Literature Review

This skill enables an AI agent to conduct a rigorous, structured literature review following established academic methodology. The agent defines a search strategy with targeted keywords, applies explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria to filter results, extracts key data from selected papers, and synthesizes the findings into a thematic narrative with a summary table and reference list. The workflow is inspired by systematic review practices (including PRISMA-style reporting) and is suitable for academic research, technology landscape analysis, and evidence-based decision making.

Workflow

1. Define the Research Question and Scope: Work with the user to formulate a precise research question using a framework such as PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) or a domain-appropriate equivalent. Establish the review's scope: time range, languages, source types (journal articles, conference papers, preprints), and any domain constraints.

2. Develop the Search Strategy: Generate a set of search queries using combinations of primary keywords, synonyms, and Boolean operators. Identify the databases and sources to search (e.g., Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, arXiv, PubMed, ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore). Document the complete search strategy for reproducibility.

3. Screen and Filter Results: Apply predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria to the search results. Inclusion criteria typically cover topic relevance, publication date range, study type, and language. Exclusion criteria filter out duplicates, non-peer-reviewed opinion pieces, retracted papers, and off-topic results. Record the number of papers at each stage for a PRISMA-style flow.

4. Extract Key Data: For each included paper, extract structured information: title, authors, year, venue, research question, methodology, key findings, limitations, and relevance to the review question. Store this data in a consistent format (table or structured notes) for cross-paper comparison.

5. Synthesize Themes and Findings: Organize extracted data into themes or categories that emerge across papers. Identify areas of consensus, debate, and gaps in the literature. Write a narrative synthesis that connects individual findings into a coherent story, supported by a summary comparison table.

6. Write the Review Document: Produce the final literature review with these sections: introduction and research question, methodology (search strategy, criteria, PRISMA flow), thematic synthesis, discussion of gaps and future directions, and a complete reference list in a standard citation format.

Usage