Literature Search and Research Orientation Guide
Build a reproducible literature search, map the evidence, and deliver a Word research guide with verified citations and gaps.
Before & after
Same prompt, same agent — the only difference is the skill.
I can help you with a literature review on that topic. You'd want to search for relevant papers, probably starting with PubMed or Google Scholar for medical literature. You might look for terms like "neural interfaces," "neurosurgery," "brain computer interface," and combinations of those. It would help to have a research question to guide your search — that will keep things focused and make the process more efficient. Once you find papers, you'll want to organize them by theme and synthesize the findings. Do you know what specific angle you're most interested in — safety, efficacy, emerging technologies, clinical applications? That would help narrow the search. How deep does your review need to be — quick survey or comprehensive?
LITERATURE REVIEW LAUNCH PAD INTAKE (2 min) → Confirm your research question, framework (PICO vs. SPIDER), depth target RESEARCH QUESTION: Efficacy and safety of neural interface implants in neurosurgical stroke rehabilitation. FRAMEWORK: PICO P (population): Stroke survivors, surgical setting I (intervention): Neural interface implants (BCI types) C (comparison): Standard rehabilitation protocols O (outcomes): Motor recovery, adverse events, infection rates DEPTH: 10 queries (balanced coverage vs. speed for thesis draft) SEARCH PLAN (phase 1) • Query 1: "neural interface stroke recovery neurosurgery" (PubMed) • Query 2: "brain computer interface rehabilitation outcomes" (OpenAlex) • Query 3: "intracortical electrode implant safety neurosurgery" (PubMed) • Query 4: "BCI functional restoration stroke clinical trials" (PubMed) • Queries 5-10: Targeted searches on safety, efficacy, emerging work PHASE 2 CHECKPOINT: Confirm framework + sub-areas before burning budget OUTPUT: Docx guide with categorized papers, synthesis by theme (safety, efficacy, emerging work), and "next steps for deep dive."
About this skill
Starting a literature review often produces a pile of papers without a clear research direction. This skill turns a broad question into a bounded search, groups the evidence by the questions it answers, and produces a Word guide showing what to read first and what remains uncertain.
What it does
- Converts a broad topic into a searchable question using PICO, SPIDER, or a concept-based decomposition.
- Builds 5-, 10-, or 20-query plans with explicit scope, search strings, and a record of coverage limits.
- Searches PubMed and, where accessible, OpenAlex; uses a connected Consensus service as an optional supplement.
- Deduplicates records and distinguishes reviews, primary studies, preprints, and overlapping study populations.
- Separates findings supported by full text from abstract-only evidence and unverified leads.
- Creates a formatted .docx orientation guide with evidence clusters, verified citations, reading priorities, and next searches.
What you get
A research launching pad: a focused question, reproducible search log, evidence map, annotated reading list, and unresolved questions. When document creation is unavailable, you receive the complete Word-ready guide with that limitation stated.
Best for
Students, thesis researchers, and researchers entering an unfamiliar field who need a defensible starting map before undertaking a full review.
SKILL.md preview
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name: literature-search-and-research-orientation-guide
description: Builds a bounded academic literature search using question framing, PubMed and OpenAlex retrieval, citation verification, and evidence clustering, then delivers a Word research orientation guide. Use when the user says "litreview on this topic", "I'm starting a literature review", "help me map the evidence", "I'm writing a paper on this", "I keep finding papers but can't see the research gap", "my searches keep missing relevant studies", or "turn this reading list into a research guide".
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# Literature Search and Research Orientation Guide
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