What are some upsides and downsides to trading put options based on the reporting of research groups?

I am thinking about experimenting with buying put options based on articles published by activist short sell research groups such as Heidenburg research and Muddy water research. What are the potential downsides to this strategy? And with the generally very good track records of research groups like these what should I be wary of? One thing that I have been thinking a lot about is the expiry date of the contracts I buy based on the reportings.