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LITERATURE REVIEW SOFTWARE FOR BETTER RESEARCH

“Litmaps is a game changer for finding novel literature... it has been invaluable for my productivity.... I also got my PhD student to use it and they also found it invaluable, finding several gaps they missed”

Varun Venkatesh

Austin Health, Australia

As a full-time researcher, Litmaps has become an indispensable tool in my arsenal. The Seed Maps and Discover features of Litmaps have transformed my literature review process, streamlining the identification of key citations while revealing previously overlooked relevant literature, ensuring no crucial connection goes unnoticed. A true game-changer indeed!

Ritwik Pandey

Doctoral Research Scholar – Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning

Using Litmaps for my research papers has significantly improved my workflow. Typically, I start with a single paper related to my topic. Whenever I find an interesting work, I add it to my search. From there, I can quickly cover my entire Related Work section.

David Fischer

Research Associate – University of Applied Sciences Kempten

“It's nice to get a quick overview of related literature. Really easy to use, and it helps getting on top of the often complicated structures of referencing”

Christoph Ludwig

Technische Universität Dresden, Germany

“This has helped me so much in researching the literature. Currently, I am beginning to investigate new fields and this has helped me hugely”

Aran Warren

Canterbury University, NZ

“I can’t live without you anymore! I also recommend you to my students.”

Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong

“Seeing my literature list as a network enhances my thinking process!”

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

“Incredibly useful tool to get to know more literature, and to gain insight in existing research”

KU Leuven, Belgium

“As a student just venturing into the world of lit reviews, this is a tool that is outstanding and helping me find deeper results for my work.”

Franklin Jeffers

South Oregon University, USA

“Any researcher could use it! The paper recommendations are great for anyone and everyone”

Swansea University, Wales

“This tool really helped me to create good bibtex references for my research papers”

Ali Mohammed-Djafari

Director of Research at LSS-CNRS, France

“Litmaps is extremely helpful with my research. It helps me organize each one of my projects and see how they relate to each other, as well as to keep up to date on publications done in my field”

Daniel Fuller

Clarkson University, USA

As a person who is an early researcher and identifies as dyslexic, I can say that having research articles laid out in the date vs cite graph format is much more approachable than looking at a standard database interface. I feel that the maps Litmaps offers lower the barrier of entry for researchers by giving them the connections between articles spaced out visually. This helps me orientate where a paper is in the history of a field. Thus, new researchers can look at one of Litmap's "seed maps" and have the same information as hours of digging through a database.

Baylor Fain

Postdoctoral Associate – University of Florida

Our Course: Learn and Teach with Litmaps

10 Best Literature Review Tools for Researchers

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Boost your research game with these Best Literature Review Tools for Researchers! Uncover hidden gems, organize your findings, and ace your next research paper!

Conducting literature reviews poses challenges for researchers due to the overwhelming volume of information available and the lack of efficient methods to manage and analyze it.

Researchers struggle to identify key sources, extract relevant information, and maintain accuracy while manually conducting literature reviews. This leads to inefficiency, errors, and difficulty in identifying gaps or trends in existing literature.

Advancements in technology have resulted in a variety of literature review tools. These tools streamline the process, offering features like automated searching, filtering, citation management, and research data extraction. They save time, improve accuracy, and provide valuable insights for researchers. 

In this article, we present a curated list of the 10 best literature review tools, empowering researchers to make informed choices and revolutionize their systematic literature review process.

Table of Contents

Top 10 Literature Review Tools for Researchers: In A Nutshell (2023)

#1. semantic scholar – a free, ai-powered research tool for scientific literature.

Semantic Scholar is a cutting-edge literature review tool that researchers rely on for its comprehensive access to academic publications. With its advanced AI algorithms and extensive database, it simplifies the discovery of relevant research papers. 

By employing semantic analysis, users can explore scholarly articles based on context and meaning, making it a go-to resource for scholars across disciplines. 

Additionally, Semantic Scholar offers personalized recommendations and alerts, ensuring researchers stay updated with the latest developments. However, users should be cautious of potential limitations. 

Not all scholarly content may be indexed, and occasional false positives or inaccurate associations can occur. Furthermore, the tool primarily focuses on computer science and related fields, potentially limiting coverage in other disciplines. 

Researchers should be mindful of these considerations and supplement Semantic Scholar with other reputable resources for a comprehensive literature review. Despite these caveats, Semantic Scholar remains a valuable tool for streamlining research and staying informed.

#2. Elicit – Research assistant using language models like GPT-3

Elicit is a game-changing literature review tool that has gained popularity among researchers worldwide. With its user-friendly interface and extensive database of scholarly articles, it streamlines the research process, saving time and effort. 

The tool employs advanced algorithms to provide personalized recommendations, ensuring researchers discover the most relevant studies for their field. Elicit also promotes collaboration by enabling users to create shared folders and annotate articles.

However, users should be cautious when using Elicit. It is important to verify the credibility and accuracy of the sources found through the tool, as the database encompasses a wide range of publications. 

Additionally, occasional glitches in the search function have been reported, leading to incomplete or inaccurate results. While Elicit offers tremendous benefits, researchers should remain vigilant and cross-reference information to ensure a comprehensive literature review.

#3. Scite.Ai – Your personal research assistant

Scite.Ai is a popular literature review tool that revolutionizes the research process for scholars. With its innovative citation analysis feature, researchers can evaluate the credibility and impact of scientific articles, making informed decisions about their inclusion in their own work. 

By assessing the context in which citations are used, Scite.Ai ensures that the sources selected are reliable and of high quality, enabling researchers to establish a strong foundation for their research.

However, while Scite.Ai offers numerous advantages, there are a few aspects to be cautious about. As with any data-driven tool, occasional errors or inaccuracies may arise, necessitating researchers to cross-reference and verify results with other reputable sources. 

Moreover, Scite.Ai’s coverage may be limited in certain subject areas and languages, with a possibility of missing relevant studies, especially in niche fields or non-English publications. 

Therefore, researchers should supplement the use of Scite.Ai with additional resources to ensure comprehensive literature coverage and avoid any potential gaps in their research.

Rayyan offers the following paid plans:

• Monthly Plan: $20
• Yearly Plan: $12

#4. DistillerSR – Literature Review Software

DistillerSR is a powerful literature review tool trusted by researchers for its user-friendly interface and robust features. With its advanced search capabilities, researchers can quickly find relevant studies from multiple databases, saving time and effort. 

The tool offers comprehensive screening and data extraction functionalities, streamlining the review process and improving the reliability of findings. Real-time collaboration features also facilitate seamless teamwork among researchers.

While DistillerSR offers numerous advantages, there are a few considerations. Users should invest time in understanding the tool’s features and functionalities to maximize its potential. Additionally, the pricing structure may be a factor for individual researchers or small teams with limited budgets.

Despite occasional technical glitches reported by some users, the developers actively address these issues through updates and improvements, ensuring a better user experience. 

Overall, DistillerSR empowers researchers to navigate the vast sea of information, enhancing the quality and efficiency of literature reviews while fostering collaboration among research teams .

#5. Rayyan – AI Powered Tool for Systematic Literature Reviews

Rayyan is a powerful literature review tool that simplifies the research process for scholars and academics. With its user-friendly interface and efficient management features, Rayyan is highly regarded by researchers worldwide. 

It allows users to import and organize large volumes of scholarly articles, making it easier to identify relevant studies for their research projects. The tool also facilitates seamless collaboration among team members, enhancing productivity and streamlining the research workflow. 

However, it’s important to be aware of a few aspects. The free version of Rayyan has limitations, and upgrading to a premium subscription may be necessary for additional functionalities. 

Users should also be mindful of occasional technical glitches and compatibility issues, promptly reporting any problems. Despite these considerations, Rayyan remains a valuable asset for researchers, providing an effective solution for literature review tasks.

Rayyan offers both free and paid plans:

• Professional: $8.25/month
• Student: $4/month
• Pro Team: $8.25/month
• Team+: $24.99/month

#6. Consensus – Use AI to find you answers in scientific research

Consensus is a cutting-edge literature review tool that has become a go-to choice for researchers worldwide. Its intuitive interface and powerful capabilities make it a preferred tool for navigating and analyzing scholarly articles. 

With Consensus, researchers can save significant time by efficiently organizing and accessing relevant research material.People consider Consensus for several reasons. 

Its advanced search algorithms and filters help researchers sift through vast amounts of information, ensuring they focus on the most relevant articles. By streamlining the literature review process, Consensus allows researchers to extract valuable insights and accelerate their research progress.

However, there are a few factors to watch out for when using Consensus. As with any automated tool, researchers should exercise caution and independently verify the accuracy and relevance of the generated results. Complex or niche topics may present challenges, resulting in limited search results. Researchers should also supplement Consensus with manual searches to ensure comprehensive coverage of the literature.

Overall, Consensus is a valuable resource for researchers seeking to optimize their literature review process. By leveraging its features alongside critical thinking and manual searches, researchers can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of their work, advancing their research endeavors to new heights.

Consensus offers both free and paid plans:

• Premium: $9.99/month
• Enterprise: Custom

#7. RAx – AI-powered reading assistant

Consensus is a revolutionary literature review tool that has transformed the research process for scholars worldwide. With its user-friendly interface and advanced features, it offers a vast database of academic publications across various disciplines, providing access to relevant and up-to-date literature. 

Using advanced algorithms and machine learning, Consensus delivers personalized recommendations, saving researchers time and effort in their literature search. 

However, researchers should be cautious of potential biases in the recommendation system and supplement their search with manual verification to ensure a comprehensive review. 

Additionally, occasional inaccuracies in metadata have been reported, making it essential for users to cross-reference information with reliable sources. Despite these considerations, Consensus remains an invaluable tool for enhancing the efficiency and quality of literature reviews.

RAx offers both free and paid plans. Currently offering 50% discounts as of July 2023:

• Premium: $6/month $3/month
• Premium with Copilot: $8/month $4/month

#8. Lateral – Advance your research with AI

“Lateral” is a revolutionary literature review tool trusted by researchers worldwide. With its user-friendly interface and powerful search capabilities, it simplifies the process of gathering and analyzing scholarly articles. 

By leveraging advanced algorithms and machine learning, Lateral saves researchers precious time by retrieving relevant articles and uncovering new connections between them, fostering interdisciplinary exploration.

While Lateral provides numerous benefits, users should exercise caution. It is advisable to cross-reference its findings with other sources to ensure a comprehensive review. 

Additionally, researchers must be mindful of potential biases introduced by the tool’s algorithms and should critically evaluate and interpret the results. 

