The outcome
Get a decision-ready brief rather than a confident-looking answer.
Step by step
A workflow you can repeat.
- 01
Define the question, geography, date range, audience, and decision the research will support.
- 02
Ask for a research plan and the types of primary sources it will prioritize.
- 03
Require a source beside every material factual claim and ask for publication dates.
- 04
Open the decisive sources and compare their wording with the summary.
- 05
Finish with assumptions, conflicting evidence, missing information, and a recommended next check.
Working standard
What good use looks like.
- Prefer primary sources over roundups.
- Treat citations as leads to inspect.
- Record the date the research was completed.
Official references