ScienceSkillsScienceSkills editorial guide · AI-assisted planning material, not a tested execution report.
1. Define the review question
Write the scope, population or system, outcomes and exclusions. Decide whether you need an exploratory review or a formally specified systematic-review protocol before searching.
2. Keep a search log
Record database names, exact queries and dates. Export identifiers and bibliographic records. Deduplicate by identifiers first, then inspect title and author matches.
3. Screen and extract evidence
Apply the same inclusion rules to every candidate. Build an extraction table with study design, sample size, relevant outcomes, limitations and a source location for each finding.
4. Verify the synthesis
Open each source and check the claim against its methods and results. Separate what a paper reports from your interpretation. Document unresolved contradictions instead of averaging them away.
A search log, a deduplicated bibliography, an exclusion log and an evidence table with source locations.
A starter prompt
Help me plan a literature review of [question]. First ask about scope and inclusion criteria. Produce a search log template and evidence-extraction table. Do not invent references; mark claims needing source verification.
Confirm details in the linked skill documentation and underlying tool references before use.