Despite these considerations, Lateral remains an indispensable resource, empowering researchers to delve deeper into their fields of study and make valuable contributions to the academic community.

RAx offers both free and paid plans:

• Premium: $10.98
• Pro: $27.46

#9. Iris AI – Introducing the researcher workspace

Iris AI is an innovative literature review tool that has transformed the research process for academics and scholars. With its advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, Iris AI offers a seamless and efficient way to navigate through a vast array of academic papers and publications. 

Researchers are drawn to this tool because it saves valuable time by automating the tedious task of literature review and provides comprehensive coverage across multiple disciplines. 

Its intelligent recommendation system suggests related articles, enabling researchers to discover hidden connections and broaden their knowledge base. However, caution should be exercised while using Iris AI. 

While the tool excels at surfacing relevant papers, researchers should independently evaluate the quality and validity of the sources to ensure the reliability of their work. 

It’s important to note that Iris AI may occasionally miss niche or lesser-known publications, necessitating a supplementary search using traditional methods. 

Additionally, being an algorithm-based tool, there is a possibility of false positives or missed relevant articles due to the inherent limitations of automated text analysis. Nevertheless, Iris AI remains an invaluable asset for researchers, enhancing the quality and efficiency of their research endeavors.

Iris AI offers different pricing plans to cater to various user needs:

• Basic: Free
• Premium: Monthly ($82.41), Quarterly ($222.49), and Annual ($791.07)

#10. Scholarcy – Summarize your literature through AI

Scholarcy is a powerful literature review tool that helps researchers streamline their work. By employing advanced algorithms and natural language processing, it efficiently analyzes and summarizes academic papers, saving researchers valuable time. 

Scholarcy’s ability to extract key information and generate concise summaries makes it an attractive option for scholars looking to quickly grasp the main concepts and findings of multiple papers.

However, it is important to exercise caution when relying solely on Scholarcy. While it provides a useful starting point, engaging with the original research papers is crucial to ensure a comprehensive understanding. 

Scholarcy’s automated summarization may not capture the nuanced interpretations or contextual information presented in the full text. 

Researchers should also be aware that certain types of documents, particularly those with heavy mathematical or technical content, may pose challenges for the tool. 

Despite these considerations, Scholarcy remains a valuable resource for researchers seeking to enhance their literature review process and improve overall efficiency.

Scholarcy offer the following pricing plans:

• Browser Extension and Flashcards: Free 
• Personal Library: $9.99
• Academic Institution License: $8K+

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, conducting a comprehensive literature review is a crucial aspect of any research project, and the availability of reliable and efficient tools can greatly facilitate this process for researchers. This article has explored the top 10 literature review tools that have gained popularity among researchers.

Moreover, the rise of AI-powered tools like Iris.ai and Sci.ai promises to revolutionize the literature review process by automating various tasks and enhancing research efficiency. 

Ultimately, the choice of literature review tool depends on individual preferences and research needs, but the tools presented in this article serve as valuable resources to enhance the quality and productivity of research endeavors. 

Researchers are encouraged to explore and utilize these tools to stay at the forefront of knowledge in their respective fields and contribute to the advancement of science and academia.

Q1. What are literature review tools for researchers?

Literature review tools for researchers are software or online platforms designed to assist researchers in efficiently conducting literature reviews. These tools help researchers find, organize, analyze, and synthesize relevant academic papers and other sources of information.

Q2. What criteria should researchers consider when choosing literature review tools?

When choosing literature review tools, researchers should consider factors such as the tool’s search capabilities, database coverage, user interface, collaboration features, citation management, annotation and highlighting options, integration with reference management software, and data extraction capabilities. 

It’s also essential to consider the tool’s accessibility, cost, and technical support.

Q3. Are there any literature review tools specifically designed for systematic reviews or meta-analyses?

Yes, there are literature review tools that cater specifically to systematic reviews and meta-analyses, which involve a rigorous and structured approach to reviewing existing literature. These tools often provide features tailored to the specific needs of these methodologies, such as:

Screening and eligibility assessment: Systematic review tools typically offer functionalities for screening and assessing the eligibility of studies based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. This streamlines the process of selecting relevant studies for analysis.

Data extraction and quality assessment: These tools often include templates and forms to facilitate data extraction from selected studies. Additionally, they may provide features for assessing the quality and risk of bias in individual studies.

Meta-analysis support: Some literature review tools include statistical analysis features that assist in conducting meta-analyses. These features can help calculate effect sizes, perform statistical tests, and generate forest plots or other visual representations of the meta-analytic results.

Reporting assistance: Many tools provide templates or frameworks for generating systematic review reports, ensuring compliance with established guidelines such as PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses).

Q4. Can literature review tools help with organizing and annotating collected references?

Yes, literature review tools often come equipped with features to help researchers organize and annotate collected references. Some common functionalities include:

Reference management: These tools enable researchers to import references from various sources, such as databases or PDF files, and store them in a central library. They typically allow you to create folders or tags to organize references based on themes or categories.

Annotation capabilities: Many tools provide options for adding annotations, comments, or tags to individual references or specific sections of research articles. This helps researchers keep track of important information, highlight key findings, or note potential connections between different sources.

Full-text search: Literature review tools often offer full-text search functionality, allowing you to search within the content of imported articles or documents. This can be particularly useful when you need to locate specific information or keywords across multiple references.

Integration with citation managers: Some literature review tools integrate with popular citation managers like Zotero, Mendeley, or EndNote, allowing seamless transfer of references and annotations between platforms.

By leveraging these features, researchers can streamline the organization and annotation of their collected references, making it easier to retrieve relevant information during the literature review process.

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Accelerate your research with the best systematic literature review tools

The ideal literature review tool helps you make sense of the most important insights in your research field. ATLAS.ti empowers researchers to perform powerful and collaborative analysis using the leading software for literature review.

Finalize your literature review faster with comfort

ATLAS.ti makes it easy to manage, organize, and analyze articles, PDFs, excerpts, and more for your projects. Conduct a deep systematic literature review and get the insights you need with a comprehensive toolset built specifically for your research projects.

Figure out the "why" behind your participant's motivations

Understand the behaviors and emotions that are driving your focus group participants. With ATLAS.ti, you can transform your raw data and turn it into qualitative insights you can learn from. Easily determine user intent in the same spot you're deciphering your overall focus group data.

Visualize your research findings like never before

We make it simple to present your analysis results with meaningful charts, networks, and diagrams. Instead of figuring out how to communicate the insights you just unlocked, we enable you to leverage easy-to-use visualizations that support your goals.

Everything you need to elevate your literature review

Import and organize literature data.

Import and analyze any type of text content – ATLAS.ti supports all standard text and transcription files such as Word and PDF.

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Utilize easy-to-learn workflows that save valuable time, such as auto coding, sentiment analysis, team collaboration, and more.

Leverage AI-driven tools

Make efficiency a priority and let ATLAS.ti do your work with AI-powered research tools and features for faster results.

Visualize and present findings

With just a few clicks, you can create meaningful visualizations like charts, word clouds, tables, networks, among others for your literature data.

The faster way to make sense of your literature review. Try it for free, today.

A literature review analyzes the most current research within a research area. A literature review consists of published studies from many sources:

• Peer-reviewed academic publications
• Full-length books
• University bulletins
• Conference proceedings
• Dissertations and theses

Literature reviews allow researchers to:

• Summarize the state of the research
• Identify unexplored research inquiries
• Recommend practical applications
• Critique currently published research

Literature reviews are either standalone publications or part of a paper as background for an original research project. A literature review, as a section of a more extensive research article, summarizes the current state of the research to justify the primary research described in the paper.

For example, a researcher may have reviewed the literature on a new supplement's health benefits and concluded that more research needs to be conducted on those with a particular condition. This research gap warrants a study examining how this understudied population reacted to the supplement. Researchers need to establish this research gap through a literature review to persuade journal editors and reviewers of the value of their research.

Consider a literature review as a typical research publication presenting a study, its results, and the salient points scholars can infer from the study. The only significant difference with a literature review treats existing literature as the research data to collect and analyze. From that analysis, a literature review can suggest new inquiries to pursue.

Identify a focus

Similar to a typical study, a literature review should have a research question or questions that analysis can answer. This sort of inquiry typically targets a particular phenomenon, population, or even research method to examine how different studies have looked at the same thing differently. A literature review, then, should center the literature collection around that focus.

Collect and analyze the literature

With a focus in mind, a researcher can collect studies that provide relevant information for that focus. They can then analyze the collected studies by finding and identifying patterns or themes that occur frequently. This analysis allows the researcher to point out what the field has frequently explored or, on the other hand, overlooked.

Suggest implications

The literature review allows the researcher to argue a particular point through the evidence provided by the analysis. For example, suppose the analysis makes it apparent that the published research on people's sleep patterns has not adequately explored the connection between sleep and a particular factor (e.g., television-watching habits, indoor air quality). In that case, the researcher can argue that further study can address this research gap.

External requirements aside (e.g., many academic journals have a word limit of 6,000-8,000 words), a literature review as a standalone publication is as long as necessary to allow readers to understand the current state of the field. Even if it is just a section in a larger paper, a literature review is long enough to allow the researcher to justify the study that is the paper's focus.

Note that a literature review needs only to incorporate a representative number of studies relevant to the research inquiry. For term papers in university courses, 10 to 20 references might be appropriate for demonstrating analytical skills. Published literature reviews in peer-reviewed journals might have 40 to 50 references. One of the essential goals of a literature review is to persuade readers that you have analyzed a representative segment of the research you are reviewing.

Researchers can find published research from various online sources:

• Journal websites
• Research databases
• Search engines (Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar)
• Research repositories
• Social networking sites (Academia, ResearchGate)

Many journals make articles freely available under the term "open access," meaning that there are no restrictions to viewing and downloading such articles. Otherwise, collecting research articles from restricted journals usually requires access from an institution such as a university or a library.

Evidence of a rigorous literature review is more important than the word count or the number of articles that undergo data analysis. Especially when writing for a peer-reviewed journal, it is essential to consider how to demonstrate research rigor in your literature review to persuade reviewers of its scholarly value.

Select field-specific journals

The most significant research relevant to your field focuses on a narrow set of journals similar in aims and scope. Consider who the most prominent scholars in your field are and determine which journals publish their research or have them as editors or reviewers. Journals tend to look favorably on systematic reviews that include articles they have published.

Incorporate recent research

Recently published studies have greater value in determining the gaps in the current state of research. Older research is likely to have encountered challenges and critiques that may render their findings outdated or refuted. What counts as recent differs by field; start by looking for research published within the last three years and gradually expand to older research when you need to collect more articles for your review.

