A word or an idiom for not wanting to look into something else to not get sidetracked [duplicate]
Example:
In this article about bugs I focus primarily on 7-legged bugs and purposely not consider spiders as it would require me to [look into and explain the details I don't want to here] them which is not the point here.
In a way, it's close to to dirty one's hands with smh but without a negative connotation.
I'm quite confident there's a word for it, but I just can't remember it. I think to dip into is close, but too casual (slang-ish), I'm looking for something for more formal writing.
"To look into something else" and "get sidetracked" is to fall down a rabbit hole.
Merriam-Webster calls a rabbit hole
a...situation...in which the pursuit of something (such as an answer or solution) leads to other questions, problems, or pursuits
You don’t want to be distracted:
dis·tract (dĭ-străkt)
tr.v. dis·tract·ed, dis·tract·ing, dis·tracts
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To cause (someone) to have difficulty paying attention to something: The voices in the other room distracted him, so he couldn't concentrate on his homework.
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To attract (the attention) away from its original focus; divert.
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To cause to feel worried or uneasy; unsettle: The company's workforce was distracted by the prospect of a takeover.
The second definition is the most pertinent, as it notes that you want to keep the focus on the current topic.
From American Heritage Dictionary. https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=distract
It is common to use the phrase “beyond the scope” when describing the content of a paper and also setting out the limits of your discussion. See this discussion on Academia Stack Exchange: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/143708/beyond-the-scope-of-this-paper-phrase
So, I would reword your example sentence as follows:
In this article about bugs, I focus primarily on 7-legged bugs. Spiders are beyond the scope of this article.
(Just curious: What 7-legged bugs???)