Writing a literature review
Use projects to organize searches, PDF evidence, research sessions, and writing drafts
Define your research scope
First specify the subject, time range, and inclusion criteria. For example, create a "Review of graph neural network methods" project, then use separate sessions within it to search, compare methods, and draft sections.
Ad hoc searches and PDF parsing can run independently. Add only material you need to reuse over time to project resources.
Collect and read
- Search for keywords such as
graph neural networkandmessage passingseparately in Literature search, keeping the sources and search conditions. - Expand the candidate set through references and citations, remove duplicates, and decide manually which papers to include.
- Upload key PDFs to Document parsing and compare the Markdown with the originals.
- Select body-text materials for a session and compare methods, experimental setups, limitations, and other dimensions.
Comparing multiple papers requires selecting the materials; it does not automatically read every PDF in a project. Save interim literature lists and comparison results to the project.
Draft the text
Develop an outline in a research session within the project, or open Research toolbox → Writing editor to create a project document. You might organize it into background, categories of methods, applications, limitations, and outlook, then refine each section.
Specify the source material clearly and ask the model to distinguish results reported by the papers from your own synthesis. When you need citations, use Citation annotation and check them manually. For an existing list, use Reference completion to standardize the information.
Illustrate and deliver
Develop the requirements for a classification diagram or flowchart in a research session, then verify the scientific relationships after generation. Find approved images in your personal space or project resources and add them to your text or presentation.
Use the export formats currently offered by the editor and results panel, and save citation files separately. Before submission, check that citations are accessible, figures have sources, and the text accurately reflects the original evidence.