Consider the quality of the research

Literature reviews are only as strong as the quality of the studies that the researcher collects. You can judge any particular study by many factors, including:

• the quality of the article's journal
• the article's research rigor
• the timeliness of the research

The critical point here is that you should consider more than just a study's findings or research outputs when including research in your literature review.

Narrow your research focus

Ideally, the articles you collect for your literature review have something in common, such as a research method or research context. For example, if you are conducting a literature review about teaching practices in high school contexts, it is best to narrow your literature search to studies focusing on high school. You should consider expanding your search to junior high school and university contexts only when there are not enough studies that match your focus.

You can create a project in ATLAS.ti for keeping track of your collected literature. ATLAS.ti allows you to view and analyze full text articles and PDF files in a single project. Within projects, you can use document groups to separate studies into different categories for easier and faster analysis.

For example, a researcher with a literature review that examines studies across different countries can create document groups labeled "United Kingdom," "Germany," and "United States," among others. A researcher can also use ATLAS.ti's global filters to narrow analysis to a particular set of studies and gain insights about a smaller set of literature.

ATLAS.ti allows you to search, code, and analyze text documents and PDF files. You can treat a set of research articles like other forms of qualitative data. The codes you apply to your literature collection allow for analysis through many powerful tools in ATLAS.ti:

• Code Co-Occurrence Explorer
• Code Co-Occurrence Table
• Code-Document Table

Other tools in ATLAS.ti employ machine learning to facilitate parts of the coding process for you. Some of our software tools that are effective for analyzing literature include:

• Named Entity Recognition
• Opinion Mining
• Sentiment Analysis

As long as your documents are text documents or text-enable PDF files, ATLAS.ti's automated tools can provide essential assistance in the data analysis process.

All-in-one Literature Review Software

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MAXQDA The All-in-one Literature Review Software

MAXQDA is the best choice for a comprehensive literature review. It works with a wide range of data types and offers powerful tools for literature review, such as reference management, qualitative, vocabulary, text analysis tools, and more.

Document viewer

Your analysis.

As your all-in-one literature review software, MAXQDA can be used to manage your entire research project. Easily import data from texts, interviews, focus groups, PDFs, web pages, spreadsheets, articles, e-books, and even social media data. Connect the reference management system of your choice with MAXQDA to easily import bibliographic data. Organize your data in groups, link relevant quotes to each other, keep track of your literature summaries, and share and compare work with your team members. Your project file stays flexible and you can expand and refine your category system as you go to suit your research.

Developed by and for researchers – since 1989

Having used several qualitative data analysis software programs, there is no doubt in my mind that MAXQDA has advantages over all the others. In addition to its remarkable analytical features for harnessing data, MAXQDA’s stellar customer service, online tutorials, and global learning community make it a user friendly and top-notch product.

Sally S. Cohen – NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing

Literature Review is Faster and Smarter with MAXQDA

Easily import your literature review data

With a literature review software like MAXQDA, you can easily import bibliographic data from reference management programs for your literature review. MAXQDA can work with all reference management programs that can export their databases in RIS-format which is a standard format for bibliographic information. Like MAXQDA, these reference managers use project files, containing all collected bibliographic information, such as author, title, links to websites, keywords, abstracts, and other information. In addition, you can easily import the corresponding full texts. Upon import, all documents will be automatically pre-coded to facilitate your literature review at a later stage.

Capture your ideas while analyzing your literature

Great ideas will often occur to you while you’re doing your literature review. Using MAXQDA as your literature review software, you can create memos to store your ideas, such as research questions and objectives, or you can use memos for paraphrasing passages into your own words. By attaching memos like post-it notes to text passages, texts, document groups, images, audio/video clips, and of course codes, you can easily retrieve them at a later stage. Particularly useful for literature reviews are free memos written during the course of work from which passages can be copied and inserted into the final text.

Find concepts important to your generated literature review

When generating a literature review you might need to analyze a large amount of text. Luckily MAXQDA as the #1 literature review software offers Text Search tools that allow you to explore your documents without reading or coding them first. Automatically search for keywords (or dictionaries of keywords), such as important concepts for your literature review, and automatically code them with just a few clicks. Document variables that were automatically created during the import of your bibliographic information can be used for searching and retrieving certain text segments. MAXQDA’s powerful Coding Query allows you to analyze the combination of activated codes in different ways.

Aggregate your literature review

When conducting a literature review you can easily get lost. But with MAXQDA as your literature review software, you will never lose track of the bigger picture. Among other tools, MAXQDA’s overview and summary tables are especially useful for aggregating your literature review results. MAXQDA offers overview tables for almost everything, codes, memos, coded segments, links, and so on. With MAXQDA literature review tools you can create compressed summaries of sources that can be effectively compared and represented, and with just one click you can easily export your overview and summary tables and integrate them into your literature review report.

Powerful and easy-to-use literature review tools

Quantitative aspects can also be relevant when conducting a literature review analysis. Using MAXQDA as your literature review software enables you to employ a vast range of procedures for the quantitative evaluation of your material. You can sort sources according to document variables, compare amounts with frequency tables and charts, and much more. Make sure you don’t miss the word frequency tools of MAXQDA’s add-on module for quantitative content analysis. Included are tools for visual text exploration, content analysis, vocabulary analysis, dictionary-based analysis, and more that facilitate the quantitative analysis of terms and their semantic contexts.

Visualize your literature review

As an all-in-one literature review software, MAXQDA offers a variety of visual tools that are tailor-made for qualitative research and literature reviews. Create stunning visualizations to analyze your material. Of course, you can export your visualizations in various formats to enrich your literature review analysis report. Work with word clouds to explore the central themes of a text and key terms that are used, create charts to easily compare the occurrences of concepts and important keywords, or make use of the graphical representation possibilities of MAXMaps, which in particular permit the creation of concept maps. Thanks to the interactive connection between your visualizations with your MAXQDA data, you’ll never lose sight of the big picture.

AI Assist: literature review software meets AI

AI Assist – your virtual research assistant – supports your literature review with various tools. AI Assist simplifies your work by automatically analyzing and summarizing elements of your research project and by generating suggestions for subcodes. No matter which AI tool you use – you can customize your results to suit your needs.

Free tutorials and guides on literature review

MAXQDA offers a variety of free learning resources for literature review, making it easy for both beginners and advanced users to learn how to use the software. From free video tutorials and webinars to step-by-step guides and sample projects, these resources provide a wealth of information to help you understand the features and functionality of MAXQDA for literature review. For beginners, the software’s user-friendly interface and comprehensive help center make it easy to get started with your data analysis, while advanced users will appreciate the detailed guides and tutorials that cover more complex features and techniques. Whether you’re just starting out or are an experienced researcher, MAXQDA’s free learning resources will help you get the most out of your literature review.

Free MAXQDA Trial for Windows and Mac

Get your maxqda license, compare the features of maxqda and maxqda analytics pro, faq: literature review software.

Literature review software is a tool designed to help researchers efficiently manage and analyze the existing body of literature relevant to their research topic. MAXQDA, a versatile qualitative data analysis tool, can be instrumental in this process.

Literature review software, like MAXQDA, typically includes features such as data import and organization, coding and categorization, advanced search capabilities, data visualization tools, and collaboration features. These features facilitate the systematic review and analysis of relevant literature.

Literature review software, including MAXQDA, can assist in qualitative data interpretation by enabling researchers to organize, code, and categorize relevant literature. This organized data can then be analyzed to identify trends, patterns, and themes, helping researchers draw meaningful insights from the literature they’ve reviewed.

Yes, literature review software like MAXQDA is suitable for researchers of all levels of experience. It offers user-friendly interfaces and extensive support resources, making it accessible to beginners while providing advanced features that cater to the needs of experienced researchers.

Getting started with literature review software, such as MAXQDA, typically involves downloading and installing the software, importing your relevant literature, and exploring the available features. Many software providers offer tutorials and documentation to help users get started quickly.

For students, MAXQDA can be an excellent literature review software choice. Its user-friendly interface, comprehensive feature set, and educational discounts make it a valuable tool for students conducting literature reviews as part of their academic research.

MAXQDA is available for both Windows and Mac users, making it a suitable choice for Mac users looking for literature review software. It offers a consistent and feature-rich experience on Mac operating systems.

When it comes to literature review software, MAXQDA is widely regarded as one of the best choices. Its robust feature set, user-friendly interface, and versatility make it a top pick for researchers conducting literature reviews.

Yes, literature reviews can be conducted without software. However, using literature review software like MAXQDA can significantly streamline and enhance the process by providing tools for efficient data management, analysis, and visualization.

7 open source tools to make literature reviews easy

Opensource.com

A good literature review is critical for academic research in any field, whether it is for a research article, a critical review for coursework, or a dissertation. In a recent article, I presented detailed steps for doing  a literature review using open source software .

The following is a brief summary of seven free and open source software tools described in that article that will make your next literature review much easier.

1. GNU Linux

Most literature reviews are accomplished by graduate students working in research labs in universities. For absurd reasons, graduate students often have the worst computers on campus. They are often old, slow, and clunky Windows machines that have been discarded and recycled from the undergraduate computer labs. Installing a flavor of GNU Linux will breathe new life into these outdated PCs. There are more than 100 distributions , all of which can be downloaded and installed for free on computers. Most popular Linux distributions come with a "try-before-you-buy" feature. For example, with Ubuntu you can make a bootable USB stick that allows you to test-run the Ubuntu desktop experience without interfering in any way with your PC configuration. If you like the experience, you can use the stick to install Ubuntu on your machine permanently.

Linux distributions generally come with a free web browser, and the most popular is Firefox . Two Firefox plugins that are particularly useful for literature reviews are Unpaywall and Zotero. Keep reading to learn why.

3. Unpaywall

Often one of the hardest parts of a literature review is gaining access to the papers you want to read for your review. The unintended consequence of copyright restrictions and paywalls is it has narrowed access to the peer-reviewed literature to the point that even Harvard University is challenged to pay for it. Fortunately, there are a lot of open access articles—about a third of the literature is free (and the percentage is growing). Unpaywall is a Firefox plugin that enables researchers to click a green tab on the side of the browser and skip the paywall on millions of peer-reviewed journal articles. This makes finding accessible copies of articles much faster that searching each database individually. Unpaywall is fast, free, and legal, as it accesses many of the open access sites that I covered in my paper on using open source in lit reviews .

