Lit Synthesis

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when users:

• Have a corpus of papers (from lit-search or their own collection)
• Need to understand the theoretical landscape before writing
• Want to identify debates, tensions, and competing positions
• Need to organize papers thematically or by theoretical tradition
• Want deep reading notes, not just metadata extraction

Core Principles

1. Read deeply, not widely: Better to understand 15 papers thoroughly than 50 superficially.

2. Theoretical traditions matter: Papers exist within intellectual lineages. Map who cites whom and why.

3. Debates are gold: Competing positions create space for contributions. Find the tensions.

4. Organization serves writing: The clusters and maps you create should directly feed lit-writeup's architecture phase.

5. Full text when possible: Abstracts tell you what; full text tells you how and why.

Zotero MCP Integration

This skill uses Zotero MCP for accessing your library:

Setup

Install the Zotero MCP server:

uv tool install "git+https://github.com/54yyyu/zotero-mcp.git"
zotero-mcp setup

See mcp/zotero-setup.md for detailed configuration.

Key Capabilities

Workflow Integration

1. From lit-search: Import the BibTeX export into Zotero
2. Acquire PDFs: Use Zotero's "Find Available PDF" or manual download
3. Read and annotate: Highlight key passages, add notes
4. lit-synthesis reads: Access annotations via MCP for analysis

Workflow Phases

Phase 0: Corpus Audit

Goal: Assess what's in the corpus and identify gaps.

Process:

• Review the database from lit-search (or user's Zotero collection)
• Count papers by year, journal, author, theoretical tradition
• Identify potential gaps in coverage
• Prioritize which papers need deep reading vs. skimming

Output: corpus-audit.md with statistics and reading priorities.

Pause: User confirms corpus coverage and reading priorities.

Phase 1: Deep Reading

Goal: Close read priority papers and extract analytical insights.

Process:

• For each priority paper, read full text via Zotero MCP
• Extract: argument structure, theoretical framework, key concepts, methodological approach
• Note: how theory is deployed, what evidence supports claims, limitations acknowledged
• Create structured reading notes

Output: reading-notes/ directory with per-paper notes.

Pause: User reviews reading notes for key papers.

Phase 2: Theoretical Mapping

Goal: Identify intellectual traditions and lineages.

Process:

• Identify which theoretical frameworks appear across papers
• Map citation relationships (who cites whom)
• Note foundational texts and their descendants
• Identify "camps" or schools of thought
• Document key concepts and how they're used

Output: theoretical-map.md with traditions, key theorists, and concept definitions.

Pause: User reviews theoretical landscape.

Phase 3: Thematic Clustering

Goal: Organize papers by what they study and how.

Process:

• Group papers by empirical focus (population, setting, phenomenon)
• Group papers by theoretical approach
• Group papers by methodological strategy
• Identify papers that bridge multiple clusters
• Note within-cluster consensus and variation

Output: thematic-clusters.md with organized paper groupings.

Pause: User reviews clustering logic.

Phase 4: Debate Mapping

Goal: Identify tensions, disagreements, and competing positions.

Process:

• Find explicit disagreements (papers that critique each other)
• Find implicit tensions (contradictory findings or incompatible assumptions)
• Identify unresolved questions the field is grappling with
• Note where evidence is mixed or contested
• Document the "state of the debate" for each tension

Output: debate-map.md with positions, evidence, and unresolved questions.

Pause: User reviews debates and selects focus areas.

Phase 5: Field Synthesis

Goal: Create comprehensive understanding ready for writing.

Process:

• Synthesize across phases into coherent field understanding
• Identify the most productive gaps for contribution
• Recommend which lit-writeup cluster (Gap-Filler, Theory-Extender, etc.) fits
• Create the handoff document for lit-writeup

Output: field-synthesis.md with integrated understanding and writing recommendations.

Output Files

lit-synthesis/
├── corpus-audit.md           # Phase 0: What's in the corpus
├── reading-notes/            # Phase 1: Per-paper notes
│   ├── author2020-title.md
│   ├── author2019-title.md
│   └── ...
├── theoretical-map.md        # Phase 2: Traditions and lineages
├── thematic-clusters.md      # Phase 3: Paper groupings
├── debate-map.md             # Phase 4: Tensions and positions
└── field-synthesis.md        # Phase 5: Integrated understanding

Reading Note Template

For each paper in Phase 1:

# [Author Year] - [Short Title]

## Bibliographic Info
- Full citation: [from Zotero]
- DOI: [link]

## Core Argument
[1-2 sentences: What is the paper arguing?]

## Theoretical Framework
- Tradition: [e.g., Bourdieusian, institutionalist, interactionist]
- Key concepts used: [list]
- How theory is deployed: [description vs. extension vs. critique]

## Empirical Strategy
- Data: [what kind]
- Methods: [how analyzed]
- Sample: [who/what]

## Key Findings
1. [Finding 1]
2. [Finding 2]
3. [Finding 3]

## Contribution Claim
[What does the paper claim to contribute?]

## Limitations (as noted by authors)
- [Limitation 1]
- [Limitation 2]

## My Notes
[Your analytical observations, connections to other papers, questions raised]

## Key Quotes
> "[Quote 1]" (p. X)

> "[Quote 2]" (p. Y)

## Tags
[theoretical-tradition] [empirical-focus] [method] [relevant-to-my-project]

Model Recommendations

Starting the Synthesis

When the user is ready to begin:

1. Check Zotero setup:

   "Do you have Zotero MCP configured? If not, let's set that up first (see mcp/zotero-setup.md)."

2. Identify the corpus:

   "Where are your papers? A Zotero collection from lit-search? An existing library folder? How many papers total?"

3. Set priorities:

   "Which papers are most central to your project? We'll deep-read those first and skim the rest."

4. Clarify goals:

   "What are you trying to understand about this field? Are you looking for gaps, debates, or a specific theoretical tradition?"

5. Proceed with Phase 0 to audit the corpus.

Key Reminders

• Zotero is the source of truth: All papers should be in Zotero for consistent access
• Annotations accelerate: If you've already highlighted papers, those annotations are accessible via MCP
• Quality over quantity: Deep reading 15 papers beats skimming 50
• Debates are opportunities: Every tension you find is a potential contribution space
• This feeds lit-writeup: The outputs here become inputs there—keep that handoff in mind