STRATFOR
RESEARCH HANDBOOK
Compiled January 2008
Research TipsPage 2
Citations & How to Organize your Research Page 3
Putting your Research on Clearspace Page 4
Short-Term Research Page 5
Red Alerts, Making Calls & Situational AwarenessPage 6
PasswordsPage 7
Research Take-HomesPage 8
RESEARCH TIPS
Believe it or not, you can do better than Google.
... if you know where to look, that is.
That's why we have a ridiculously handy research resources document, available at You can also access it by by going to Clearspace --> Researchers --> Research Tools -->Research Sources. Sources are separated by AOR, countries/ topics within the AOR and level of usefulness. The vast majority of the sources already have a good deal of the kind of raw material we're looking for – you just need to know what's there and how to extract it.
Tip: Searching the specific site is helpful, but often sites have crappy search engines. Here's where you can find Google useful – have Google search only the site your interested in. To do this, type the search term you're looking for but add, site:. (With the website address, of course.)
There are a few gems out there that you'll learn to really love.
Some all time Favorites (by AOR) are:
Energy – for everything energy
Econ/IB - for econ stats by country
Europe - for all statistics Europe
FSU – for juicy tidbits, or call:
Military –
MESA – and for daily terrorism
East Asia - for Chinese business/econ info
Africa– for mineral information
LatAm – for econ stats:
CT - for country security updates
Government websites (particularly statistical ones) can also be ridiculously helpful. The reliability and helpfulness of each office usually depends on the country, however. (For instance, Iran is particularly persnickety – none of the official/IMF/UN stats seem to match up. In cases like this, use the most reliable source or include all the information – noting that there is a discrepancy in the numbers.)
All of this isn't to say you should give up on Google. This doesn't mean that Google isn't still worthy of supreme adoration -- but don't rely on it completely.
CITATIONS & ORGANIZATION
We're going to be so anal about this that it deserves it's own section. You MUST source every piece of information for a number of reasons:
Allows anyone to go back to the source and verify the validity of the information
Dates the information (although you need to date everything anyway)
Provides a resource to go back to should you need further information on the subject
How to cite:
Quick research tasks: If you're just shooting a short email for a quick 15-minute research task or are sending out information for a red alert, just include the link at the bottom of your response to the analyst's question. If the information is coming from news articles, include the full text underneath your response as well. If the information is not internet sourced (e.g. result of a phone call) say few words about the quality of your source – why is he/she able to respond to our question?
Long term research on a Word Document: You have two options here.
Use hyperlinks- Insert a hyperlink into your document. Like this. Here's how: highlight the word(s) you want associated with a certain site, and go up to Insert and click hyperlink. This option may also be available by right-clicking on the word with your mouse. The one problem with this option is that you risk losing the source material if the link is shut down.
Include source articles - Include the list of articles under the compiled information – only do this in instances where the additional information might actually be really helpful or unavailable at at later point on the original site (where the hyperlink might not work)
Long term research on an Excel Document – Excel allows you to add “notes” to any and all cells in the document. Right click on the cell and choose “Insert Note” in the list of options that pops up. Always put the site link to the source here. In some instances, you may also need to include sections of a news article.
**In addition to citing everything, MAKE SURE IT IS DATED.
***Make an effort to ORGANIZE your research. If it's a long research project, don't just highlight little sections in 15 pages worth of articles. Instead, consolidate, summarize and use bullet points -- not unlike this sheet you're looking at!
In Review...