Formatting references is the most tedious of academic tasks. Zotero can save you from ever doing it again. It operates as an Android app, desktop program, and a Firefox plugin (which I recommend). It is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share research. It replaces the functionality of proprietary packages such as RefWorks, Endnote, and Papers for zero cost. Zotero can auto-add bibliographic information directly from websites. In addition, it can scrape bibliographic data from PDF files. Notes can be easily added on each reference. Finally, and most importantly, it can import and export the bibliography databases in all publishers' various formats. With this feature, you can export bibliographic information to paste into a document editor for a paper or thesis—or even to a wiki for dynamic collaborative literature reviews (see tool #7 for more on the value of wikis in lit reviews).

5. LibreOffice

Your thesis or academic article can be written conventionally with the free office suite LibreOffice , which operates similarly to Microsoft's Office products but respects your freedom. Zotero has a word processor plugin to integrate directly with LibreOffice. LibreOffice is more than adequate for the vast majority of academic paper writing.

If LibreOffice is not enough for your layout needs, you can take your paper writing one step further with LaTeX , a high-quality typesetting system specifically designed for producing technical and scientific documentation. LaTeX is particularly useful if your writing has a lot of equations in it. Also, Zotero libraries can be directly exported to BibTeX files for use with LaTeX.

7. MediaWiki

If you want to leverage the open source way to get help with your literature review, you can facilitate a dynamic collaborative literature review . A wiki is a website that allows anyone to add, delete, or revise content directly using a web browser. MediaWiki is free software that enables you to set up your own wikis.

Researchers can (in decreasing order of complexity): 1) set up their own research group wiki with MediaWiki, 2) utilize wikis already established at their universities (e.g., Aalto University ), or 3) use wikis dedicated to areas that they research. For example, several university research groups that focus on sustainability (including mine ) use Appropedia , which is set up for collaborative solutions on sustainability, appropriate technology, poverty reduction, and permaculture.

Using a wiki makes it easy for anyone in the group to keep track of the status of and update literature reviews (both current and older or from other researchers). It also enables multiple members of the group to easily collaborate on a literature review asynchronously. Most importantly, it enables people outside the research group to help make a literature review more complete, accurate, and up-to-date.

Wrapping up

Free and open source software can cover the entire lit review toolchain, meaning there's no need for anyone to use proprietary solutions. Do you use other libre tools for making literature reviews or other academic work easier? Please let us know your favorites in the comments.

Related Content

Literature Review Tips & Tools

• Tips & Examples

Organizational Tools

Tools for systematic reviews.

• Bubbl.us Free online brainstorming/mindmapping tool that also has a free iPad app.
• Coggle Another free online mindmapping tool.
• Organization & Structure tips from Purdue University Online Writing Lab
• Literature Reviews from The Writing Center at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gives several suggestions and descriptions of ways to organize your lit review.
• Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions "The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions is the official guide that describes in detail the process of preparing and maintaining Cochrane systematic reviews on the effects of healthcare interventions. "
• Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) website "PRISMA is an evidence-based minimum set of items for reporting in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. PRISMA focuses on the reporting of reviews evaluating randomized trials, but can also be used as a basis for reporting systematic reviews of other types of research, particularly evaluations of interventions."
• PRISMA Flow Diagram Generator Free tool that will generate a PRISMA flow diagram from a CSV file (sample CSV template provided) more... less... Please cite as: Haddaway, N. R., Page, M. J., Pritchard, C. C., & McGuinness, L. A. (2022). PRISMA2020: An R package and Shiny app for producing PRISMA 2020-compliant flow diagrams, with interactivity for optimised digital transparency and Open Synthesis Campbell Systematic Reviews, 18, e1230. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1230
• Rayyan "Rayyan is a 100% FREE web application to help systematic review authors perform their job in a quick, easy and enjoyable fashion. Authors create systematic reviews, collaborate on them, maintain them over time and get suggestions for article inclusion."
• Covidence Covidence is a tool to help manage systematic reviews (and create PRISMA flow diagrams). **UMass Amherst doesn't subscribe, but Covidence offers a free trial for 1 review of no more than 500 records. It is also set up for researchers to pay for each review.
• PROSPERO - Systematic Review Protocol Registry "PROSPERO accepts registrations for systematic reviews, rapid reviews and umbrella reviews. PROSPERO does not accept scoping reviews or literature scans. Sibling PROSPERO sites registers systematic reviews of human studies and systematic reviews of animal studies."
• Critical Appraisal Tools from JBI Joanna Briggs Institute at the University of Adelaide provides these checklists to help evaluate different types of publications that could be included in a review.
• Systematic Review Toolbox "The Systematic Review Toolbox is a community-driven, searchable, web-based catalogue of tools that support the systematic review process across multiple domains. The resource aims to help reviewers find appropriate tools based on how they provide support for the systematic review process. Users can perform a simple keyword search (i.e. Quick Search) to locate tools, a more detailed search (i.e. Advanced Search) allowing users to select various criteria to find specific types of tools and submit new tools to the database. Although the focus of the Toolbox is on identifying software tools to support systematic reviews, other tools or support mechanisms (such as checklists, guidelines and reporting standards) can also be found."
• Abstrackr Free, open-source tool that "helps you upload and organize the results of a literature search for a systematic review. It also makes it possible for your team to screen, organize, and manipulate all of your abstracts in one place." -From Center for Evidence Synthesis in Health
• SRDR Plus (Systematic Review Data Repository: Plus) An open-source tool for extracting, managing,, and archiving data developed by the Center for Evidence Synthesis in Health at Brown University
• RoB 2 Tool (Risk of Bias for Randomized Trials) A revised Cochrane risk of bias tool for randomized trials
• << Previous: Tips & Examples
• Next: Writing & Citing Help >>
• Last Updated: Apr 2, 2024 4:46 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.umass.edu/litreviews

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• 04 December 2020
• Correction 09 December 2020

How to write a superb literature review

Andy Tay is a freelance writer based in Singapore.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Literature reviews are important resources for scientists. They provide historical context for a field while offering opinions on its future trajectory. Creating them can provide inspiration for one’s own research, as well as some practice in writing. But few scientists are trained in how to write a review — or in what constitutes an excellent one. Even picking the appropriate software to use can be an involved decision (see ‘Tools and techniques’). So Nature asked editors and working scientists with well-cited reviews for their tips.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03422-x

Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Updates & Corrections

Correction 09 December 2020 : An earlier version of the tables in this article included some incorrect details about the programs Zotero, Endnote and Manubot. These have now been corrected.

Hsing, I.-M., Xu, Y. & Zhao, W. Electroanalysis 19 , 755–768 (2007).

Article   Google Scholar  

Ledesma, H. A. et al. Nature Nanotechnol. 14 , 645–657 (2019).

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Brahlek, M., Koirala, N., Bansal, N. & Oh, S. Solid State Commun. 215–216 , 54–62 (2015).

Choi, Y. & Lee, S. Y. Nature Rev. Chem . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-020-00221-w (2020).

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Writing in the Health and Social Sciences: Literature Reviews and Synthesis Tools

• Journal Publishing
• Style and Writing Guides
• Readings about Writing
• Citing in APA Style This link opens in a new window
• Resources for Dissertation Authors
• Citation Management and Formatting Tools
• What are Literature Reviews?
• Conducting & Reporting Systematic Reviews
• Finding Systematic Reviews
• Tutorials & Tools for Literature Reviews

Systematic Literature Reviews: Steps & Resources

These steps for conducting a systematic literature review are listed below . 

Also see subpages for more information about:

• The different types of literature reviews, including systematic reviews and other evidence synthesis methods
• Tools & Tutorials

Literature Review & Systematic Review Steps

• Develop a Focused Question
• Scope the Literature  (Initial Search)
• Refine & Expand the Search
• Limit the Results
• Download Citations
• Abstract & Analyze
• Create Flow Diagram
• Synthesize & Report Results

1. Develop a Focused   Question 

Consider the PICO Format: Population/Problem, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome

Focus on defining the Population or Problem and Intervention (don't narrow by Comparison or Outcome just yet!)

"What are the effects of the Pilates method for patients with low back pain?"

Tools & Additional Resources:

• PICO Question Help
• Stillwell, Susan B., DNP, RN, CNE; Fineout-Overholt, Ellen, PhD, RN, FNAP, FAAN; Melnyk, Bernadette Mazurek, PhD, RN, CPNP/PMHNP, FNAP, FAAN; Williamson, Kathleen M., PhD, RN Evidence-Based Practice, Step by Step: Asking the Clinical Question, AJN The American Journal of Nursing : March 2010 - Volume 110 - Issue 3 - p 58-61 doi: 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000368959.11129.79

2. Scope the Literature

A "scoping search" investigates the breadth and/or depth of the initial question or may identify a gap in the literature. 

Eligible studies may be located by searching in:

• Background sources (books, point-of-care tools)
• Article databases
• Trial registries
• Grey literature
• Cited references
• Reference lists

When searching, if possible, translate terms to controlled vocabulary of the database. Use text word searching when necessary.

Use Boolean operators to connect search terms:

• Combine separate concepts with AND  (resulting in a narrower search)
• Connecting synonyms with OR  (resulting in an expanded search)

Search:  pilates AND ("low back pain"  OR  backache )

Video Tutorials - Translating PICO Questions into Search Queries

• Translate Your PICO Into a Search in PubMed (YouTube, Carrie Price, 5:11) 
• Translate Your PICO Into a Search in CINAHL (YouTube, Carrie Price, 4:56)

3. Refine & Expand Your Search

Expand your search strategy with synonymous search terms harvested from:

• database thesauri
• reference lists
• relevant studies

Example: 

(pilates OR exercise movement techniques) AND ("low back pain" OR backache* OR sciatica OR lumbago OR spondylosis)

As you develop a final, reproducible strategy for each database, save your strategies in a:

• a personal database account (e.g., MyNCBI for PubMed)
• Log in with your NYU credentials
• Open and "Make a Copy" to create your own tracker for your literature search strategies

4. Limit Your Results

Use database filters to limit your results based on your defined inclusion/exclusion criteria.  In addition to relying on the databases' categorical filters, you may also need to manually screen results.  

• Limit to Article type, e.g.,:  "randomized controlled trial" OR multicenter study
• Limit by publication years, age groups, language, etc.

NOTE: Many databases allow you to filter to "Full Text Only".  This filter is  not recommended . It excludes articles if their full text is not available in that particular database (CINAHL, PubMed, etc), but if the article is relevant, it is important that you are able to read its title and abstract, regardless of 'full text' status. The full text is likely to be accessible through another source (a different database, or Interlibrary Loan).  

• Filters in PubMed
• CINAHL Advanced Searching Tutorial

5. Download Citations

Selected citations and/or entire sets of search results can be downloaded from the database into a citation management tool. If you are conducting a systematic review that will require reporting according to PRISMA standards, a citation manager can help you keep track of the number of articles that came from each database, as well as the number of duplicate records.

