You’ve identified what feels like a promising research gap. But that nagging doubt remains: is it truly novel, or did you just miss a key paper? For the independent researcher, this validation phase is critical yet notoriously time-consuming. The Core Principle: The Validation Dashboard Stop thinking of your gap as a single statement. Instead, treat it as a hypothesis built on multiple pillars. The core principle is to systematically stress-test each pillar using AI as a tireless, initial analyst. Think of it as creating a "Validation Dashboard" for your proposed contribution. You populate this dashboard by challenging the novelty, methodological soundness, and feasibility of your idea, using AI to rapidly surface counter-evidence and adjacent work. Tool in Action: Literature Synthesis Engines Specialized AI tools, like those in connected literature review platforms, excel here. Their purpose isn't to think for you, but to act as a super-powered discovery layer.…