How to run a literature review across dozens of PDFs with cited answers
research
A step-by-step workflow for turning a folder of papers into a searchable library, then asking questions and checking each answer against the page it came from.
A literature review usually stalls at the same point: you have forty PDFs, a half-formed question, and no fast way to see which papers actually address it. This walkthrough shows a repeatable workflow for getting from a pile of papers to cited answers you can verify.
Before you start
Decide on one review question and write it down. A narrow question, such as which studies measured sleep with actigraphy, gives you cleaner answers than a broad topic.
Steps
- Collect everything in one place. Save papers, preprints, slides, web pages, and your own notes to a single library. Import from Google Drive so earlier collections come along. The web memory capture page explains how saving works from the browser.
- Set the ground rules for the assistant. Write its role, method, and guardrails in plain English. For example: use only papers in this project, and say when the evidence is mixed.
- Start with a lookup question. Use Instant mode for quick facts, like which paper had the largest sample.
- Move to synthesis. Use Thinking mode for questions such as how the study designs differ and why one might show no effect.
- Open the source for every claim. Each answer cites the paper and page behind it. Read the passage before it goes into your draft.
- Record what you verified. Add your own note beside each confirmed finding so the next pass starts from checked material.
Common mistakes
- Asking a broad question before the library is complete.
- Citing a summary without opening the passage.
- Mixing unrelated projects in one assistant, which blurs the evidence.
The approach is described in more detail on the reasoning search page, and Constella for researchers covers other research workflows.