Connect your knowledge and research experience to a new question

Your logistics management background offers a starting point in the relationship between firms' inputs, business activities and outputs. First organize the concepts you have learned, then describe your research preparation as concrete tasks: what materials you checked, how you defined variables, how you handled missing values, and what records you kept.

The experience in this example is checking variable definitions, units, firm boundaries, years and missing values in a four-person course project. The proposed next step is to study R&D resources and patent outputs among listed Japanese manufacturing firms in the same industry. First use materials from a few firms to check whether the data can be organized on a consistent basis.

Explain a method in your own words before adding more methods

For example, “firms with higher R&D spending also have more patents” describes a relationship between variables. “Increasing R&D investment causes an increase in patents” also requires explaining how other interpretations are ruled out. When preparing your research plan, be able to identify which kind of question you are asking and what evidence it needs.

01 If you do not know the keywords, start with Chinese terms for your interests

Open the site's keyword library and first enter the Chinese term for “innovation”. Open the entry to check its Chinese, Japanese and English names, field and related researchers. Copy terms close to your interests into a short glossary. You can also start from the economics field page to see keywords commonly used in that field.

In this example, start with Innovation／イノベーション, then compare the productivity entry. When you encounter a method name, look up data envelopment analysis or patent analysis in the research methods library and read what questions the method addresses.

02 Start with two concepts, then adjust the terms based on the results

First try searching for “企業 研究開発” in CiNii Research or Google Scholar, then add “特許” to narrow the results. In English, try “"innovation efficiency" firms”. Add review or survey to look for an overview of the field. Use Chinese to express your interests and the Japanese and English glossary to broaden your search.

If there are very few results, first remove the country, year or method name and keep the subject and question. If there are too many, add scope terms such as Japan or manufacturing. Once you find a relevant abstract, take the keywords the authors actually use and replace your own overly informal wording.

Change only one condition at a time and record the search terms, database, date and reasons for keeping a paper. Next time, you can see which terms helped and avoid repeating searches.

03 First find one review you can understand

Start with the title, abstract and subheadings to identify the questions, methods and debates being reviewed. Note recurring concepts, authors and references, then choose two or three papers closest to your topic to read next. A review helps you understand the structure of a field and provides your first useful search terms.

In this example, Zvi Griliches's (1990) “Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey” provides background on research using patent indicators. First read the abstract and introduction, noting why the author studies patent statistics and what questions patent data can address, then follow the references. To find more recent reviews, search the same topic with review or survey.

04 Follow citations to foundational work and research still developing

Look backward: Open the references of a relevant review or applied paper and look for the sources of concepts, indicators or methods repeatedly cited across papers. Return to the original introduction and methods to confirm what the authors actually proposed. This helps distinguish early contributors, later improvements and researchers applying a method to new subjects.

Look forward: Search for the full title in Google Scholar, open “Cited by”, filter to recent years and read papers close to your research subjects. Check whether later studies adopt, improve or question the original method, and note unresolved questions.

For example, when preparing to use DEA, find Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes's (1978) “Measuring the efficiency of decision making units”. First understand its approach to inputs, outputs and relative efficiency, then read applications to firms' R&D. Write down the method's assumptions before deciding whether it suits your data.

05 Look for authors' specific contributions

Compare several relevant reviews and papers, noting which authors repeatedly appear alongside the same concept, method or debate, and who proposed what. Then search their names in the site's researcher library, check research topics and major works, and follow their personal pages to read recent outputs.

For example, proposing an efficiency measurement method and studying Japanese firms' R&D over many years are different contributions. The former helps build methodological foundations; the latter helps you understand the research subjects. Your reading list can include both types of authors.

Where to look up impact factors

Find Journal Citation Reports in your university library's database directory, search by journal name or ISSN, and record the indicator year, subject category and percentile. JIF applies to journals. To evaluate an individual paper, examine its own research question, materials and arguments. For comparisons across disciplines, first consider each journal's position within its own field.

06 How to obtain the full text once you have a title

Record the title and year of a major work from the site's researcher card, then find the publications list on the researcher's personal or university page. Copy the full title into CiNii Research, J-STAGE or Google Scholar, confirm the authors, year and journal, then open the publisher, university repository or PDF link.

If only an abstract is available, check Google Scholar's “All versions” or use your university library's electronic resources. If you still cannot find it, give the title, authors and DOI to the library and ask about document delivery. When saving the file, note whether it is a working paper, preprint or journal version.

07 On your first reading, complete just one reading card

First read the abstract, the end of the introduction and the conclusion, noting the research question and main findings. Then return to the data and methods to see what evidence the authors use. For equations, first find variable definitions, assumptions and the relationship being expressed; record steps you do not yet understand separately.

