# Systematic Survey > Exhaustive PRISMA-style literature survey — comprehensive coverage of all related work on a specific question. Multi-stage screening, citation chaining, quality assessment, and structured data extraction. Use when the user needs to demonstrate complete literature coverage or conduct rigorous gap analysis. - Skill: `yogsoth-ai/systematic-survey` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add yogsoth-ai/systematic-survey` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/yogsoth-ai/systematic-survey/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Research & Search - Author: yogsoth-ai (https://skillmd.com/u/yogsoth-ai) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/yogsoth-ai/systematic-survey --- # Systematic Survey **Purpose**: Deep and exhaustive — exhaustive coverage of all related work on a specific question. PRISMA-style rigor. **When to use**: User needs to demonstrate comprehensive literature coverage (e.g., for a survey paper's related work section, or gap analysis requiring complete picture). ## Budget | Base SOP | Target | ±10% Range | |----------|--------|------------| | web-search | 50 results | 45–55 | | web-research | 5 pages | 4–6 | | paper-overview | 60 papers | 54–66 | | paper-search | 40 papers | 36–44 | | paper-research | 30 papers | 27–33 | ## State Ledger Print this table before each major iteration decision: ``` | SOP | Target | Current | % Complete | |----------------|--------|---------|------------| | web-search | 50 | ??? | ???% | | web-research | 5 | ??? | ???% | | paper-overview | 60 | ??? | ???% | | paper-search | 40 | ??? | ???% | | paper-research | 30 | ??? | ???% | ``` Do not exit the strategy until all rows reach ≥90%. ## Available Tactics - `prisma-screening` — multi-stage filtering (identification → screening → eligibility → inclusion) - `citation-chaining` — forward/backward citation expansion until saturation ## Available SOPs **Import** (strict protocol execution): - `web-search` → web-browsing/skills/web-search/SKILL.md - `web-research` → web-browsing/skills/web-research/SKILL.md - `paper-overview` → literature-engine/skills/literature-overview/SKILL.md - `paper-search` → literature-engine/skills/literature-search/SKILL.md - `paper-research` → literature-engine/skills/literature-research/SKILL.md **Subagent** (CC decides when to invoke): - `define-search-protocol` — formalize queries + inclusion/exclusion criteria - `extract-data` — structured comparison tables from deep-read papers - `quality-assessment` — methodological rigor scoring - `prisma-flowchart` — PRISMA-compliant flow documentation - `saturation-detection` — determine when to stop expanding - `gap-identification` — find what the literature hasn't addressed - `survey-synthesis` — produce final structured output ## Execution Guidance - Start with define-search-protocol (formalize queries + inclusion/exclusion criteria) - Use prisma-screening tactic for multi-stage filtering - citation-chaining to catch papers missed by keyword search - saturation-detection to know when to stop expanding - extract-data for structured comparison tables - quality-assessment for methodological rigor scoring - This is the most resource-intensive strategy — budget reflects depth ## Output Format **Comprehensive Systematic Review** containing: - PRISMA flow diagram (identification → screening → eligibility → inclusion counts) - Structured comparison tables (method × dataset × metric) - Quality assessment scores per paper - Identified gaps with evidence - Synthesis narrative connecting findings ## Available Tactics Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop. | Tactic | When to use | | --- | --- | | citation-chaining | Forward and backward citation tracing tactic — expand paper coverage by tracing citation networks in both directions from seed/key papers. Alternates forward (who cited this) and backward (what this cited) passes until saturation. | | prisma-screening | Multi-stage PRISMA screening tactic — progressively filter papers from a large candidate pool to a focused set for deep reading. Four stages (identification, title/abstract screening, full-text screening, inclusion) with documented counts at each stage. | ## Available SOPs Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop. | SOP | When to use | | --- | --- | | define-search-protocol | Formalize search queries and inclusion/exclusion criteria for systematic surveys. Produces a reproducible search protocol document. Used by systematic-survey. | | extract-data | Structured data extraction from deep-read papers — produces comparison tables (method, dataset, metrics, results, limitations). Used by systematic-survey and deep-survey. | | knowledge-acquisition-gap-identification | Identify what the literature has NOT addressed — missing methods, untested combinations, unexplored applications, contradictions without resolution. Used by all strategies. | | knowledge-acquisition-paper-overview | Abstract-level paper scanning for broad coverage. Import of literature-engine/literature-overview skill. Abstract-level only — no methodology conclusions from abstracts. | | knowledge-acquisition-paper-research | Full-depth paper reading with raw text extraction. Import of literature-engine/literature-research skill. Must read fullText (true) — equations, hyperparameters, specific claims extracted. | | knowledge-acquisition-paper-search | AI-summarized paper reading for intermediate depth. Import of literature-engine/literature-search skill. Must call get_paper_content for every analyzed paper. | | knowledge-acquisition-saturation-detection | Determine when additional searching yields diminishing returns. Analyzes the latest expansion batch against existing corpus to judge continue/near-saturation/saturated. Used by snowball and systematic-survey. | | knowledge-acquisition-web-research | Full-page web reading for non-academic perspectives — blogs, tech reports, product pages, industry analysis. Import of web-browsing/web-research skill. Must fetch full page via apify for every analyzed page. | | knowledge-acquisition-web-search | Quick web scanning for landscape understanding. Import of web-browsing/web-search skill. Snippets only — no conclusions from snippets alone. | | prisma-flowchart | Generate PRISMA-compliant flow data documenting the screening funnel — counts at each stage (identification, screening, eligibility, inclusion) with exclusion reasons. Used by systematic-survey via prisma-screening tactic. | | quality-assessment | Methodological rigor scoring for papers — evaluates bias risk, reproducibility, sample adequacy using established frameworks. Used by systematic-survey. | | survey-synthesis | Final synthesis step — weave all gathered evidence (reading notes, extracted data, categorizations) into a coherent structured output appropriate to the strategy type. Used by all 5 strategies as the final step. |