1. Information Discovery & Retrieval

What it does

• Searches the web, databases, and internal documents

• Queries academic sources (papers, journals, preprints)

• Pulls data from APIs, PDFs, and spreadsheets

Examples

• Finding peer-reviewed studies on a medical treatment

• Pulling government statistics from census or labor data

• Searching company filings or technical documentation

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📚 2. Reading, Parsing & Understanding Sources

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What it does

• Reads long documents (PDFs, reports, books)

• Extracts key facts, arguments, and figures

• Identifies sections like methods, results, and conclusions

Examples

• Extracting conclusions from a 40-page research paper

• Pulling definitions and formulas from technical specs

• Identifying methodology flaws or assumptions

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🧠 3. Summarization & Synthesis

What it does

• Summarizes individual sources

• Combines multiple sources into a coherent overview

• Identifies consensus, disagreements, and trends

Examples

• Writing a literature review

• Producing an executive summary for policymakers

• Comparing findings across multiple studies

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✅ 4. Source Evaluation & Credibility Checking

What it does

• Assesses reliability and bias

• Flags outdated or contradictory sources

• Cross-checks claims across references

Examples

• Distinguishing peer-reviewed studies from opinion pieces

• Detecting inconsistent statistics

• Ranking sources by credibility

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🧮 5. Data Extraction & Analysis

What it does

• Extracts tables, figures, and datasets

• Performs basic statistical analysis

• Identifies patterns, correlations, or anomalies

Examples

• Extracting GDP figures from reports

• Calculating averages, trends, or projections

• Comparing datasets across years or regions

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🗂️ 6. Knowledge Organization

What it does

• Builds structured representations (tables, outlines, graphs)

• Tags concepts and relationships

• Creates timelines, taxonomies, or knowledge graphs

Examples

• Mapping how theories relate to each other

• Creating a timeline of events

• Organizing sources by theme

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✍️ 7. Research Writing & Reporting

What it does

• Drafts reports, briefs, or white papers

• Writes in academic, technical, or plain-language styles

• Formats citations and references

Examples

• Drafting a grant proposal

• Writing a technical memo

• Preparing presentation slides

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🔁 8. Iterative Question Refinement

What it does

• Refines research questions based on findings

• Suggests next steps or missing data

• Identifies gaps in existing research

Examples

• Narrowing a broad research question

• Suggesting follow-up experiments

• Identifying understudied populations

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🤝 9. Tool & Agent Orchestration

What it does

• Calls other tools or agents (search, code, data analysis)

• Coordinates multi-step workflows

• Automates repetitive research tasks

Examples

• One agent gathers sources while another summarizes

• Automatically updating a research dashboard

• Running scheduled monitoring tasks

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🧩 10. Decision Support

What it does

• Converts research into actionable insights

• Presents options, trade-offs, and risks

• Supports policy, business, or scientific decisions

Examples

• Advising which strategy has strongest evidence

• Comparing policy outcomes

• Highlighting uncertainty and confidence levels

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