In Zotero, you can create a Collection for the combined results set, and sub-collections for the results from each database you search.  You can then use Zotero's 'Duplicate Items" function to find and merge duplicate records.

• Citation Managers - General Guide

6. Abstract and Analyze

• Migrate citations to data collection/extraction tool
• Screen Title/Abstracts for inclusion/exclusion
• Screen and appraise full text for relevance, methods, 
• Resolve disagreements by consensus

Covidence is a web-based tool that enables you to work with a team to screen titles/abstracts and full text for inclusion in your review, as well as extract data from the included studies.

• Covidence Support
• Critical Appraisal Tools
• Data Extraction Tools

7. Create Flow Diagram

The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) flow diagram is a visual representation of the flow of records through different phases of a systematic review.  It depicts the number of records identified, included and excluded.  It is best used in conjunction with the PRISMA checklist .

Example from: Stotz, S. A., McNealy, K., Begay, R. L., DeSanto, K., Manson, S. M., & Moore, K. R. (2021). Multi-level diabetes prevention and treatment interventions for Native people in the USA and Canada: A scoping review. Current Diabetes Reports, 2 (11), 46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-021-01414-3

• PRISMA Flow Diagram Generator (ShinyApp.io, Haddaway et al. )
• PRISMA Diagram Templates  (Word and PDF)
• Make a copy of the file to fill out the template
• Image can be downloaded as PDF, PNG, JPG, or SVG
• Covidence generates a PRISMA diagram that is automatically updated as records move through the review phases

8. Synthesize & Report Results

There are a number of reporting guideline available to guide the synthesis and reporting of results in systematic literature reviews.

It is common to organize findings in a matrix, also known as a Table of Evidence (ToE).

• Reporting Guidelines for Systematic Reviews
• Download a sample template of a health sciences review matrix  (GoogleSheets)

Steps modified from: 

Cook, D. A., & West, C. P. (2012). Conducting systematic reviews in medical education: a stepwise approach.   Medical Education , 46 (10), 943–952.

• << Previous: Citation Management and Formatting Tools
• Next: What are Literature Reviews? >>
• Last Updated: Apr 13, 2024 9:10 PM
• URL: https://guides.nyu.edu/healthwriting

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Writing a Literature Review

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

A literature review is a document or section of a document that collects key sources on a topic and discusses those sources in conversation with each other (also called synthesis ). The lit review is an important genre in many disciplines, not just literature (i.e., the study of works of literature such as novels and plays). When we say “literature review” or refer to “the literature,” we are talking about the research ( scholarship ) in a given field. You will often see the terms “the research,” “the scholarship,” and “the literature” used mostly interchangeably.

Where, when, and why would I write a lit review?

There are a number of different situations where you might write a literature review, each with slightly different expectations; different disciplines, too, have field-specific expectations for what a literature review is and does. For instance, in the humanities, authors might include more overt argumentation and interpretation of source material in their literature reviews, whereas in the sciences, authors are more likely to report study designs and results in their literature reviews; these differences reflect these disciplines’ purposes and conventions in scholarship. You should always look at examples from your own discipline and talk to professors or mentors in your field to be sure you understand your discipline’s conventions, for literature reviews as well as for any other genre.

A literature review can be a part of a research paper or scholarly article, usually falling after the introduction and before the research methods sections. In these cases, the lit review just needs to cover scholarship that is important to the issue you are writing about; sometimes it will also cover key sources that informed your research methodology.

Lit reviews can also be standalone pieces, either as assignments in a class or as publications. In a class, a lit review may be assigned to help students familiarize themselves with a topic and with scholarship in their field, get an idea of the other researchers working on the topic they’re interested in, find gaps in existing research in order to propose new projects, and/or develop a theoretical framework and methodology for later research. As a publication, a lit review usually is meant to help make other scholars’ lives easier by collecting and summarizing, synthesizing, and analyzing existing research on a topic. This can be especially helpful for students or scholars getting into a new research area, or for directing an entire community of scholars toward questions that have not yet been answered.

What are the parts of a lit review?

Most lit reviews use a basic introduction-body-conclusion structure; if your lit review is part of a larger paper, the introduction and conclusion pieces may be just a few sentences while you focus most of your attention on the body. If your lit review is a standalone piece, the introduction and conclusion take up more space and give you a place to discuss your goals, research methods, and conclusions separately from where you discuss the literature itself.

Introduction:

• An introductory paragraph that explains what your working topic and thesis is
• A forecast of key topics or texts that will appear in the review
• Potentially, a description of how you found sources and how you analyzed them for inclusion and discussion in the review (more often found in published, standalone literature reviews than in lit review sections in an article or research paper)
• Summarize and synthesize: Give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent whole
• Analyze and interpret: Don’t just paraphrase other researchers – add your own interpretations where possible, discussing the significance of findings in relation to the literature as a whole
• Critically Evaluate: Mention the strengths and weaknesses of your sources
• Write in well-structured paragraphs: Use transition words and topic sentence to draw connections, comparisons, and contrasts.

Conclusion:

• Summarize the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasize their significance
• Connect it back to your primary research question

How should I organize my lit review?

Lit reviews can take many different organizational patterns depending on what you are trying to accomplish with the review. Here are some examples:

• Chronological : The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time, which helps familiarize the audience with the topic (for instance if you are introducing something that is not commonly known in your field). If you choose this strategy, be careful to avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order. Try to analyze the patterns, turning points, and key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred (as mentioned previously, this may not be appropriate in your discipline — check with a teacher or mentor if you’re unsure).
• Thematic : If you have found some recurring central themes that you will continue working with throughout your piece, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address different aspects of the topic. For example, if you are reviewing literature about women and religion, key themes can include the role of women in churches and the religious attitude towards women.
• Qualitative versus quantitative research
• Empirical versus theoretical scholarship
• Divide the research by sociological, historical, or cultural sources
• Theoretical : In many humanities articles, the literature review is the foundation for the theoretical framework. You can use it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts. You can argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach or combine various theorical concepts to create a framework for your research.

What are some strategies or tips I can use while writing my lit review?

Any lit review is only as good as the research it discusses; make sure your sources are well-chosen and your research is thorough. Don’t be afraid to do more research if you discover a new thread as you’re writing. More info on the research process is available in our "Conducting Research" resources .

As you’re doing your research, create an annotated bibliography ( see our page on the this type of document ). Much of the information used in an annotated bibliography can be used also in a literature review, so you’ll be not only partially drafting your lit review as you research, but also developing your sense of the larger conversation going on among scholars, professionals, and any other stakeholders in your topic.

Usually you will need to synthesize research rather than just summarizing it. This means drawing connections between sources to create a picture of the scholarly conversation on a topic over time. Many student writers struggle to synthesize because they feel they don’t have anything to add to the scholars they are citing; here are some strategies to help you:

• It often helps to remember that the point of these kinds of syntheses is to show your readers how you understand your research, to help them read the rest of your paper.
• Writing teachers often say synthesis is like hosting a dinner party: imagine all your sources are together in a room, discussing your topic. What are they saying to each other?
• Look at the in-text citations in each paragraph. Are you citing just one source for each paragraph? This usually indicates summary only. When you have multiple sources cited in a paragraph, you are more likely to be synthesizing them (not always, but often
• Read more about synthesis here.

The most interesting literature reviews are often written as arguments (again, as mentioned at the beginning of the page, this is discipline-specific and doesn’t work for all situations). Often, the literature review is where you can establish your research as filling a particular gap or as relevant in a particular way. You have some chance to do this in your introduction in an article, but the literature review section gives a more extended opportunity to establish the conversation in the way you would like your readers to see it. You can choose the intellectual lineage you would like to be part of and whose definitions matter most to your thinking (mostly humanities-specific, but this goes for sciences as well). In addressing these points, you argue for your place in the conversation, which tends to make the lit review more compelling than a simple reporting of other sources.

A free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature

• Persis Drell

New & Improved API for Developers

Introducing semantic reader in beta.

Stay Connected With Semantic Scholar Sign Up What Is Semantic Scholar? Semantic Scholar is a free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature, based at the Allen Institute for AI.

RAxter is now Enago Read! Enjoy the same licensing and pricing with enhanced capabilities. No action required for existing customers.

Your all in one AI-powered Reading Assistant

A Reading Space to Ideate, Create Knowledge, and Collaborate on Your Research

• Smartly organize your research
• Receive recommendations that cannot be ignored
• Collaborate with your team to read, discuss, and share knowledge

From Surface-Level Exploration to Critical Reading - All in one Place!

Fine-tune your literature search.

Our AI-powered reading assistant saves time spent on the exploration of relevant resources and allows you to focus more on reading.

Select phrases or specific sections and explore more research papers related to the core aspects of your selections. Pin the useful ones for future references.

Our platform brings you the latest research related to your and project work.

Speed up your literature review

Quickly generate a summary of key sections of any paper with our summarizer.

Make informed decisions about which papers are relevant, and where to invest your time in further reading.

Get key insights from the paper, quickly comprehend the paper’s unique approach, and recall the key points.

Bring order to your research projects

Organize your reading lists into different projects and maintain the context of your research.

Quickly sort items into collections and tag or filter them according to keywords and color codes.

Experience the power of sharing by finding all the shared literature at one place.

Decode papers effortlessly for faster comprehension

Highlight what is important so that you can retrieve it faster next time.

Select any text in the paper and ask Copilot to explain it to help you get a deeper understanding.

Ask questions and follow-ups from AI-powered Copilot.

Collaborate to read with your team, professors, or students

Share and discuss literature and drafts with your study group, colleagues, experts, and advisors. Recommend valuable resources and help each other for better understanding.

Work in shared projects efficiently and improve visibility within your study group or lab members.

Keep track of your team's progress by being constantly connected and engaging in active knowledge transfer by requesting full access to relevant papers and drafts.

Find papers from across the world's largest repositories

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We use state-of-the-art security protocols and algorithms including MD5 Encryption, SSL, and HTTPS to secure your data.

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Please help your librarians by filling out this two-minute survey of today's class session..

Professor, this one's for you .

Introduction

Literature reviews take time. here is some general information to know before you start.  .

•  VIDEO -- This video is a great overview of the entire process.  (2020; North Carolina State University Libraries) --The transcript is included --This is for everyone; ignore the mention of "graduate students" --9.5 minutes, and every second is important  
• OVERVIEW -- Read this page from Purdue's OWL. It's not long, and gives some tips to fill in what you just learned from the video.  
• NOT A RESEARCH ARTICLE -- A literature review follows a different style, format, and structure from a research article.  

