I believe that there are only two qualities one should know before calling oneself as content and research writer.
1. He or she should know the hot topics around the globe and be curious to know them himself or herself which would give his readers a real feeling while reading his article since he could write wholeheartedly about it .
2. He or she should be able to cluster the ideas and pen them down like painting a picture in the reader's mind .
I have both of these qualities which I think is enough to be a content writer or pursue any research work .
Besides this I can also accomplish projects of Excel or Word.