Boring research originally introduced by expert (4)
I believe the answer is:
drab
'boring' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'research originally introduced by expert' is the wordplay.
'originally' suggests taking the first letters.
'introduced by' means one lot of letters goes inside another (I've seen this in other clues).
'expert' becomes 'dab' (I've seen this before).
The first letter of 'research' is 'r'.
'r' placed within 'dab' is 'DRAB'.
(Other definitions for drab that I've seen before include "Lacklustre" , "Colourless kind of bard" , "Of a dull greenish-brown colour" , "Dingy, dull" , "Dull sort of bard" .)