Steps to Completing a Literature Review

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• Last Updated: Sep 26, 2023 10:25 AM
• URL: https://guides.library.jhu.edu/lit-review

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• Research Guides
• University Libraries

AI-Based Literature Review Tools

• Dialogues: Insightful Facts
• How to Craft Prompts
• Plugins / Extensions for AI-powered Searches
• Cite ChatGPT in APA / MLA
• AI and Plagiarism
• ChatGPT & Higher Education
• Author Profile

Selected AI-Based Literature Review Tools

Updates: See news or release of AI (Beta) across various academic research databases including Web of Science , Scopus , Ebsco , ProQues t, OVID , Dimensions , JStor , Westlaw , and LexisNexis . ********* ********** ********** ********** **********   

Disclaimer: TAMU libraries do not have subscription access to the AI-powered tools listed below the divider line. The guide serves solely as an informational resource. It is recommended that you assess these tools and their usage methodologies independently. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEMANTIC SCHOLAR

• SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE SEARCH ENGINE - finding semantically similar research papers.
• " A free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature."  <https://www.semanticscholar.org/>. But login is required in order to use all functions.
• Over 200 millions of papers from all fields of science, the data of which has also served as a wellspring for the development of other AI-driven tools.

The 4000+ results can be sorted by Fields of Study, Date Range, Author, Journals & Conferences

Save the papers in your Library folder. The Research Feeds will recommend similar papers based on the items saved.

Example - SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality Total Citations: 22,438   [Note: these numbers were gathered when this guide was created] Highly Influential Citations 2,001 Background Citations 6,109 Methods Citations 3,273  Results Citations 385

TLDRs (Too Long; Didn't Read) Try this example . Press the pen icon to reveal the highlighted key points . TLDRs "are super-short summaries of the main objective and results of a scientific paper generated using expert background knowledge and the latest GPT-3 style NLP techniques. This new feature is available in beta for nearly 60 million papers in computer science, biology, and medicine..." < https://www.semanticscholar.org/product/tldr>

• https://www.openread.academy/
• Institutionally accessed by Harvard, MIT, University of Oxford, Johns Hopkins, Standford, Beijing University. .
• AI-powered Academic Searching + Web Searching - Over 300 million papers and real-time web content.
• Every keyword search or AI quest will yield a synthesis report with citations. If you want to re-orient the search outcomes, just click on the Re-generate button and all citations will be refreshed accordingly. After that click on Follow-Up Questions to delve deeper into a particular area or subject.
• Use Paper Q&A to interact with a text directly, e.g. " What does this paper say about literature review ?"
• Click on the Translation to put a text or search results into another language.
• Upload a PDF document and let Paper Expresso to read it for you and parse the content into an academic report format for easy screening: Background and context> Research objectives and hypotheses> Methodology> Results and findings> Discussion and interpretation> Contributions to the field > Structure and flow> Achievements and significance> Limitations and future work>
• AI-POWERED RESEARCH ASSISTANT - finding papers, filtering study types, automating research flow, brainstorming, summarizing and more.
• " Elicit is a research assistant using language models like GPT-3 to automate parts of researchers’ workflows. Currently, the main workflow in Elicit is Literature Review. If you ask a question, Elicit will show relevant papers and summaries of key information about those papers in an easy-to-use table."   <https://elicit.org/faq#what-is-elicit.>; Find answers from 175 million papers. FAQS
• Example - How do mental health interventions vary by age group?    /   Fish oil and depression Results: [Login required] (1) Summary of top 4 papers > Paper #1 - #4 with Title, abstract, citations, DOI, and pdf (2) Table view: Abstract / Interventions / Outcomes measured / Number of participants (3) Relevant studies and citations. (4) Click on Search for Paper Information to find - Metadata about Sources ( SJR etc.) >Population ( age etc.) >Intervention ( duration etc.) > Results ( outcome, limitations etc.) and > Methodology (detailed study design etc.) (5) Export as BIB or CSV
• How to Search / Extract Data / List of Concept Search -Enter a research question >Workflow: Searching > Summarizing 8 papers> A summary of 4 top papers > Final answers. Each result will show its citation counts, DOI, and a full-text link to Semantic Scholar website for more information such as background citations, methods citation, related papers and more. - List of Concepts search - e.g. adult learning motivation . The results will present a list the related concepts. - Extract data from a pdf file - Upload a paper and let Elicit extract data for you.
• Export Results - Various ways to export results.
• How to Cite - Includes the elicit.org URL in the citation, for example: Ought; Elicit: The AI Research Assistant; https://elicit.org; accessed xxxx/xx/xx

CONSENSUS.APP

ACADEMIC SEARCH ENGINE- using AI to find insights in research papers.

"We are a search engine that is designed to accept research questions, find relevant answers within research papers, and synthesize the results using the same language model technology." <https://consensus.app/home/blog/maximize-your-consensus-experience-with-these-best-practices/>

• Example - Does the death penalty reduce the crime?   /  Fish oil and depression  /    (1) Extracted & aggregated findings from relevant papers. (2) Results may include AIMS, DESIGN, PARTICIPANTS, FINDINGS or other methodological or report components. (3) Summaries and Full Text
• How to Search Direct questions - Does the death penalty reduce the crime? Relationship between two concepts - Fish oil and depression / Does X cause Y? Open-ended concepts - effects of immigration on local economics Tips and search examples from Consensus' Best Practice   
• Synthesize (beta) / Consensus Meter When the AI recognizes certain types of research questions, this functionality may be activated. It will examine a selection of some studies and provide a summary along with a Consensus Meter illustrating their collective agreement. Try this search: Is white rice linked to diabetes? The Consensus Meter reveals the following outcomes after analyzing 10 papers: 70% indicate a positive association, 20% suggest a possible connection, and 10% indicate no link.

Prompt “ write me a paragraph about the impact of climate change on GDP with citations “

CITATIONS IN CONTEXT

Integrated with Research Solutions.

Over 1.2 billion Citation Statements and metadata from over 181 million papers suggested reference.

How does it work? - "scite uses access to full-text articles and its deep learning model to tell you, for a given publication: - how many times it was cited by others - how it was cited by others by displaying the text where the citation happened from each citing paper - whether each citation offers supporting or contrasting evidence of the cited claims in the publication of interest, or simply mention it."   <https://help.scite.ai/en-us/article/what-is-scite-1widqmr/>

EXAMPLE of seeing all citations and citation statements in one place

More information: Scite: A smart citation index that displays the context of citations and classifies their intent using deep learning  

• GPT3.5 by OpenAI. Knowledge cutoff date is September 2021.
• Input/ Output length - ChatGPT-3.5 allows a maximum token limit of 4096 tokens. According to ChatGPT " On average, a token in English is roughly equivalent to 4 bytes or characters. English words are typically around 5 characters long. This means that, very roughly, you could fit around 800 to 1000 English words within 4096 tokens." 
• According to ChatGPT, the generated responses are non-deterministic by default. So if you run the searches again and get slightly or very different results, it's likely due to this factor.
• ChatGPT may find non-existent references.
• According to this study < https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2304/2304.06794.pdf > "ChatGPT cites the most-cited articles and journals, relying solely on Google Scholar's citation counts" within the field of environmental science.  
• Example - "INTERVIEW WITH CHATGPT" as a Research Method & Teaching Tool Some researchers began to use this approach to obtain their research data. Try this Google Scholar search link "interview with ChatGPT"   or see two articles below: (1) Chatting about ChatGPT: how may AI and GPT impact academia and libraries? BD Lund, T Wang - Library Hi Tech News, 2023 (2) An interview with ChatGPT: discussing artificial intelligence in teaching, research, and practice , G Scaringi, M Loche - 2023  

Increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) Increased risk of premature birth Increased risk of low birth weight Increased risk of respiratory problems in newborns Increased risk of respiratory problems in infants exposed to secondhand smoke Increased risk of developing asthma and other respiratory illnesses later in life for infants exposed to secondhand smoke [Note : ChatGPT may generate non-existent references or false knowledge. To find out why Large Language Models hallucinate, check out this Wiki article: Hallucination (artificial intelligence) and this blog post -   A Gentle Introduction to Hallucinations in Large Language Models by Adrian Tam ]

Infant death Neonatal mortality (referring specifically to deaths within the first 28 days of life) Perinatal mortality (referring to deaths occurring during the period from 22 completed weeks of gestation to 7 completed days after birth) Early childhood mortality (referring to deaths occurring within the first five years of life) Child mortality (referring to deaths occurring before the age of 18) [Press the Regenerate button to get more.]

• Example -  RELATED WORDS What are the related words of infant mortality? Neonatal mortality, Post-neonatal mortality, Stillbirths, Low birth weight, Malnutrition, Infectious diseases, Vaccination, Maternal health,  Access to healthcare, Poverty, Social inequality, Sanitation, Hygiene, Water quality, Childbirth complications, Congenital abnormalities, Birth defects, Maternal age, Under-five mortality, Child mortality, Perinatal mortality, Preterm birth, Low birth weight, Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), Maternal mortality, Postnatal care, Malnutrition, Immunization, Access to healthcare, Clean water and sanitation, Congenital anomalies, Infant health disparities, Infant mortality rate (IMR), Infant survival.  

(("Infant Death"[Mesh] OR "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome"[Mesh] OR "Infant Mortality"[Mesh] OR "Perinatal Mortality"[Mesh] OR "Neonatal Mortality"[Mesh] OR "Fetal Mortality"[Mesh] OR "Infant Death" OR "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome" OR "Infant Mortality" OR "Perinatal Mortality" OR "Neonatal Mortality" OR "Fetal Mortality") AND ("Risk Factors"[Mesh] OR "Etiology"[Mesh] OR "Prevention and Control"[Mesh] OR "Interventions"[Mesh] OR "Public Health"[Mesh] OR "Health Disparities"[Mesh] OR "Healthcare Disparities"[Mesh] OR "Poverty"[Mesh] OR "Malnutrition"[Mesh] OR "Infection"[Mesh] OR "Congenital Abnormalities"[Mesh] OR "Prematurity"[Mesh] OR "Low Birth Weight"[Mesh] OR "Maternal Education"[Mesh] OR "Maternal Health"[Mesh] OR "Risk Factors" OR "Etiology" OR "Prevention and Control" OR "Interventions" OR "Public Health" OR "Health Disparities" OR "Healthcare Disparities" OR "Poverty" OR "Malnutrition" OR "Infection" OR "Congenital Abnormalities" OR "Prematurity" OR "Low Birth Weight" OR "Maternal Education" OR "Maternal Health")) Comments and Suggestions: #1 -This search string may not work on all database platforms. For example, Medline (OVID) may not be able to run it, Medline & CINAHL (EBSCO) can run it without any problems while PubMed will run it but it will indicate which MeSH terms are not indexed. See PubMed's search History and Details under Advanced . #2 - This is just one possible combination. You may need to adjust it based on your task and the databases you are using . #3 - It might be easier if you break the task into 3 parts: ask for synonyms > ask for thesauri terms > and ask it to combine them.

