lit-review

Generate structured literature reviews with BibTeX citations and gap identification.

220|358|Updated Apr 29, 2026
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/maxwell2732/codex-stata-for-economists --skill lit-review-maxwell2732
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: lit-review
Source: https://github.com/maxwell2732/codex-stata-for-economists/tree/main/.claude/skills/lit-review
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/maxwell2732/codex-stata-for-economists --skill lit-review-maxwell2732

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve?

It solves the problem of spending too long manually searching, sorting, and summarizing literature by turning a query into a structured, citation-backed literature review with identified gaps.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Structured literature synthesis: Organizes results into theoretical contributions, empirical findings, methodological innovations, and open debates.
  • Relevance-focused key papers: Produces a 5–15 paper shortlist ordered by relevance, including contributions, methods, and key findings where available.
  • Gap identification with next steps: Extracts unanswered questions and suggests concrete follow-up actions for research design or reading priorities.
  • BibTeX citation extraction: Outputs BibTeX entries for all discussed works, while explicitly avoiding fabricated citations and flagging uncertainty.

Quick Start

Ask Codex to run lit-review for your topic so it searches the repository’s supporting papers (and, when needed, the web), synthesizes the findings, identifies gaps, and writes the report to quality_reports/lit_review_[topic].md.

Frequently Asked Questions about lit-review

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I generate a structured literature review from a research question?

Generate a structured literature review by parsing a research query, searching local supporting papers and web sources, categorizing findings into theoretical and empirical contributions, and saving a markdown synthesis to quality_reports/lit_review_[topic].md.

Can I extract BibTeX citations automatically from an academic synthesis?

You can extract BibTeX citations automatically during academic synthesis, which formats all discussed works into BibTeX entries while explicitly avoiding fabricated citations and flagging uncertain metadata.

What is the best way to identify research gaps in social science evidence questions?

Identify research gaps in social science evidence by extracting unanswered questions from a curated synthesis of 5–15 key papers, which suggests concrete follow-up actions for research design or reading priorities.

Does literature review generation work for economics and social-science topics?

Literature review generation is applicable to economics and social-science evidence questions, mapping topics to key methodological contributions and open debates while producing a citation-backed synthesis.

How do I map theoretical and empirical contributions for a literature review?

Map theoretical and empirical contributions by categorizing searched findings into structured groups, ordering a 5–15 paper shortlist by relevance, and extracting methods and key findings where available.

Why does a literature review tool flag citation uncertainty?

A literature review tool flags citation uncertainty to explicitly avoid fabricated citations, ensuring the BibTeX extraction only outputs verifiable metadata from parsed supporting papers and web sources.