---
name: research-brief-development
description: Use when expanding a short research brief into an organized proposal or manuscript plan without inventing evidence.
---

# Develop a research brief

Read the brief and inventory the user's supplied materials, intended artifact, audience, stage, constraints and ownership. Separate established facts, preliminary observations, hypotheses and proposed work. Ask for an essential missing input only when it blocks the next consequential step; otherwise proceed with clearly labeled assumptions.

Translate the brief into a structured question, motivation, objectives, possible mechanism or framework, methods, anticipated outputs and limitations as appropriate to the requested artifact. For each proposed section, identify what evidence or decision is required and link it to the actual supplied source. Maintain a claim-to-evidence ledger with locations or identifiers, confidence in the match and unresolved checks. Do not fill gaps with invented references, numerical estimates, results, affiliations or claims of novelty.

Develop a logical outline before writing full prose. Choose a level of detail suitable for a proposal, manuscript, grant, presentation or decision memo. Preserve the user's own scope and contribution boundaries. When proposing a method, describe its inputs, assumptions, outputs, validation and dependencies, and mark it as a proposal until it has actually been performed. Where alternatives or risks matter, identify a decision point rather than presenting one unverified path as settled.

If drafting is authorized, write from the available evidence and leave visible placeholders for missing facts or citations. Check consistency among the abstract, objectives, methods, figures, claims and conclusions. Deliver editable text and the evidence ledger, listing the assumptions and sources that still require review. A well-developed brief does not establish completed research, experimental feasibility, external funding or publication readiness.