Agent skill · research science · borghei
litreview
Literature review for academic and R&D research: search strategy, source assessment, synthesis, and citation management. Use when conducting a systematic literature review, building a bibliography, or preparing a research-grounded report.
Why this skill is useful
Adds executable scripts for search strategy building, source quality scoring, and thematic synthesis that enhance literature review processes.
What it needs
Requires python3 installed locally. About 4k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-07-21. 462 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Literature Review A structured literature-review skill grounded in PRISMA-style protocols (adapted for non-medical fields), source-assessment frameworks, and thematic synthesis patterns. When to use this skill Conducting a systematic literature review on a specific question Building a research bibliography for a paper, report, or grant Performing a scoping review to map a field Auditing an existing review for gaps, bias, or methodological flaws Synthesizing findings from a structured set of sources Preparing a research-grounded section of a longer report Inputs the advisor expects Research question(s) — specific, answerable Inclusion / exclusion criteria Time bound (e.g., past 5 years) Geographic / domain bound Source types accepted (peer-reviewed, gray literature, conference) Existing seed sources (if any) Clarify First Before building the review, confirm these inputs. If any is unknown or vague, ASK — do not assume: [ ] Research question (PICO frame) — makes search and synthesis tractable; vague questions yield unfocused reviews [ ] Review type (systematic, scoping, or narrative) — sets rigor, criteria stringency, and output structure (e.g. whether a PRISMA flow is needed) [ ] Inclusion / exclusion criteria (year range, source type, methodology) — drives screening and reproducibility [ ] Synthesis goal (answer a specific question vs map a field) — selects the synthesis approach Stop rule: ask only the 2-3 that most change the output. If the user says "just draft it," proceed and list your assumptions at the top of the artifact. Workflows Workflow 1 — Plan and execute the search 1. Refine the research question (PICO / PEO format works). 2. Run searchstrategybuilder.py against the question + criteria to produce a search strategy (database list, queries, filters). 3. Execute searches; capture results. Workflow 2 — Score source quality and relevance 1. Capture each source with metadata (authors, date, venue, methodology). 2. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills borghei/litreview