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Run a literature review

In short: In SciNodes, a literature review has five stages. First, gather publications into a project with Suggest, Discover or your own library. Second, map the field to see its topics, foundations and research fronts. Third, read and annotate the key publications. Fourth, collect evidence in Research in Formation. Fifth, write notes and export a bibliography in your citation style. Each stage below links to a detailed guide.

Before you start​

  • You need a SciNodes account. See Create your account.
  • Use a desktop browser. The app doesn't run on phones yet.
  • AI steps such as Suggest, the research assistant and author suggestions use your weekly credits. See Credits and usage.

1. Gather your publications​

  1. Open app.scinodes.com and click + New Project.
  2. Type a Project title of at least 4 characters, for example "Microplastics in freshwater ecosystems".
  3. Under Current research focus, pick Literature Review. You can pick up to 3.
  4. Optional: write a short description, then click Tidy up my wording to have AI fix terminology and grammar.
  5. Choose how to gather publications:
    • Suggest publications for me: describe your topic. SciNodes AI plans several catalog searches, merges the best results and shows you a preview before adding them (up to 800). This is the fastest start.
    • Discover with SciVerse: write your own search. Set a year range, then include or exclude authors, organizations, topics, journals or conferences. Click Add another query to combine up to 10 searches. Use this when you know your search terms.
    • Build on my existing library: upload your PDFs or a RIS or BibTeX export. Choose Use these as seeds to let SciNodes add related publications. Choose Only these publications to keep strictly to your set, which needs at least 50.
  6. Click the button at the bottom, for example Add Suggested Publications and Create Project.

SciNodes opens the project and builds your Initial Map automatically. You can keep working while large projects build in the background.

tip

For a systematic review, use Discover with SciVerse with explicit queries and keep your own log of queries and dates. SciNodes also records each catalog search so you can re-run it later from Expand corpus in Expert Mode.

Details: Creating projects · Discover and Suggest · Bring your reference library

2. Screen and organize the corpus​

  1. Open the Library tab.
  2. Use the search box and Filters (tags, date range, authors, abstract available) to review what you have.
  3. Create Folders for screening decisions such as "Include", "Exclude" and "Maybe". A publication can sit in several folders.
  4. Select publications (Shift-click for a range, Ctrl or Cmd-click to add one) and use Move to or Copy to a folder.
  5. Use Remove from corpus to drop publications that are clearly out of scope. This can't be undone.
  6. Spotted gaps? Use Add Publications → Discover, or re-run the searches that built the corpus from Expert Mode → Expand corpus (up to 100 new publications per run).

Details: Folders · Searching and filtering · Corpus expansion

3. Map the field​

Maps show the structure that's hard to see in a list.

  1. Open the Research Maps tab. Your Initial Map shows the main topics as colored clusters.
  2. Type a question into the Map queries bar, for example "What are the main research themes?" or "Which publications are foundational?". Click Map this question.
  3. Pick the recommended option and click Explore with map.
  4. Click a cluster to see its top nodes, size and density. Click Chat about this … to have a research assistant summarize it.

Useful maps for a review:

GoalMap
Main themesTerm Co-occurrence or Keyword Co-occurrence
Foundational publicationsCo-citation of Cited Publications
Current research frontsBibliographic Coupling of Publications
Key research groupsCo-authorship of Authors
How themes changed over timeAny map with Timeline mode turned on

To map only part of your corpus, for example publications from the last five years, use a corpus slice in Expert Mode.

Details: Map types · Create a map from a question · Corpus slices · Timeline mode

4. Read and annotate key publications​

  1. Click a publication in the library or on a map to open its details.
  2. Use its PDF action:
    • View PDF if SciNodes already has a copy.
    • Fetch PDF to find an open-access copy.
    • Upload PDF to add your own copy.
  3. In the PDF viewer, select text and choose Highlight, Comment or RIF it.
  4. Highlights and comments are saved to the project's notes automatically.
  5. To ask about the publication, click Chat about this. The assistant reads the full text if a PDF is held, along with your notes and highlights.

Details: Fetching and uploading PDFs · Highlights and comments · Ask AI about your research

5. Collect evidence in Research in Formation​

Research in Formation (RIF) is where your argument takes shape.

  1. Click RIF it on a highlight, map node, chat answer or publication.
  2. Add it to an existing research object, or click + Create New Research Object. Research objects can be concepts, theories, methods, publications, authors and more.
  3. Open the Research in Formation tab to arrange objects as Focus, Secondary or Background, link them to each other and review pending items.
  4. When an object is ready, click Expand into Working Note to start writing from its evidence.

Details: Research in Formation

6. Write and cite​

  1. Write in the Notes tab. Notes are Markdown and can be attached to maps, clusters, nodes and publications.
  2. Select publications in the library and click Cite these N publications. You can cite up to 200 at a time.
  3. Pick a citation style (81 are available, APA 7th edition by default). Copy the in-text citations or bibliography, or Download them as .txt, .rtf, .bib or .ris for your reference manager or word processor.
  4. Export maps as figures (PNG, JPEG, WEBP, SVG or PDF, up to 600 dpi) for your manuscript.

Details: Write with citations · Citations and reference styles · Exporting maps

Tips​

  • Invite co-reviewers as Editor or Viewer from Project Settings → Collaborators. See Work with your team.
  • Check AI output. Assistants can be wrong, including about citations. Always confirm against the publication.
  • Retracted publications show a Retracted badge and warning. Treat their findings with caution.

FAQ​

Can SciNodes do a systematic literature review?​

SciNodes supports the main steps: recorded, repeatable catalog queries, folders for screening decisions, full-text reading and annotation, evidence collection and citation export. It doesn't generate PRISMA diagrams, so keep your own screening counts.

How many publications can a project hold?​

There's no fixed corpus size limit. Each Suggest run adds up to 800 publications, and Discover adds up to 500 by default. Very large maps need more memory. See System requirements.

Can I import my existing Zotero or Mendeley library?​

Yes. Export it as RIS or BibTeX and upload it. See Bring your reference library.

Does SciNodes find full-text PDFs?​

SciNodes can fetch open-access PDFs on request with Fetch PDF. For other publications, upload your own copy.