Literature Review Guide
Conduct comprehensive, systematic literature reviews using academic databases.
When to Use
- Conducting systematic literature reviews
- Synthesizing research on a topic
- Writing literature review sections
- Identifying research gaps
- Building bibliographies
Core Workflow
Phase 1: Planning
Define Research Question (PICO framework for clinical)
- Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome
Establish Scope
- Review type: narrative, systematic, scoping
- Time period, geographic scope
- Study types to include
Develop Search Strategy
- Key terms and synonyms
- Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT)
- Database-specific syntax
Phase 2: Searching
Key Databases:
| Database |
Coverage |
| PubMed |
Biomedical, life sciences |
| arXiv |
Physics, CS, math preprints |
| Semantic Scholar |
Broad academic |
| Google Scholar |
Broad coverage |
| Web of Science |
Multidisciplinary |
Search Strategy Template:
(term1 OR synonym1) AND (term2 OR synonym2) AND (term3)
Phase 3: Screening
Title/Abstract Screening
- Apply inclusion/exclusion criteria
- Track reasons for exclusion
Full-Text Review
- Assess eligibility
- Extract key data
Phase 4: Synthesis
Organize Thematically:
## Theme 1: [Topic]
- Finding A (Author, Year)
- Finding B (Author, Year)
- Synthesis and gaps
## Theme 2: [Topic]
...
Comparison Table:
| Study |
Methods |
Sample |
Key Findings |
| Author 2023 |
RCT |
n=100 |
Finding X |
| Author 2022 |
Cohort |
n=500 |
Finding Y |
Phase 5: Writing
Structure:
- Introduction (scope, objectives)
- Methods (search strategy, criteria)
- Results (thematic synthesis)
- Discussion (gaps, future directions)
- Conclusion
Citation Management
Citation Styles
**APA 7:**
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title. Journal, Volume(Issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxx
**Nature:**
Author, A. A. & Author, B. B. Title. Journal Volume, pages (Year).
**Vancouver:**
Author AA, Author BB. Title. Journal. Year;Volume(Issue):pages.
Tools
- Zotero (free, open source)
- Mendeley (free)
- EndNote (institutional)
Quality Assessment
For RCTs: Cochrane Risk of Bias tool
For Observational: Newcastle-Ottawa Scale
For Qualitative: CASP checklist
PRISMA Flow Diagram
Records identified (n=X)
↓
Duplicates removed (n=X)
↓
Records screened (n=X)
↓
Records excluded (n=X)
↓
Full-text assessed (n=X)
↓
Studies included (n=X)
Best Practices
- Document everything - reproducibility
- Use multiple databases - comprehensive coverage
- Two reviewers - reduce bias (when possible)
- Pre-register protocol - transparency
- Update searches - before publication
Common Pitfalls
- Publication bias (positive results overrepresented)
- Language bias (English-only searches)
- Citation bias (citing famous papers)
- Not updating searches before submission
Resources
1---2name: literature-review3description: Use when "literature review", "research synthesis", "systematic review", "academic search", or asking about "find papers", "cite sources", "research gaps", "meta-analysis", "bibliography"4---5
6<!-- Adapted from: claude-scientific-skills/scientific-skills/literature-review -->
7
8# Literature Review Guide
9
10Conduct comprehensive, systematic literature reviews using academic databases.
11
12## When to Use
13
14- Conducting systematic literature reviews
15- Synthesizing research on a topic
16- Writing literature review sections
17- Identifying research gaps
18- Building bibliographies
19
20## Core Workflow
21
22### Phase 1: Planning
23
241. **Define Research Question** (PICO framework for clinical)
25 - Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome
26
272. **Establish Scope**
28 - Review type: narrative, systematic, scoping
29 - Time period, geographic scope
30 - Study types to include
31
323. **Develop Search Strategy**
33 - Key terms and synonyms
34 - Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT)
35 - Database-specific syntax
36
37### Phase 2: Searching
38
39**Key Databases:**
40
41| Database | Coverage |
42|----------|----------|
43| PubMed | Biomedical, life sciences |
44| arXiv | Physics, CS, math preprints |
45| Semantic Scholar | Broad academic |
46| Google Scholar | Broad coverage |
47| Web of Science | Multidisciplinary |
48
49**Search Strategy Template:**
50
51```
52(term1 OR synonym1) AND (term2 OR synonym2) AND (term3)
53```
54
55### Phase 3: Screening
56
571. **Title/Abstract Screening**
58 - Apply inclusion/exclusion criteria
59 - Track reasons for exclusion
60
612. **Full-Text Review**
62 - Assess eligibility
63 - Extract key data
64
65### Phase 4: Synthesis
66
67**Organize Thematically:**
68
69```markdown
70## Theme 1: [Topic]
71- Finding A (Author, Year)
72- Finding B (Author, Year)
73- Synthesis and gaps
74
75## Theme 2: [Topic]
76...
77```
78
79**Comparison Table:**
80
81| Study | Methods | Sample | Key Findings |
82|-------|---------|--------|--------------|
83| Author 2023 | RCT | n=100 | Finding X |
84| Author 2022 | Cohort | n=500 | Finding Y |
85
86### Phase 5: Writing
87
88**Structure:**
89
901. Introduction (scope, objectives)
912. Methods (search strategy, criteria)
923. Results (thematic synthesis)
934. Discussion (gaps, future directions)
945. Conclusion
95
96## Citation Management
97
98### Citation Styles
99
100```markdown
101**APA 7:**
102Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title. Journal, Volume(Issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxx
103
104**Nature:**
105Author, A. A. & Author, B. B. Title. Journal Volume, pages (Year).
106
107**Vancouver:**
108Author AA, Author BB. Title. Journal. Year;Volume(Issue):pages.
109```
110
111### Tools
112
113- Zotero (free, open source)
114- Mendeley (free)
115- EndNote (institutional)
116
117## Quality Assessment
118
119**For RCTs:** Cochrane Risk of Bias tool
120**For Observational:** Newcastle-Ottawa Scale
121**For Qualitative:** CASP checklist
122
123## PRISMA Flow Diagram
124
125```
126Records identified (n=X)
127 ↓
128Duplicates removed (n=X)
129 ↓
130Records screened (n=X)
131 ↓
132Records excluded (n=X)
133 ↓
134Full-text assessed (n=X)
135 ↓
136Studies included (n=X)
137```
138
139## Best Practices
140
1411. **Document everything** - reproducibility
1422. **Use multiple databases** - comprehensive coverage
1433. **Two reviewers** - reduce bias (when possible)
1444. **Pre-register protocol** - transparency
1455. **Update searches** - before publication
146
147## Common Pitfalls
148
149- Publication bias (positive results overrepresented)
150- Language bias (English-only searches)
151- Citation bias (citing famous papers)
152- Not updating searches before submission
153
154## Resources
155
156- PRISMA Guidelines: <http://prisma-statement.org/>
157- Cochrane Handbook: <https://training.cochrane.org/handbook>
158- PROSPERO (protocol registration): <https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/>
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