literature-review

name	literature-review
description	Conduct a systematic literature review on an academic topic. Use when the user asks for a literature review, survey, or systematic overview of a research area.
argument-hint	["topic"]
allowed-tools	Bash, Read, Glob, Grep, Write

Conduct a systematic literature review on "$ARGUMENTS" using the paper and paper-search CLI tools.

1. Define Scope

Before searching, clarify with the user:

• Topic boundaries and key terms
• Year range (default: last 5 years)
• Target venues or communities (if any)
• Desired number of papers (default: 15-20 core papers)

2. Multi-Query Search

Search with multiple query variations to maximize coverage:

paper-search semanticscholar papers "<main query>" --limit 20 --year <range>
paper-search semanticscholar papers "<synonym query>" --limit 20 --year <range>
paper-search semanticscholar papers "<related query>" --limit 20 --year <range>
paper-search google scholar "<topic>"

Deduplicate results by title/paper ID.

3. Triage

For each unique paper found:

paper-search semanticscholar details <paper_id>
paper skim <arxiv_id> --lines 2

Categorize as: highly relevant / somewhat relevant / not relevant.

4. Deep Analysis

For highly relevant papers:

paper outline <arxiv_id>
paper read <arxiv_id> introduction
paper read <arxiv_id> method
paper read <arxiv_id> results
paper read <arxiv_id> conclusion

Take structured notes on each paper: problem, method, key results, limitations.

5. Citation Graph Exploration

For seminal papers, find related work:

paper-search semanticscholar citations <paper_id> --limit 20
paper-search semanticscholar references <paper_id> --limit 20

Add any important papers discovered this way back to the triage step.

6. Produce Report

Organize findings by theme, not by paper. Include:

• Overview of the field and its evolution
• Key methods and approaches (with comparisons)
• Main results and findings
• Open questions and future directions
• Complete reference list with paper IDs and URLs
• BibTeX entries for all cited papers (use paper bibtex <arxiv_id> to generate)

Guidelines

• Aim for breadth first: cover all major approaches before going deep on any one.
• Note citation counts and venues to gauge paper impact.
• Flag contradictory findings explicitly.
• Distinguish between empirical results and theoretical claims.