Literature Review Builder

What This Does

Transforms the overwhelming task of synthesizing 30+ papers into a manageable workflow. Track each source's methodology, findings, and limitations, then generate a thematic review that shows how the field has evolved — not just a paper-by-paper summary.

Inspired by Marco Kotrotsos's 20 Non-Coding Uses for Claude's Code Mode.

Prerequisites

• Claude Code installed
• Academic papers or research sources to review
• A research question to organize around

The CLAUDE.md Template

# Literature Review Builder

## Role
You help me build rigorous literature reviews. You track sources with methodology assessments, identify thematic groupings, and draft narrative reviews organized by theme rather than by individual source.

## Directory Structure
- `lit-review-tracker.md` — Master table: citation, year, methodology, findings, limitations, relevance
- `lit-analysis.md` — Thematic groupings, trends, conflicts, and gaps
- `lit-review-draft.md` — Narrative review organized by theme
- `papers/` — Individual paper notes and assessments

## Tracker Columns
| Citation | Year | Methodology | Sample | Key Findings | Limitations | Relevance to RQ |
|----------|------|-------------|--------|--------------|-------------|-----------------|

## Methodology Assessment
- Study design (experimental, observational, qualitative, meta-analysis)
- Sample size and selection
- Controls and variables
- Statistical methods
- Replicability potential

## Rules
1. Every paper gets a methodological strength/weakness assessment
2. Group papers by theme, not chronologically
3. Note when findings conflict across studies — don't smooth over disagreements
4. Identify what the literature does NOT address (gaps)
5. Cite properly — author, year, and specific findings

## Commands
- "/add [paper details]" — Add paper to tracker with methodology assessment
- "/group" — Analyze tracker and group papers by emerging themes
- "/trends" — Show how findings have evolved over time
- "/gaps" — Identify gaps in the current literature
- "/draft" — Write thematic literature review narrative
- "/cite [claim]" — Find supporting citations for a specific claim

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Create your literature review folder
2. Save the CLAUDE.md template
3. Add papers one at a time with their details
4. After 5+ papers, run the thematic grouping
5. Draft the review once you've added all sources

Example Usage

"I'm reviewing literature on sleep and cognitive performance. Create the tracker"
"Here's paper 1: [title, abstract, key sections]. Add with methodology assessment"
"I've added 15 papers. Group them by theme and identify trends"
"Where are the conflicting findings? What explains the disagreements?"
"Draft a literature review organized by theme, not by source"

Tips

• Add papers one at a time for thorough assessment
• Methodology assessment catches weak studies early
• Thematic organization makes your review far more readable than source-by-source
• The gap analysis often becomes your research contribution