Keep six items on the reading card: full reference and link, research question, subjects and data, analytical method, main findings and their location in the original, and the relationship to your topic. For the last item, write a specific reason, such as “useful definition of R&D spending”, “need to compare patent statistics definitions and coverage”, or “different research subjects; no close reading for now”.

Explore universities through research topics

First read university materials by research topic and note the knowledge and methods involved at each institution. Follow topics of interest to researchers' pages and specific papers, then compare them alongside curricula and the arrangements of your target graduate school.

慶應義塾大学

星野 崇宏 消費者行動 · 統計的因果推論 · 行動経済学

牧野 邦昭 日本経済思想史

早稲田大学

有村 俊秀 カーボンプライシング · 排出量取引制度 · 環境経済学

明治大学

西川 伸一 national review of supreme court justices · judicial politics · judicial personnel system

星野 泉 地方財政 · 租税政策 · Local Government Finance

中央大学

伊藤 伸介 公的統計ミクロデータ · ミクロデータ分析 · 匿名化

瀧澤 弘和 社会科学の哲学 · ゲーム理論 · 制度の概念化

山口大学

馬田 哲次 Macroeconomics · Interest Rate Theory · Banking Models

朝水 宗彦 tourism policy · inbound tourism · ecotourism

富山大学

本間 哲志 金融論 · Econometrics · Financial Economics

深澤 映司 財政学 · 財政学 地方財政論 · 地方財政論

東京経済大学

堀 雅博 世帯消費 · ミクロ・データ · 金融危機

大阪経済大学

The available materials are insufficient to identify research topics relevant to this question. First check the university's faculty pages and recent outputs, then decide whether to include it as a candidate.

広島経済大学

The available materials are insufficient to identify research topics relevant to this question. First check the university's faculty pages and recent outputs, then decide whether to include it as a candidate.

韓 池

韓池's research covers DSGE modelling, monetary policy and real estate shocks. Its connection to your proposed comparison of firms' R&D inputs and patent output efficiency is weak, so further confirmation of research methods and supervisory scope is recommended. Chinese monetary policy real exchange rate inflation dynamics 大阪府

小野塚 祐紀

小野塚祐紀's “skill mismatch” and labour economics research focus on workforce issues. Their connection to your planned comparison of firms' R&D inputs and patent output efficiency is weak, and they do not establish a specific supervisory fit. labor economics college majors skill mismatch 北海道

林 亮輔

林亮輔 and co-authors' “公共部門を対象としたバランスト・スコアカードの開発：生産の効率性と配分の効率性を踏まえた視点の検討” concerns efficiency analysis. It offers a connection in method and topic to your proposed assessment of the relative efficiency of R&D inputs and patent outputs, so further confirmation of the research scope is recommended. transport infrastructure economics balanced scorecard in public sector local government productivity 兵庫県

糟谷 祐介

糟谷祐介's research focuses on stable matching and game mechanisms. Its connection to your proposed analysis of firms' R&D inputs and patent output efficiency is limited and merits further checking. matching with contracts roommate problem stable matching 兵庫県

角野 浩

角野浩's research mainly concerns unemployment, taxation and public policy. Its connection to your proposed study of the relative efficiency of firms' R&D inputs and patent outputs is limited and merits further checking. Micro economics Public Economics Public Finance 大阪府

Keep one main question first

The first question is closest to the current intention; the second offers a related direction if the available materials are insufficient. The third needs more data across years. Decide based on the preliminary checks, without committing to all three studies at once.

Connecting application preparation with research after enrolment

Before applying, focus on a question you can explain, papers you have read and records of preliminary data checks. After acceptance, strengthen your foundations in microeconomics, statistics and methods, and refine rules linking firm names, years and patent applicants. After enrolment, discuss sample scope and methods with your supervisor, then gradually proceed to analysis, validation and writing.

Site resources: From concepts to researchers

Look up terms in the keyword library, explore disciplines and the distribution of universities in the fields library, learn about methods in the methods library, then search researchers' names for research topics and major works. Save page URLs containing search terms so you can return to the same leads.

Sources for search and reading methods

Google Scholar's help explains title searches, citing papers and full-text versions; Clarivate's explanation helps with understanding the Journal Impact Factor. The two example papers provide starting points for reading about patent indicators and DEA methods respectively.

Original university and researcher materials

Building on the research topics in Sections C and D, keep reading affiliations, publication lists and specific papers on researchers' pages. Record the research questions and methods you plan to explore further.