01
Find useful research
Can people find relevant papers faster? Do they discover promising work outside the papers and fields they already know?
Research on research · improving how research gets done
How do good ideas become great research?
Research on research means studying the way research happens. How do people find a useful paper? What helps them improve an idea? Why do some people keep going while others get stuck? Answering these questions can help us build better tools, stronger communities, and more opportunities to contribute.
02
Develop stronger ideas
Does comparing papers and receiving feedback help people ask better questions or explain an idea more clearly?
03
Give more people a way in
What helps a new researcher participate, learn, and continue? Can these tools reach people who have less access to mentors and research networks?
A simple example of a study we could run
Imagine two groups of students exploring the same research topic. One uses their usual search tools. The other also uses R3ciprocity to compare papers and get feedback. After an agreed period, both groups work on a new task: find relevant evidence, explain what it shows, and develop a research question. Comparing their work would help us learn whether the experience made a useful difference.
What people can do on the platform today
People can compare abstracts, discover and save papers, build projects, exchange feedback, and review their progress. These activities provide practical settings for asking how researchers learn and how ideas develop.
What we would measure
We could measure time spent finding useful papers, the range of fields explored, how clearly people assess new research, and how their project ideas develop. We would also ask who participates, who returns, and whether beginners or people outside strong research networks benefit.
What a fair comparison requires
A study needs a clear question, an outcome chosen in advance, and a suitable comparison group. Where practical, participants could be assigned to groups by chance. Researchers would also check starting experience, people who stop participating, and other reasons the groups might differ.
What the numbers mean
A return visit shows participation. A correct game answer shows a correct citation prediction. More citations show more recorded attention. To know whether people are developing better research ideas, we need to examine the ideas themselves and test learning on new tasks.
Learn with people’s permission
A study would use voluntary participation, clear consent, and appropriate ethical review. Participants should understand what is being studied and how their activity will be used. Results should explain who took part and whose experience may be missing.
Start with the questions researchers actually face
Exploratory social-media polls helped surface motivation, uncertainty about next steps, papers saved and never revisited, and the value of visible progress. They guide what we ask. They were self-selected polls, and the available records do not provide reconciled counts and denominators for reporting percentages.
YOUR NEXT IDEA STARTS WITH ONE MOVE