Examples - DATABASE RECOMMENDATIONS Heath Science - Which databases to use to find articles on the EFFECTS OF MATERNAL SMOKING ON INFANT DEATH? PubMed: This is a database of biomedical literature from the National Library of Medicine. It includes articles from medical journals and other sources on a wide range of health-related topics. Embase: This is a database of biomedical literature that covers more international and pharmaceutical content than PubMed. It includes articles from medical journals and other sources on a wide range of health-related topics. Cochrane Library : This is a collection of databases that provides systematic reviews and meta-analyses of healthcare interventions, including interventions related to maternal smoking and infant death. Scopus: This is a multidisciplinary database that covers research from a wide range of fields, including health sciences. It includes articles from scientific journals, books, and conference proceedings. Web of Science: This is a database that covers research from a wide range of fields, including health sciences. It includes articles from scientific journals, books, and conference proceedings. CINAHL: This is a database of nursing and allied health literature, including articles on maternal smoking and infant death. [Note: The response above was copied and pasted directly from ChatGPT. No editing was added.] Education -- I am doing a meta-analysis on k-12 STEM education. What databases should I use? ERIC : This is a database of education research and information, including articles from journals, reports, and conference papers. It is a commonly used database for educational research. Education Source : This is a comprehensive database of education research and information, including articles from journals, books, and conference papers. Web of Science: This is a multidisciplinary database that covers research from a wide range of fields, including education. It includes articles from scientific journals, books, and conference proceedings. Scopus: This is another multidisciplinary database that covers research from a wide range of fields, including education. It includes articles from scientific journals, books, and conference proceedings. PsycINFO: This is a database of psychology research, including articles from journals, books, and dissertations. It can be useful for research on STEM education that includes psychological factors. Cochrane Library : This is a collection of databases that provides systematic reviews and meta-analyses of healthcare interventions including interventions related to education. [Author's note: You could also ask for the GREY LITERATURE sources related to the topic above,]

Example: ACT-AS-AN-EXPERT PROMPT Here's an alternative way to consolidate all the questions into a single consultation by using this popular Act-As-An-Expert prompt, aka, system message prompt:  I am going to conduct a systematic review on games and mathematics related to K-12 education  I want you to act as a systematic review expert . I will ask you some questions related to my research topic and you advise me on how to do it. 

[You may ask one question at a time] My first question is "which databases should I use?"  My second question is "what are the relevant subject terms, descriptors and key words?" My third question is "how to do data extraction?" ..... , .... Please note that the above prompts are merely for illustrative purposes. Actual questions may contain more specific instructions. As an example, for the first question, could you provide guidance on how to identify relevant publications? Specifically, can you provide a list of the primary databases and grey literature sources related to my topic?  

Example - GREY LITERATURE Please show me all the resources that offer grey literature for conducting research in the field of education     ERIC (Education Resources Information Center): https://eric.ed.gov/     OpenGrey: http://www.opengrey.eu/     British Education Index: https://www.ebscohost.com/academic/british-education-index     WorldCat: https://www.worldcat.org/     ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global: https://www.proquest.com/products-services/pqdtglobal.html     EThOS (Electronic Theses Online Service): https://ethos.bl.uk/     Institutional Repositories of universities and academic institutions (search for specific institution repositories)     American Educational Research Association (AERA): https://www.aera.net/     National Education Association (NEA): https://www.nea.org/     Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD): http://www.ascd.org/     RAND Corporation: https://www.rand.org/     National Center for Education Research (NCER): https://ies.ed.gov/ncer/     National Center for Education Statistics (NCES): https://nces.ed.gov/     European Educational Research Association (EERA): https://www.eera-ecer.de/     UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP): http://www.iiep.unesco.org/     Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD): https://www.oecd.org/education/     Education Development Center (EDC): https://www.edc.org/     National Institute for Educational Policy Research (NIER) - Japan: https://www.nier.go.jp/     Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER): https://www.acer.org/     Canadian Education Association (CEA): https://www.cea-ace.ca/ My topic is about stem education. Which grey literature databases should I use?    STEM Education Research Centre (SERC) Grey Literature Database    National STEM Education Research Repository (NSERR)    National Science Digital Library (NSDL)    STEM Education Resource Center (SERC) GrayLit Network    STEM Education Grey Literature Library

See other Comparison Examples under Bing AI.

Examples - ZERO SHOT, ONE SHOT & FEW SHOT PROMPTING for literature review See the examples on the left panel- How to Fine Tune Prompts

Bing Chat / Copilot

• Bing Chat has become Copilot.
• CONVERSATIONAL LLM 4.0 + SEARCH ENGINE. Connects to the Internet.
• Three conversation modes: More Creative, More Balanced or More Precise.
• Comparison - Prompt: My topic is about psychology. Which grey literature databases should I use? More Precise - PsycExtra, NIH Library and links to library guides, .gov and .org websites More Balanced - PsycExtra and three main research guides that mention psychology grey literature sources. More Creative- PsycExtra, LILACS, and Worldcat + definition of grey literature + suggestions on searching for professional association websites, newsletters, magazines, standards and guidelines, and other sources that may contain relevant information for your topic.
• Some examples below were tested in Bing Chat only.  
• Example - factors of infant mortality Infant mortality is a term that refers to the death of infants before their first birthday. The leading causes of infant mortality include birth asphyxia, pneumonia, congenital malformations, term birth complications such as abnormal presentation of the fetus umbilical cord prolapse, or prolonged labor, neonatal infection, diarrhea, malaria, measles, and malnutrition1. Many situational factors lead to infant mortality such as the pregnant woman’s level of education, environmental conditions, political infrastructure, and level of medical support1. In the United States, a primary determinant of infant mortality risk is infant birth weight with lower birth weights increasing the risk of infant mortality. The determinants of low birth weight include socioeconomic, psychological, behavioral and environmental factors2.  
• Example: PEER REVIEWED SOURCES I need to find some peer reviewed articles about infant mortality? The answer includes 5 articles. The first one is “Causes of death and infant mortality rates among full-term births in the United States between 2010 and 2012: An observational study” by Neha Bairoliya and Günther Fink1. A click on  " Tell me more about the first article " leads to this summary: " The first article is titled “Causes of death and infant mortality rates among full-term births in the United States between 2010 and 2012: An observational study” and was published in PLOS Medicine on March 20, 2018. The authors are Neha Bairoliya and Günther Fink. The study used linked birth and death records for the period 2010–2012 to identify the state- and cause-specific burden of infant mortality among full-term infants (born at 37–42 weeks of gestation) in the United States. The researchers found that the full-term infant mortality rate (FTIMR) was 2.2 per 1,000 live births overall and ranged between 1.29 (Connecticut) and 3.77 (Mississippi) at the state level. Sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) accounted for 43% of FTIM; congenital malformations and perinatal conditions accounted for 31% and 11.3% of FTIM, respectively. The largest mortality differentials between states with good and states with poor FTIMR were found for SUDI, with particularly large risk differentials for deaths due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and suffocation." More searches: Please find five empirical studies focusing on the factors influencing adult learners engaged in online education. Please locate five scholarly articles on stress management among college students site:pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The ERIC Thesaurus contains nearly 12,000 terms, including more than 4,500 descriptors and 7,000 synonyms1. You can use the term “Academic Achievement” or its synonyms such as “Educational Achievement”, “Student Achievement”, “Academic Performance”, “Academic Success”, “Learning Achievement” and more. [ Note : The follow-up responses include some additional sources. See two below: https://www.powerthesaurus.org/academic_achievement https://eric.ed.gov/?ti=Achievement+Gap   including https://eric.ed.gov/?ti=Academic+Achievement |

My topic is about psychology.  Which grey literature databases should I use?

ChatGPT PsycEXTRA : This database is produced by the American Psychological Association (APA) and includes grey literature such as conference papers, white papers, and government reports. OpenGrey : This database provides access to grey literature produced in Europe, including reports, theses, and conference papers Grey Literature Report : This database is produced by The New York Academy of Medicine and includes reports, conference papers, and other grey literature on health and biomedical topics, including psychology. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global : This database provides access to graduate-level research, including theses and dissertations related to psychology. Google Scholar: While not exclusively a grey literature database, Google Scholar can be a useful tool for finding conference papers and other grey literature related to psychology. National Technical Information Service (NTIS) : This database provides access to technical reports produced by U.S. government agencies, including those related to psychology. Bing AI   - [asked in the Precise mode] For psychology, some recommended grey literature databases include PsycEXTRA and PsyArXiv . PsycEXTRA is a database of grey literature material relating to psychology, behavioral sciences and health. PsyArXiv is a psychology archive designed to facilitate rapid dissemination of psychological research. What other models have been developed based on SERVQUAL?

ChatGPT SERVPERF: This is a modified version of SERVQUAL that measures service performance instead of service quality. It was developed by Cronin and Taylor (1992) and is based on the same five dimensions as SERVQUAL. SERVPERF-GAP: This model, developed by Caruana and Ewing (2006), extends the SERVQUAL model to include three additional gaps that can occur when customers evaluate service quality. E-SERVQUAL: This model, developed by Parasuraman et al. (2005), adapts the SERVQUAL scale to measure the quality of online services. SERVCO: This is a modified version of SERVQUAL that includes a sixth dimension, "cost," in addition to the five original dimensions. It was developed by Sureshchandar et al. (2002) to address the importance of cost in service quality evaluation. SERVQ-HC: This is a modified version of SERVQUAL that is specifically designed for evaluating the quality of health care services. It was developed by Cronin et al. (2000) and includes 20 items across five dimensions. Bing AI The Nordic model of service quality2. The hierarchical model of service quality3. The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)4.

     Bing AI Sidebar - CHAT, THINK, & WRITE

• Examples of Using AI sidebar to Recap Google Scholar findings

Chat - If you highlight a study in the search results of Google Scholar, you will be prompted with a question by AI sidebar asking if you want to send the selected text to it. If you choose to do so, you can then select either  EXPLAIN or EXPAND to learn more about the chosen article. It's worth noting that EXPAND provides more detailed information. You can then click on any of the follow-up links to delve further into the selected article or topic. If the text of the chosen study is written in a foreign language, the AI sidebar can also provide an explanation of the text in English. Another option for extracting the key points from a selected article is to submit the URL of the PDF. Insights - Use the insights button to get more ideas about the topic. Compose - Tell the Edge sidebar your topic and let its Compose tool to generate a draft for you. Google Scholar Button- See also the Plugins and Extension page for how to perform a combined search using Google, Google Scholar, and ChatGPT .

