[2019] Modding API. Player can craft item before it is researched.

I'm writing a mod for Factorio and found that player.begin_crafting() can be called on an item before that item has been researched, as long as the player has the required ingredients. For example, you can craft yellow splitters this way before they're researched. Is this something my mod should check? Or is this something Factorio should check, in the same way that it checks whether the ingredients are available?