Research Grounding

Research-backed features require evidence. This skill defines the progression from ungrounded claims to expert-reviewed methodology, and the citation standards that specs must meet.

Research Readiness Labels

Issues that make claims requiring evidence progress through four stages:

Label	State	Transition Criteria
research:needs-grounding	Claims made without evidence	Default for any issue referencing psychological constructs, measurement instruments, or statistical methods
research:literature-mapped	Evidence gathered	3+ peer-reviewed papers cited in the issue description or linked spec
research:methodology-validated	Methods documented	Instruments identified, statistical approaches documented, sample size justified
research:expert-reviewed	Human sign-off	A domain expert (human) has reviewed and approved the methodology

Transition Rules

needs-grounding to literature-mapped:

• Minimum 3 peer-reviewed papers cited
• Citations include DOI or stable URL
• Papers are relevant (not tangential padding)
• Literature covers the core construct being measured/used

literature-mapped to methodology-validated:

• Measurement instruments identified with psychometric properties (reliability, validity)
• Statistical approach documented (test type, assumptions, effect size expectations)
• Sample size justified (power analysis or precedent from cited studies)
• Limitations acknowledged

methodology-validated to expert-reviewed:

• Human decision always. Agent cannot auto-transition.
• Domain expert reviews the methodology section
• Sign-off documented as a comment on the issue

PR/FAQ Research Base Requirements

When writing PR/FAQs for research-backed features (using template:prfaq-research):

Minimum Citation Standards

Section	Requirement
Problem Statement	1+ citation establishing the problem exists
Solution	2+ citations supporting the approach
Research Base	3+ citations total, including at least 1 meta-analysis or systematic review if available
Methodology	Instrument citations with psychometric properties
Pre-Mortem	1+ citation per identified risk where applicable

Citation Format

In PR/FAQ documents, use inline citations with DOI:

Limerence has been associated with attachment anxiety (Wakin & Vo, 2008; DOI:10.1080/00224490802400129)
and shows overlap with obsessive-compulsive symptomatology (Willmott & Bentley, 2015; DOI:10.1556/2006.4.2015.028).

Discovery Workflow

When populating the Research Base section:

1. Semantic Scholar search_papers for focused keyword search with citation count filter
2. OpenAlex get_top_cited_works for foundational/seminal papers
3. arXiv search_papers for recent preprints (especially CS/ML methodology)
4. Zotero zotero_semantic_search to check if papers already in library
5. Cross-reference citation counts and recency to select the strongest evidence

Evidence Object Pattern

Evidence Objects are structured citation units that tie specific claims to specific sources with explicit confidence levels. Use them to make the evidence trail auditable and machine-readable.

Format

[EV-001] Type: empirical | theoretical | methodological
Source: Author (Year). Title. Journal/Venue. DOI:xxx
Claim: "Specific factual claim supported by this source"
Confidence: high | medium | low

Field definitions:

• ID: Sequential reference tag ([EV-001], [EV-002], ...). Use these inline when referencing evidence elsewhere in the document.
• Type: The nature of the evidence.
  • empirical — data from experiments, surveys, observational studies, or meta-analyses
  • theoretical — frameworks, models, or conceptual arguments from the literature
  • methodological — validation of instruments, statistical approaches, or study designs
• Source: Full citation with DOI or stable URL. Follow APA-like format: Author (Year). Title. Journal.
• Claim: The specific assertion this source supports. Quote directly or paraphrase precisely. One claim per Evidence Object — split multi-claim sources into separate objects.
• Confidence: How strongly the source supports the claim.
  • high — direct empirical support, large sample, replicated findings, or systematic review
  • medium — relevant but indirect evidence, single study, or different population
  • low — tangential support, pilot data, theoretical inference without empirical test

When to Use

Apply Evidence Objects in these contexts:

• Research PR/FAQs (template:prfaq-research): Minimum 3 Evidence Objects in the Research Base section. At least 1 must be type: empirical.
• Literature reviews: Structure all cited evidence as Evidence Objects for consistency.
• Methodology validation: When justifying instrument selection, statistical approach, or sample design.
• Spec grounding: When transitioning an issue from research:needs-grounding to research:literature-mapped.

Do NOT use Evidence Objects for:

• Infrastructure specs, UI specs, or engineering decisions without empirical claims
• Casual references to well-known tools or frameworks
• Internal documentation or process descriptions

Examples

Empirical evidence (survey data):

[EV-001] Type: empirical
Source: Wakin & Vo (2008). Love-Variant: The Wakin-Vo IDR Model. Inter-Disciplinary.Net. DOI:10.1080/00224490802400129
Claim: "Limerence is associated with attachment anxiety and shows measurable overlap with obsessive-compulsive symptomatology in a sample of N=61 self-identified limerent individuals"
Confidence: medium

Theoretical framework:

[EV-002] Type: theoretical
Source: Tennov (1979). Love and Limerence: The Experience of Being in Love. Stein & Day.
Claim: "Limerence is a distinct involuntary cognitive-affective state characterised by intrusive thinking, fear of rejection, and idealisation of the limerent object"
Confidence: high

Methodological validation:

[EV-003] Type: methodological
Source: Willmott & Bentley (2015). Exploring the Lived-Experience of Limerence. Qualitative Research in Psychology. DOI:10.1080/14780887.2015.1005522
Claim: "Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews (N=16) validated Tennov's core limerence constructs and supports use of qualitative methods for construct exploration in under-researched affective states"
Confidence: medium

Inline Referencing

Once defined in the Research Base section, reference Evidence Objects inline using their ID:

The theoretical basis for this feature draws on Tennov's limerence framework [EV-002],
supported by empirical survey data [EV-001] and qualitative validation [EV-003].

This keeps the document readable while maintaining a full evidence trail in the Research Base.

Grounding Assessment Checklist

When evaluating whether an issue needs the research:needs-grounding label:

• Does the issue reference a psychological construct (e.g., limerence, attachment, personality)?
• Does the issue propose measuring something (surveys, scales, instruments)?
• Does the issue make causal claims ("X causes Y", "X improves Y")?
• Does the issue reference statistical methods?
• Does the issue design an intervention or therapeutic approach?

If any checkbox is yes, the issue needs the research:needs-grounding label.

When NOT to Apply

Research grounding is for issues that make empirical claims. It does NOT apply to:

• Infrastructure issues (Configure Supabase, Set up CI/CD)
• UI issues without empirical claims (Build settings page, Add dark mode)
• Pure engineering decisions (Choose React over Vue, Use PostgreSQL)
• Administrative tasks (Update README, Clean up labels)

Integration with Other Skills

• prfaq-methodology: Research Base section in PR/FAQ templates uses these citation standards
• adversarial-review: Reviewers check research grounding during spec review
• issue-lifecycle: Research labels coexist with other label types (spec, exec, type)
• research-pipeline: The pipeline skill handles the mechanics of finding papers; this skill handles the standards they must meet