Example: FINDING SIMILAR ARTICLES Find similar articles like this one - [then paste in the abstract ] Note - Use this prompt with Bing chat since real-time web info is required.

Examples: SUMMARIZE + REFERENCE Use a basic prompt like " Please summarize . ..." or add a REFERENCE TEXT that provides the necessary information about what you want it to focus or how the summary or resolution should look like. The reference could be a quote, an excerpt, a partial sentence, a conversation, an abstract, a code snippet and so on. Formula : Specify a role > assign a task > provide a reference text. Example#1 - Scholarly Journal Quote

STEP 1 Prompt: As a research assistant specializing in renewable energy, your task is to locate comparable research studies based on the provided abstract from an article: "This paper discusses the perspective of renewable energy (wind, solar, wave and biomass) in the making of strategies for a sustainable development. Such strategies typically involve three major technological changes: energy savings on the demand side, efficiency improvements in the energy production, and replacement of fossil fuels by various sources of renewable energy."

Bing Chat then found 3 documents: the ScienceDirect paper where the abstract came from and two other documents from un.org and frontiersin.org respectively.

STEP 2 Prompt: Please synthesize the findings of the three studies provided above.

Bing Chat: "Sure! Here is a synthesis of the findings from the three studies:

All three studies emphasize the importance of renewable energy in achieving sustainable development and mitigating climate change. They all discuss various strategies and actions that can be taken to increase the use of renewable energy sources and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

Henrik Lund’s paper discusses the perspective of renewable energy (wind, solar, wave and biomass) in the making of strategies for a sustainable development. Such strategies typically involve three major technological changes: energy savings on the demand side, efficiency improvements in the energy production, and .....

The United Nations outlines five critical actions the world needs to prioritize now to transform our energy systems and speed up the shift to renewable energy: Make renewable energy technology a global public good, Improve global access to components and raw materials......

“Sustainable Energy Transition for Renewable and Low Carbon Grid” discusses that a sustainable global electricity transition will entail increased use of renewable energy sources particularly wind and solar, nuclear energy as a low carbon energy source, electrification of transport and.......

In summary , these studies suggest that transitioning to renewable energy sources is crucial for sustainable development and mitigating climate change. This can be achieved through various strategies such as increasing energy efficiency, improving access to renewable technology and materials, leveling the playing field for renewables, ending fossil fuel subsidies, and redirecting investments towards renewables." Example #2 Y ou are an expert researcher, given the following article, please discuss its key findings. Reference: How Large Language Models are Transforming Machine-Paraphrased Plagiarism at https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.03568 This is another way to put REFERENCE TEXT. As a side not, role specifying or the use of persona is important as it can impact the level of responses obtained. Just imagine if the designated role were " You are a high school student... ." Example #3 Please read this article and summarize it f or me - "Who Should I Trust: AI or Myself? Leveraging Human and AI Correctness Likelihood to Promote Appropriate Trust in AI-Assisted Decision-Making" and then find 5 similar studies and please also summarize each for me.

CONNECTED PAPERS

• RELATED STUDIES
• Uses visual graphs or other ways to show relevant studies. The database is connected to the Semantic Scholar Paper Corpus which has compiled hundreds of millions of published papers across many science and social science fields.
• See more details about how it works .  
• Example - SERVQUAL and then click on SELECT A PAPER TO BUILD THE GRAPH > The first paper was selected. Results: (1) Origin paper - SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality + Connected papers with links to Connected Papers / PDF / DOI or Publisher's site / Semantic Scholar / Google Scholar. (2) Graph showing the origin paper + connected papers with links to the major sources . See above. (3) Links to Prior Works and Derivative Works See the detailed citations by Semantic Scholar on the origin SERVQUAL paper on the top of this page within Semantic Scholars.
• How to Search Search by work title. Enter some keywords about a topic.
• Download / Save Download your saved Items in Bib format.

PAPER DIGEST

• SUMMARY & SYNTHESIS
• " Knowledge graph & natural language processing platform tailored for technology domain . <"https://www.paperdigest.org/> Areas covered: technology, biology/health, all sciences areas, business, humanities/ social sciences, patents and grants ...

• LITERATURE REVIEW - https://www.paperdigest.org/review/ Systematic Review - https://www.paperdigest.org/literature-review/
• SEARCH CONSOLE - https://www.paperdigest.org/search/ Conference Digest - NIPS conference papers ... Tech AI Tools: Literature Review  | Literature Search | Question Answering | Text Summarization Expert AI Tools: Org AI | Expert search | Executive Search, Reviewer Search, Patent Lawyer Search...

Daily paper digest / Conference papers digest / Best paper digest / Topic tracking. In Account enter the subject areas interested. Daily Digest will upload studies based on your interests.

RESEARCH RABBIT

• CITATION-BASED MAPPING: SIMILAR / EARLY / LATER WORKS
• " 100s of millions of academic articles and covers more than 90%+ of materials that can be found in major databases used by academic institutions (such as Scopus, Web of Science, and others) ." See its FAQs page. Search algorithms were borrowed from NIH and Semantic Scholar.

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An Overview of Key Indicators and Evaluation Tools for Assessing Economic Value of Heritage Towns: A Literature Review

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• Published: 10 May 2024

Cite this article

• Varsha Vinod   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1153-2865 1 ,
• Satyaki Sarkar   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5161-2344 1 &
• Supriyo Roy   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0600-0696 2  

Heritage towns not only have a significant concentration of heritage structures, but are also the centre of age-old local economic activities. It has been widely acknowledged that such historic cores have a unique identity accompanied by a distinct townscape that is worthy of preservation. In the urge to develop, heritage of such towns often takes a backseat allowing space for new development. The management of value and potential of cultural heritage can be significant for community development and economic prominence, thereby boosting the quality of life in this state of constant evolution. With cultural heritage as a catalyst, there are numerous possibilities to accomplish integrated and inclusive development in heritage towns. This study attempts to understand the role of heritage in urban development of heritage towns and identify the prime movers of heritage economy. In order to identify key indicators, evaluation tools and methods used to determine the economic value of heritage towns, systematic literature review method has been used. The review unfolds the emergence of aspects such as social, physical, economic and cultural importance along with the predominant heritage value that contribute towards the heritage economy. Factors such as business environment, infrastructure, funding, quality of environment etc. are found to have notable influence in the heritage ecosystem. Hence, the economic evaluation of heritage town needs to be comprehensive in nature to plan for further heritage-led urban economic development.

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Vinod, V., Sarkar, S. & Roy, S. An Overview of Key Indicators and Evaluation Tools for Assessing Economic Value of Heritage Towns: A Literature Review. J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40030-024-00807-3

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s40030-024-00807-3

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Title: large language models for cyber security: a systematic literature review.

Abstract: The rapid advancement of Large Language Models (LLMs) has opened up new opportunities for leveraging artificial intelligence in various domains, including cybersecurity. As the volume and sophistication of cyber threats continue to grow, there is an increasing need for intelligent systems that can automatically detect vulnerabilities, analyze malware, and respond to attacks. In this survey, we conduct a comprehensive review of the literature on the application of LLMs in cybersecurity (LLM4Security). By comprehensively collecting over 30K relevant papers and systematically analyzing 127 papers from top security and software engineering venues, we aim to provide a holistic view of how LLMs are being used to solve diverse problems across the cybersecurity domain. Through our analysis, we identify several key findings. First, we observe that LLMs are being applied to a wide range of cybersecurity tasks, including vulnerability detection, malware analysis, network intrusion detection, and phishing detection. Second, we find that the datasets used for training and evaluating LLMs in these tasks are often limited in size and diversity, highlighting the need for more comprehensive and representative datasets. Third, we identify several promising techniques for adapting LLMs to specific cybersecurity domains, such as fine-tuning, transfer learning, and domain-specific pre-training. Finally, we discuss the main challenges and opportunities for future research in LLM4Security, including the need for more interpretable and explainable models, the importance of addressing data privacy and security concerns, and the potential for leveraging LLMs for proactive defense and threat hunting. Overall, our survey provides a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-the-art in LLM4Security and identifies several promising directions for future research.

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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

The view of synthetic biology in the field of ethics: a thematic systematic review provisionally accepted.

• 1 Ankara University, Türkiye
• 2 Department of Medical History and Ethics, School of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Türkiye, Türkiye

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Synthetic biology is designing and creating biological tools and systems for useful purposes. It uses knowledge from biology, such as biotechnology, molecular biology, biophysics, biochemistry, bioinformatics, and other disciplines, such as engineering, mathematics, computer science, and electrical engineering. It is recognized as both a branch of science and technology. The scope of synthetic biology ranges from modifying existing organisms to gain new properties to creating a living organism from non-living components. Synthetic biology has many applications in important fields such as energy, chemistry, medicine, environment, agriculture, national security, and nanotechnology. The development of synthetic biology also raises ethical and social debates. This article aims to identify the place of ethics in synthetic biology. In this context, the theoretical ethical debates on synthetic biology from the 2000s to 2020, when the development of synthetic biology was relatively faster, were analyzed using the systematic review method. Based on the results of the analysis, the main ethical problems related to the field, problems that are likely to arise, and suggestions for solutions to these problems are included. The data collection phase of the study included a literature review conducted according to protocols, including planning, screening, selection and evaluation. The analysis and synthesis process was carried out in the next stage, and the main themes related to synthetic biology and ethics were identified. Searches were conducted in Web of Science, Scopus, PhilPapers and MEDLINE databases. Theoretical research articles and reviews published in peer-reviewed journals until the end of 2020 were included in the study. The language of publications was English. According to preliminary data, 1453 publications were retrieved from the four databases. Considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 58 publications were analyzed in the study. Ethical debates on synthetic biology have been conducted on various issues. In this context, the ethical debates in this article were examined under five themes: the moral status of synthetic biology products, synthetic biology and the meaning of life, synthetic biology and metaphors, synthetic biology and knowledge, and expectations, concerns, and problem solving: risk versus caution.

Keywords: Synthetic Biology, Ethics, Bioethics, Systematic review, Technology ethics, Responsible research and innovation

Received: 08 Mar 2024; Accepted: 10 May 2024.

Copyright: © 2024 Kurtoglu, Yıldız and Arda. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: PhD. Ayse Kurtoglu, Ankara University, Ankara, Türkiye

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