Summary  
This chapter covers representing a research plan as a structured data object—defining its scope, preferred sources, research steps, and desired output—and programmatically saving that plan.  

General domain of usage  
Academic research planning

A research plan tells Claude what to investigate, which sources to prioritise, and how the final results should be organised. The plan keeps the research focused and prevents Claude from collecting information that is not relevant.

> ### Task
> 
> * Ask Claude to create a research plan using the questions from the previous lab.
> 
>   > **Create a research plan based on the questions in my workspace. Define the research scope, preferred sources, research steps, and final output. Save the plan to the research plan file.**

Build a complete AI-powered research system using Claude Code. You will learn how to turn a broad topic into focused research questions, create a structured plan, find and evaluate reliable sources, and organise evidence in a reusable workspace. Through practical AI Lab chapters, you will create source libraries, compare conflicting information, store findings in a research database, and produce clear research briefs with accurate citations. By the end of the course, you will have a repeatable Claude Code workflow that can be used for future research projects.

Learn what makes a research system reliable and how to prepare a structured workspace before collecting information. You will define research questions, set the scope of the project, and create a clear research plan for Claude to follow.

Learn how to find relevant information and judge whether a source is trustworthy. You will remove weak, outdated, and duplicate sources before organising the strongest results into a structured source library.

Turn collected sources into clear and usable evidence. You will extract key findings, compare sources that disagree, and build a research database that keeps claims, evidence, and source details connected.

Use the collected evidence to develop supported conclusions and create a concise research brief. You will review claims and citations for accuracy before turning the complete process into a reusable Claude Code workflow.