Citing Sources:
Not hot – leaving out website source links
Hot – Putting source links at the bottom of the research
Hottest – Putting links AND sources (articles, for instance) underneath the summary research
Organization:
Not hot – Just highlighting a bunch of articles in a document (or a bunch of paragraph in an article)
Hot – Compiling information from the documents in a nice, readable, bulleted form
Hottest – Links, links, links! And articles! (At the bottom)
RESEARCH ON CLEARSPACE
Clearspace is Stratfor's one-stop shop for finely-tuned research on issues of continuing relevance. When adding documents, please follow a few basic rules of thumb so that we keep Clearspace as user-friendly as possible. You must have research cleared by a full-time researcher before it can be posted to the site. The site is:
Organization & Tagging
The research area is divided up by AORs and includes a separate section for Research Tools. Whenever you post a document, make sure to put it in the appropriate file. However, we're going to rely on “Tags” and not dozens of sub-folders for our organization. Whenever you upload a document, there's a section at the bottom of the page where you insert “Tags,” where you type in key words for the document.
Often, when you do a search any document with the search word will pop up. With tags, the documents that are specifically labeled (or “tagged”) as dealing with a particular subject will pop up first.
Requirements for Posting
Clearspace is ONLY for finished research products! (One exception: Documents that are continually updated, such as the Attacks in Iraq document)
Here are a few ground rules:
Any uploaded document should be well-organized – Please do not just upload a document with a bunch of highlighted news articles.
Source Everything -- This way anyone using the material can verify its accuracy if necessary. Hyperlinks within the articleslike this are best. (Go to “Insert” and click on Hyperlink.) Including the full article below the final compiled research also works, as does a simple list of sources at the end of the document.
Use Tags – Clearspace relies on “Tags” rather than dozens of subfolders to keep things organized. Whenever you upload a document, there's a section at the bottom of the page where you insert “Tags” -- key words that you would associate with the document. Appropriately tagged documents will top the search list so that you find what you need quickly.
Date your documents - This can be included in the description or title. Month or year, depending on the information, should be fine.
How to Post under “Researchers” (NOT Short-term Research)
Pick the appropriate AOR folder
Select “Create a Document.” This will give you two options:
Wiki-document – This allows other people to change your document and Clearspace will record every change. However, this only works for text, not excel format.
Upload document – This is what we'll be using most of the time – uploading documents we already have. Unfortunately, when a document is uploaded, Clearspace won't keep track of the changes. Whenever you need to change one of these documents, you'll need to download it temporarily to you computer and re-upload it to the site once you've changed it.
Make note of any changes you make to a document (unless it's a regular daily update). Date it.
We also have blogs and discussion areas available
SHORT-TERM RESEARCH
While not every piece of research has the fine privilege of being posted under the “Researchers” section, we still do want to keep every little piece of research. Many of the same topics come up repeatedly and – until now – these little bits of research had been lost for future use. For any research project – no matter how big or small – the final product must be shipped to: (in addition to emailing it to the analyst who assigned it, of course.) All emails will be automatically directed to the “Short-Term Research” section in Clearspace, which is then split up by AOR groups.
Clearspace Guidelines:
Clearspace can be a tricky devil when it comes to formatting, so you'll need to follow a few guidelines:
Send HTML and graphs in attachments - Send any research with charts, graphs or other special formatting in an attached document. Clearspace doesn't like HTML and will make sure that you're information is illegible if you send it that way.
Paste without formatting in body of email - Paste without formatting if you're shipping the research in the body of the email. You can do this on Thunderbird by right-clicking and choosing “Paste without Formatting.”
TAG emails – Every email must be tagged using “COUNTRY – Subject” and other special tags. The tags ensure that each email is put in the appropriate AOR folder. For instance, research on Angola's natural gas plans might be tagged something like, “ANGOLA/ENERGY – Angola's plans for LNG.” Familiarize yourself with the tag below.
