literature-note

name	literature-note
description	Creates a structured annotation note in references/ with sections for research question, data, findings, and relevance. Use when documenting a paper.
argument-hint	<key, DOI, or description>
allowed-tools	Bash, Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, WebSearch, WebFetch
version	1.1.0
workflow_stage	writing
tags	["literature","annotation","citations","review"]

Create Literature Note

Create a structured annotation note for a paper in references/.

Arguments

• $ARGUMENTS — a citation key from references.bib, a DOI, or a paper description (e.g., "acemoglu2001colonial" or "Acemoglu 2001 colonial origins")

Steps

1. Parse the argument:

   • If it matches an existing key in references.bib, use that entry's metadata
   • If it is a DOI or description, search for the paper and optionally add it to references.bib first (offer to run the /project:cite workflow)

2. If a URL or DOI is provided, attempt to fetch and read the paper to extract key information.

3. Create a Markdown file in references/ named <citation-key>.md with this structure:

   # <Author (Year)> — <Short Title>
   
   **Citation key:** `<key>`
   **Full reference:** <formatted reference>
   
   ## Research Question
   
   [What question does this paper address?]
   
   ## Identification Strategy
   
   [How do the authors establish causality? What is the main source of variation?]
   
   ## Data and Sample
   
   [What data do they use? What is the sample period, unit of observation, and sample size?]
   
   ## Key Findings
   
   - [Finding 1]
   - [Finding 2]
   - [Finding 3]
   
   ## Methodology Notes
   
   [Econometric methods, estimators, robustness checks worth noting]
   
   ## Relevance to This Project
   
   [How does this paper relate to the current research? What can we build on or contrast with?]
   
   ## Limitations and Critiques
   
   [What are the paper's acknowledged limitations? What critiques have others raised? What questions remain unanswered?]
   
   ## Citation Network
   
   - **Builds on:** [Key papers this work extends or responds to]
   - **Cited by:** [Notable subsequent papers that cite this work]
   - **Related:** [Papers using similar methods on different questions, or the same question with different methods]
   

4. If information about the paper was retrieved (from the web or a PDF), pre-fill the sections with extracted content. Otherwise, leave the bracket placeholders for the user to fill in.

5. Cross-reference with existing notes: After creating the note, scan references/ for other literature notes and identify connections — shared methods, overlapping datasets, complementary or contradictory findings. Append a "Connections" subsection listing related notes in the project:

   ## Connections to Other Notes
   
   - [`<key1>.md`](key1.md) — uses same dataset / complementary identification strategy
   - [`<key2>.md`](key2.md) — contradicts finding on X; uses different sample period
   

6. Report the file path and remind the user to fill in any remaining placeholder sections.

Error handling

• If the citation key is not found in references.bib and cannot be resolved, ask the user for more details.
• If references/<key>.md already exists, show the existing note and ask if the user wants to update it.

Common Pitfalls

• Summarizing without evaluating: A literature note should critically assess the paper's contribution, not just describe it. Note strengths and weaknesses of the identification strategy.
• Missing the identification strategy: For empirical papers, this is the most important section. Always identify the source of exogenous variation and whether it is credible.
• Not connecting to the current project: Every note should explicitly state how the paper relates to your research — even if the connection is "this paper studies a different context but uses a method we should consider."
• Ignoring recent contradictions: Check whether more recent papers have challenged the findings or proposed better methods for the same question.