# Desk Research

> Perform efficient desk research using public and proprietary secondary sources to answer questions quickly without primary fieldwork. Use when you need fast situational awareness, market context, or fact-finding before deeper primary research.

- Skill: `itsual/desk-research` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add itsual/desk-research`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/itsual/desk-research/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Research & Search
- Author: itsual (https://skillmd.com/u/itsual)
- Updated: 2026-09-21
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/itsual/desk-research

---


# Desk Research

## Overview

Desk research gathers and evaluates existing information. Done well, it answers many questions cheaply and focuses primary research on what remains unknown.

## When to Use

- Rapid market or competitive context
- Fact-checking and background briefs
- Pre-work before interviews or surveys
- Policy, regulatory, or industry scans

## Core Practices

- Clarify the question and “good enough” threshold
- Identify high-yield source types (filings, reports, stats agencies, trade press, academic)
- Triangulate important claims across independent sources
- Date-stamp and quality-rate sources
- Separate facts, estimates, and opinions
- Stop when incremental sources add little new signal

## Principles

- Speed with source hygiene beats endless collection
- Primary-sounding blogs are often secondary opinions
- Numbers without methodology are suspect
- Document paths so others can re-check

## Verification

- [ ] Key claims have sources and dates
- [ ] Conflicts between sources are noted
- [ ] Output answers the original question directly