Literature Review

Literature Review

A structured literature-review skill grounded in PRISMA-style protocols (adapted for non-medical fields), source-assessment frameworks, and thematic synthesis patterns.

When to use this skill

• Conducting a systematic literature review on a specific question
• Building a research bibliography for a paper, report, or grant
• Performing a scoping review to map a field
• Auditing an existing review for gaps, bias, or methodological flaws
• Synthesizing findings from a structured set of sources
• Preparing a research-grounded section of a longer report

Inputs the advisor expects

• Research question(s) — specific, answerable
• Inclusion / exclusion criteria
• Time bound (e.g., past 5 years)
• Geographic / domain bound
• Source types accepted (peer-reviewed, gray literature, conference)
• Existing seed sources (if any)

Clarify First

Before building the review, confirm these inputs. If any is unknown or vague, ASK — do not assume:

• Research question (PICO frame) — makes search and synthesis tractable; vague questions yield unfocused reviews
• Review type (systematic, scoping, or narrative) — sets rigor, criteria stringency, and output structure (e.g. whether a PRISMA flow is needed)
• Inclusion / exclusion criteria (year range, source type, methodology) — drives screening and reproducibility
• Synthesis goal (answer a specific question vs map a field) — selects the synthesis approach

Stop rule: ask only the 2-3 that most change the output. If the user says "just draft it," proceed and list your assumptions at the top of the artifact.

Workflows

Workflow 1 — Plan and execute the search

1. Refine the research question (PICO / PEO format works).