research-ideation

This skill should be used when the user asks to "brainstorm research ideas", "use 5W1H framework", "identify research gaps", "conduct gap analysis", "start research project", "conduct literature review", "define research question", "select research method", "plan research", or mentions research project initiation phase. Provides comprehensive guidance for research startup workflow from idea generation to planning.

Quality

81%

Does it follow best practices?

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Securityby

Low

Low-risk findings worth noting

Quality

Content

67%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

The body is well-structured with concrete tool calls, conditional outputs, and a gated workflow, but it is somewhat verbose and inlines reference-style detail. The missing examples/ files are a real navigation gap.

Suggestions

Remove the inlined 5W1H dimension bullets and the five gap-type bullets from the body, deferring them to their respective reference files to reduce duplication.

Create the missing examples/example-literature-review.md and examples/example-research-proposal.md (or drop the references to them) so all cited bundle paths resolve.

Tighten the 'Provides comprehensive guidance' framing and verbose Core Features bullet lists to respect the token budget.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The body is mostly efficient but inlines content that duplicates the reference files (e.g. the 5W1H What/Why/Who bullets and the five gap types) and includes some padded bullet lists that could be tightened.	3 / 5
Actionability	Concrete and executable where it matters: names exact MCP tools (zotero_add_items_by_identifier, zotero_create_collection), output filenames (research-question-card.md), and conventions (Research-{topic}-{YYYY}); higher-level steps remain abstract bullets with minor gaps.	4 / 5
Workflow Clarity	A clear sequenced workflow is given (Research interest → ... → Proposal readiness gate → Decision) with an explicit validation checkpoint (the readiness gate and evidence limits), though some checkpoints are described conceptually rather than as runnable validation commands.	4 / 5
Progressive Disclosure	Good one-level-deep structure: all referenced references/*.md files exist and are clearly signaled with summaries, but the body points to examples/example-literature-review.md and examples/example-research-proposal.md which do not exist in the bundle.	4 / 5
	Total	15 / 20 Passed

Description

95%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.

The description is strong: it clearly states the skill's purpose and gives an explicit, comprehensive set of natural trigger phrases. The only weakness is the slightly generic 'Provides comprehensive guidance' framing.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists several concrete actions (brainstorm, gap analysis, literature review, define question, select method, plan), but the wrapper phrase 'Provides comprehensive guidance' is mild fluff and some steps are named at a high level.	4 / 5
Completeness	Explicitly answers both what ('research startup workflow from idea generation to planning') and when ('This skill should be used when the user asks to...'), with concrete trigger phrases.	5 / 5
Trigger Term Quality	Extensive quoted natural trigger phrases such as 'brainstorm research ideas', 'conduct literature review', 'define research question', and 'plan research' give comprehensive coverage of terms a user would actually say.	5 / 5
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	Occupies a clear niche (research project initiation phase) with distinct, specific triggers and minimal overlap risk against other skills.	5 / 5
	Total	19 / 20 Passed

Validation

93%

Warnings & errors only

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation — 15 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

Criteria	Description	Result
frontmatter_unknown_keys	Unknown frontmatter key(s) found; consider removing or moving to metadata	Warning

	Total	15 / 16 Passed

Repository: Galaxy-Dawn/claude-scholar
Path: skills/research-ideation/SKILL.md
Commit: 6ed46da

Reviewed: 8 days ago

Table of Contents

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