The research amongst what already exists, the collection, the choice amongst external sources.
The mind absorbs the interesting extracts.
The individual becomes author, transforming the same inputs and re-elaborating them in a new shape.
The new elements take their own direction, and assume their own face, abandoning the author. Only after leaving the origin, they could communicate with their own language and express the new independent concept that will show the same things under a different light, through brand new eyes.