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description: "Research methodology rules — how agents conduct research and assessments"
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# Research Methodology Rules

## General Principles

- Every claim must be evaluated on its own merits with primary sources.
- Seek disconfirming evidence as actively as confirming evidence.
- Cite all sources with hierarchy level classification.
- Flag stale evidence for freshness review.

## Agent Communication

- Agents communicate ONLY via the event log — never directly.
- Debates are mediated by the Cell Lead through the debate mediation skill.
- Phase 2 → Phase 1 messages are held for the next iteration.

## Evidence Preservation

- Event logs are append-only. Never delete or modify past events.
- When a cell is re-opened, all prior evidence is preserved.
- New evidence is appended alongside existing evidence.
