Topic

Investigation prompts for research and fact-checking

Researching a topic properly means going deeper than a single search result — checking sources, comparing claims, and following a thread until it's clear. This page collects prompts built for that kind of work: digging into a topic from multiple angles, fact-checking a specific claim against available evidence, and structuring findings into a clear, sourced summary. They're useful for journalists, researchers, or anyone who needs to verify information before relying on it. Each prompt is free, reusable across topics, and uses {{variable}} placeholders so you can drop in the subject or claim you're investigating and get a structured starting point.

16 prompts · page 2 of 2

Find Research Gaps from Sources

Analyzes a set of pasted {links} or citations to identify four gaps in the existing research and proposes one experiment or study design to address each gap. Aimed at researchers building the case for a thesis or dissertation topic, where the value of the project rests on demonstrating that a real, unaddressed gap exists in the literature. The identified gaps should be checked against the actual sources before being treated as confirmed, since the underlying research may already address them elsewhere.

Forecast Future Trends in Field

Forecasts five trends likely to shape a given {field} between 2026 and 2030, drawing on 2025 data points and pairing each trend with a possible research angle. Particularly useful for PhD candidates and funding proposals that need to argue for the significance and forward-looking relevance of a research direction. The underlying 2025 data referenced in the forecasts should be verified independently before being cited.

Identify Ethical Issues in Research

Surfaces the ethical issues raised by a given research {topic}, covering privacy, bias, and current 2026 regulations. - Input: the research topic or study design in question - Output: a breakdown of ethical concerns across privacy, bias, and regulation - Useful for drafting an IRB submission or ethics section of a proposal - Regulation references should be confirmed against your institution's actual ethics board requirements

Suggest Data Tests and Visuals

Recommends three statistical tests suited to a pasted {dataset_description} — its variables, sample size, and structure — along with the key insights each test would reveal. Also suggests visuals appropriate for presenting those findings, aimed at the results/analysis chapter of a thesis written in tools like SPSS, STATA, EViews, or NVivo. Each test's assumptions, such as normality, sample size, and independence, should be confirmed against the actual data before running it.

Summarize Recent Studies and Find Gaps

Summarizes the five leading studies published between 2024 and 2026 on a given {topic}, covering methods, results, gaps, and source links for each. - Input: the research topic to search around - Output: 5 study summaries with methods, results, gaps, and a link - Built to speed up drafting a literature review section - Every source link should be verified to exist and match the summary, since fabricated or misattributed citations are a known failure mode

Turn Ideas into Research Questions

Converts a broad, pasted research {idea} into five specific, testable research questions, each one paired with a hypothesis tied to 2026 trends. Useful early in a project when a topic feels too broad or vague to study directly and needs to be narrowed into something with a clear variable and testable prediction. The generated hypotheses should be treated as starting drafts, refined once you've confirmed what's actually testable given the data you have access to.

Research question map

Turns a broad, pasted research topic into a structured question map that separates core questions from background questions, lists assumptions that still need validating, names the likely source types to consult, and lays out a practical research sequence to follow. Flags which claims will require primary sources rather than secondary summaries. Best used at the very start of an open-ended research project, before committing time to any one direction, to scope an unfamiliar subject with a clear path instead of unfocused reading.