---
title: ToolRouter — Use Case
description: Step-by-step guide for a real-world ToolRouter use case with agent-specific instructions.
url: https://toolrouter.com/tools/academic-research/use-cases/track-research-trends
---
# Track Research Trends

Research fields evolve. Topics that were niche five years ago become dominant. Established areas fragment into specializations. New interdisciplinary fields emerge at the intersection of existing ones. Understanding these trends helps you position your own research, identify opportunities, and anticipate where a field is heading.

The search_papers skill supports time-bounded queries that reveal publication volume trends. By running searches across different time windows, you can see which topics are growing, which are declining, and which just appeared. Citation counts add another signal -- rapidly cited new papers indicate hot topics.

Research administrators allocating funding, students choosing thesis topics, companies deciding R&D priorities, and journalists identifying emerging fields all benefit from trend analysis. Seeing the trajectory of a research area helps make better strategic decisions.

**Tool:** [Academic Research](https://toolrouter.com/tools/academic-research)
**Skills:** search_papers

## Agent Guides

- [How to Track Research Trends with Claude](https://toolrouter.com/tools/academic-research/use-cases/track-research-trends/claude): Guide for Claude
- [How to Track Research Trends with ChatGPT](https://toolrouter.com/tools/academic-research/use-cases/track-research-trends/chatgpt): Guide for ChatGPT
- [How to Track Research Trends with Copilot](https://toolrouter.com/tools/academic-research/use-cases/track-research-trends/copilot): Guide for Copilot
- [How to Track Research Trends with OpenClaw](https://toolrouter.com/tools/academic-research/use-cases/track-research-trends/openclaw): Guide for OpenClaw