Tagging Emails
Most tags will be pretty self-explanatory; they'll just be the name of the country. However, there are some additional tags that you will need to know and use. Take a look at the tag list below, split by AOR
A full list of tags and their AOR folders is available at:
A few tags to remember:
Public Policy (PP)
Climate
Climate Change
Environment
NGO
Policy
US
Africa
CAR – Central African Republic
DRC – Democratic Republic of Congo
Counter-Terrorism (CT)
Military (MIL)
East Asia (EA)
ROK – South Korea
DPRK – North Korea
Middle East (ME)
KSA – Saudi Arabia
UAE – United Arab Emirates
Eurasia
EU – European Union
FSU – Former Soviet Union
International Business (IB)
IB
BUSINESS
ECON
MINING
OPEC
ENERGY
COMPANY
CORPORATE
RED ALERTS, MAKING CALLS & SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
Red alerts mean just that – it's a red alert. Speed is the key here. Research and make calls quickly. Be creative. This information isn't necessarily going to be easy to pick up.
News Sources:
To get new info on the Web, you'll need to go to the sites that update fast – news sources:
- Use it like regular Google, only you'll just get news
- Reuters Alertnet is great at getting out info FAST
CNN, BBC and other major news sources. Haaretz rocks it up for Israel & surrounding countries
Feedreader – use the Strat feedreader with dozens of sources and check it periodically. It's probably about as good as Google News
Check out the major news sources for the region (using the major list of sources from the monitors; the Intern handbook also has these sources). This isn't as vital, since the monitors will be watching these sources closely anyway.
Making Calls:
Often the best way to get information in a red-alert situation is by simply picking up the phone. One of our interns called a hotel that had been bombed and was in the middle of a hostage situation. As expected, no one picked up. The intern kept calling every half hour. A few hours later, someone actually picked up the phone saying, “Hello, this is the SerenaHotel in Kabul. The premises is now under control of ISAF. I can't answer any questions at the moment, but thank you for calling.”
That's cool and that's why phone calls matter.
Examples of places to call:
US embassy or consulate in the country – they should know what's going on in the area
The reporter who wrote the story – Reuters always includes the writers of their articles and from there you can find their contact information
For military/ security – CENTCOM (for Middle East issues); Public affairs for the units involved; defense attaches at embassies
Journalists with ongoing solid reports on an issues (RFERL journalists rock for FSU issues)
Businesses in the area – For instance, if there is natural disaster, is it stopping traffic? One way to check this is by calling businesses that would be open in the area. (For instance, if it is late at night, you could try calling a 24/7 pizza delivery joint.)
Port authorities if it is affects shipping
NGOs in the area – Reuters Alertnet has a list by country:
Concierge of a (fancy) hotel
Local news – Don't just try the major news wires
Travel agencies in the area
Security -Ask for the number of the building's security
Identifying Yourself in a Call:
It is best to identify yourself with Stratfor, but Stratfor can be described in a variety of ways: private research company, consulting company or the press. Basically, know your audience – and know who they would be most comfortable passing information along to.
PASSWORDS
Financial Times
User Name: stratfor1
password: analysts
Wall Street Journal
User Name: wsj555
Password: analysts
Nexis
User Name: F7Z9X3R
Password: strat2007
Defense News.com
User Name: STRATFOR
Password: teekell
Military Periscope
User Name: mdb0162
Password: Stratfor
RESEARCH TAKE-HOMES
Or... Research Dos & Don'ts
Don't:
Rely on Debka, Wikipedia or semi-crazy political blogs. They all get it wrong too often. (You may only use Wiki as a starting point occassionaly since they have source links on their pages.)
Provide too much information without highlighting (for quick research tasks)
Provide info that hasn't been well consolidated / summarized (for long research tasks)
Do:
CITE everything
DATE everything, year and month (or day if its for detailed databases)
TAG your documents on Clearspace or we'll have trouble digging them up later
Double-check your sources if they're not from a very reliable source
If you have questions regarding research or need something clarified – ASK.
Did I mention to cite everything? Oh yes, and date.
That just about covers it. Email Kristen Cooper at if you have any questions.
And... Happy Hunting!
In addition to this document, you should also receive electronically:
Research tool spreadsheet -- Websites
Monitoring list of news-sites
Research tool spreadsheet – Phone and email contact information (to be released)