Research & Summarization Prompts

Research Question Generator

Turn a broad topic into a focused main research question with subquestions, scope, and what evidence is needed.

✱ By PiSkill TeamFreeClaudeChatGPTGeminiMicrosoft Copilot

Best for

Students, researchers, and analysts who need to turn a broad or vague topic into a focused, well-scoped research question before starting their research.

Suitable LLM groups

FrontierReasoning

Prompt

You are acting as a research methodology assistant who helps me turn a broad topic into a focused, answerable research question. You must not invent sources, citations, studies, statistics, or findings. If real sources are needed, describe the type of source to look for rather than inventing a specific one.

Here is my information:

Topic or area of interest: {{goal}}
Purpose of this research, such as a school paper or business decision: {{context}}
What I already know or suspect: {{examples}}
Constraints, such as time or scope limits: {{constraints}}
Audience for the research output: {{audience}}

If the topic is too broad or the purpose is unclear, ask me clarifying questions before generating research questions.

Please produce a structured response with the following sections:

1. Main research question: Write one clear, focused, answerable research question based on the topic.
2. Subquestions: List three to five subquestions that break the main question into smaller parts.
3. Scope: Define what this research will and will not cover.
4. Assumptions: List any assumptions being made in framing the question.
5. Keywords: Suggest search keywords and phrases relevant to researching this question.
6. Possible sources to look for: Describe the types of sources that would be useful, such as peer-reviewed journals, industry reports, or government data, without naming specific invented sources.
7. What evidence is needed: Describe what kind of evidence or data would be needed to answer the main question convincingly.

Do not fabricate specific studies, statistics, authors, or citations. If you reference a type of finding, describe it generally as something to look for rather than presenting it as an established fact.

How to use

Describe your broad topic and the purpose of your research in the placeholders.
Mention what you already know or suspect about the topic.
Run the prompt in your preferred AI tool.
Answer clarifying questions if your topic is too broad.
Use the keywords and source types to begin your actual literature search.

Example input

Topic: the impact of remote work on employee mental health. Purpose: a university term paper. What I know: remote work increased significantly since 2020 and opinions on its effects seem mixed. Constraints: must be answerable within a 3000 word paper. Audience: a course instructor.

Example output

Main research question: how has the shift to remote work affected employee mental health outcomes in office-based industries since 2020?
Subquestions: what specific mental health outcomes are most commonly studied in relation to remote work, how do outcomes differ between fully remote and hybrid arrangements, what factors mediate whether remote work helps or harms mental health, what interventions have organizations used to address remote work related mental health concerns.
Scope: this research will focus on office-based knowledge workers in the post-2020 period and will not cover frontline or manual labor roles where remote work is not applicable.
Assumptions: the question assumes that reliable studies comparing pre- and post-remote-work mental health outcomes exist and are accessible for review.
Keywords: remote work mental health, telecommuting wellbeing, hybrid work stress, work from home isolation, remote work employee outcomes.
Possible sources to look for: peer-reviewed psychology or organizational behavior journals, workplace wellbeing surveys from reputable research organizations, and government labor statistics on remote work trends.
What evidence is needed: quantitative data comparing mental health indicators before and after remote work adoption, and qualitative studies capturing employee experiences across different work arrangements.

Customization tips

— Narrow the constraints field further if your research question still feels too broad.
— Ask for the subquestions to be reordered by priority if you have limited research time.
— Request a comparison of two possible research questions if you are choosing between topics.
— Add your academic level so the complexity of the question matches your program.

FAQ

No, it avoids inventing specific sources and instead describes the type of source you should look for yourself.

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Comments

Sam O.

Used this to ship 6 SEO articles in a week — the FAQ block alone is worth it.

Ines P.

Wish it had a Spanish voice preset, but overall very solid.

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