a working paper on your sector, your data, your question. published under the khwarizmi imprint, or held internal — your call. footnoted, repeatable, signed.
a question, read closely, written down
cadenceresearch-lead pair one of us, one of yours
term6–10 weeks depending on scope
deliverableworking paper + data signed, repeatable
imprintpublished / held your choice
the work, named.
sometimes the engagement is not a system to build but a question to read closely. we sit with the data, talk to the operators, write the working paper. you decide whether to publish it under the khwarizmi imprint or hold it internal.
what a working paper contains.
the question, named. one sentence. signed off before research starts.
the data — sourced, footnoted, versioned. anyone can re-run the analysis.
the method — written so a researcher in another sector can repeat it.
the findings — short, defensible, with confidence intervals where they matter.
the limits — where the data is thin, where the method bends, where we would not bet.
the next questions — what would you ask if you had another quarter.
what it is not.
a marketing white paper. we will not write one of those.
a vendor-funded research report dressed as objective. if you have a stake, we name it on page one.
a one-shot. every paper is repeatable. another team should be able to re-run it.
an opinion piece. we hold opinions; we publish data.
§ posturethe test of a working paper is whether a researcher in another sector, with the same data, would reach the same finding. that is the only test.
how it runs.
four phases. one research lead from our side. one from yours, ideally. one signed working paper.
cadence
framew. 01
gatherw. 02–04
analysew. 05–07
writew. 08–10
R.01 · frame
one week. one question.
we agree the question. one sentence. you sign it; we do not start without sign-off. we agree what we publish and what we do not.
R.02 · gather
three weeks. data and interviews.
we collect, source, version. every datum has a provenance. we interview the operators on the record where they let us.
R.03 · analyse
three weeks. method first.
we write the method down before the analysis. the analysis follows. the working files are versioned; you receive them at close.
R.04 · write
three weeks. signed, footnoted.
we draft, you review, we sign. you decide imprint — khwarizmi-imprint, your imprint, or held internal.
this is for you if…
signals.
you have a sector question and no team to answer it.
you have data, internal or scrapeable, and a question that would benefit from being read closely.
you want to publish under a thoughtful imprint without writing it yourselves.
you are a foundation or research body funding sector work.
you want a paper that holds up under peer-read, not under press-release.
not for you if…
you want a deck. we write working papers, not decks. we can deliver both; the paper is canonical.
you want a foregone conclusion. we will name the conclusion on page two if the data points there; otherwise we will not.
you want it ghostwritten. our research lead is named on every paper.
you want it next week. the minimum is six weeks.
commercial shape.
fixed sow. priced in zar plus vat. fifty percent on framing; fifty percent on signed paper. data, working files, and footnoted source pack handed over at close.
short paper · 6 wkone question. one method. fifteen-page paper.r 480kfixed scope
standard paper · 8 wkone question, deeper method. twenty-five-page paper, methods appendix.r 680kfixed scope
series paper · 10 wkthree linked questions. forty-page paper. publishable as a series.r 920kfixed scope
example · halal-food traceability across three provinces.
a foundation funded a working paper on halal-food traceability across gauteng, kwazulu-natal, and the western cape. ten-week series paper. forty pages. published under the khwarizmi imprint with foundation acknowledgment.
w. 01
frame.
one question: how far does a halal certification travel from feedlot to retail? signed by foundation and our research lead.
w. 02–04
gather.
forty-two operator interviews. eleven thousand certification records, sourced and versioned.
w. 05–10
analyse + write.
method published as an appendix. findings held under embargo for thirty days; published with foundation acknowledgment.