lit-search_skill

Overview

This skill builds rigorous, reproducible literature databases for sociology research using the OpenAlex API. It guides you step-by-step through scoping, API search, screening, snowballing, full-text acquisition, structured annotation, and synthesis. The workflow produces exportable outputs (JSON, BibTeX, annotated bibliography) and logs every decision for transparency and reproducibility.

How this skill works

You define the research scope and inclusion criteria, then the agent runs OpenAlex queries to collect metadata and deduplicate results. It leads a screening stage that flags borderline cases for your review, performs backward and forward snowballing through citation networks, and checks open-access status for full-text retrieval. Finally, it extracts structured annotations from full text or abstracts and generates a queryable database, bibliography, and thematic synthesis.

When to use it

• Preparing a systematic or scoping literature review in sociology
• Building a reproducible, queryable corpus for mixed-methods or quantitative projects
• Exploring a new research topic and mapping influential works and citation networks
• Creating annotated bibliographies or exporting citation-ready BibTeX files
• Tracking full-text availability and organizing download tasks for a reading list

Best practices

• Start with a clear scope document: research question, keywords, date range, and inclusion criteria
• Review and confirm auto-screening rules before bulk exclusions to retain control
• Prioritize full-text access for deep annotation; use abstracts only when necessary
• Run iterative snowballing: repeat searches after adding high-value inclusions
• Log screening rationales and save exports (JSON/BibTeX) frequently for reproducibility

Example use cases

• A graduate student maps research on neighborhood effects and collects an annotated corpus for a dissertation chapter
• A research team performs a scoping review of incarceration-related social policies and identifies empirical gaps
• An instructor compiles a curated reading list with structured notes and exportable citations for a seminar
• A scholar uses citation snowballing to find foundational theoretical works missed by keyword searches