocation strategies

Example Files

Complete working examples:

• examples/example-literature-review.md - Literature Review Example

  • Demonstrates structured literature review format
  • Includes research trend analysis and gap identification

• examples/example-research-proposal.md - Research Proposal Example

  • Demonstrates complete research proposal structure
  • Includes complete examples of question, method, and plan