Academic Essay & Systematic Literature Review Skill

Overview

This skill produces professional academic essays and literature reviews as .docx files. It covers the full spectrum from standard argumentative essays to PRISMA-compliant systematic and scoping reviews. The skill embeds best practices from established review methodologies (PRISMA 2020, PRISMA-ScR, PROSPERO, JBI Manual) while remaining flexible for simpler essay formats.

When to Use This Skill

Use when the user asks you to:

• Write an academic essay on any topic
• Conduct or write up a systematic literature review
• Produce a scoping review following PRISMA-ScR guidelines
• Create a research synthesis or critical review paper
• Write a course essay requiring theoretical argumentation and citations
• Draft a manuscript following systematic review templates
• Help with any academic writing that requires evidence-based argumentation

Document Types & Structures

Type 1: Standard Academic Essay

For course essays, argumentative papers, critical analyses, and reflection papers.

Structure:

1. Title Page (title, author, course, institution, date)
2. Introduction (~10-15% of total words)
   • Hook/context
   • Problem statement or research question
   • Thesis statement
   • Essay roadmap
3. Body Sections (~70-80% of total words)
   • Each section = one major argument or theme
   • Topic sentence, evidence, analysis, connection to thesis
   • Theory integration throughout
4. Conclusion (~10-15% of total words)
   • Restate thesis (rephrased)
   • Synthesise key arguments
   • Implications or future directions
5. References (APA 7)

Type 2: Systematic Literature Review

For PRISMA 2020-compliant systematic reviews of empirical research.

Structure (PRISMA 2020):

1. Title (identify as systematic review; include "systematic review" in title)
2. Structured Abstract (Background, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions)
3. Introduction (rationale, objectives, research questions)
4. Methods
   • Registration and protocol (PROSPERO ID if applicable)
   • Eligibility criteria (PICO framework)
   • Information sources (databases, date ranges)
   • Search strategy (full strategy for at least one database)
   • Selection process (screening steps, reviewer count)
   • Data collection process
   • Data items
   • Risk of bias assessment
   • Effect measures
   • Synthesis methods
5. Results
   • Study selection (PRISMA flow diagram)
   • Study characteristics
   • Risk of bias findings
   • Results of individual studies
   • Results of syntheses
6. Discussion (interpretation, limitations, implications)
7. References
8. Appendices (search strategies, excluded studies, quality assessment tools)

Type 3: Scoping Review

For PRISMA-ScR compliant scoping reviews that map the extent of research on a topic.

Key differences from systematic review:

• Broader research questions (exploratory rather than evaluative)
• Uses "Charting Methods" instead of "Synthesis Methods"
• Critical appraisal is optional (not mandatory)
• Focus on mapping the landscape rather than synthesising effect sizes
• Results presented as thematic categories or conceptual maps

Structure follows PRISMA-ScR with adaptations from JBI Manual and Arksey & O'Malley (2005) 6-step framework:

1. Identify research question(s)
2. Create search strategy (PCC: Population-Concept-Context)
3. Identify relevant studies
4. Review and select studies
5. Extract and chart data
6. Analyse and present results

Systematic Review Methodology

PICO Framework (Question Formulation)

Five question types:

• Therapy: Does intervention X improve outcome Y in population Z?
• Etiology: Does exposure X increase risk of outcome Y?
• Diagnosis: How accurate is test X for condition Y?
• Prevention: Does intervention X reduce incidence of Y?
• Prognosis: What happens to patients with condition X over time?

Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria (10 Categories)

Define clear criteria across these dimensions:

1. Date restrictions (publication year range)
2. Exposure/intervention of interest
3. Geographic location
4. Language
5. Participants/population
6. Peer review status
7. Reported outcomes
8. Setting
9. Study design
10. Type of publication

Search Strategy

Database selection: Choose databases appropriate to the field:

• Health: PubMed/MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane, Embase, PsycINFO
• Social Sciences: Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, ProQuest
• Multidisciplinary: Google Scholar (supplementary only)

Search documentation: Record for each database:

• Database name and platform
• Date of search
• Complete search string (Boolean operators, MeSH terms, wildcards)
• Number of results
• Export format

Review Matrix

For organising extracted data from included studies:

PRISMA Flow Diagram

Document study selection across four phases:

• Identification: Records from databases + other sources
• Screening: Records after duplicates removed, records screened, records excluded
• Eligibility: Full-text articles assessed, articles excluded with reasons
• Included: Studies in qualitative synthesis, studies in quantitative synthesis (if meta-analysis)

Writing Quality Standards

Academic Voice

• Third person unless discipline conventions allow first person
• Hedging language for uncertain claims ("suggests," "indicates," "may")
• Active voice for clarity where appropriate
• Avoid colloquialisms, contractions, and informal language
• Define technical terms on first use

Argumentation Structure

Each body paragraph should follow this pattern:

1. Topic sentence (claim)
2. Evidence (citation + data)
3. Analysis (interpret the evidence)
4. Connection (link back to thesis/research question)

Critical Engagement with Sources

• Do not merely summarise sources; analyse, compare, and synthesise
• Identify agreements, contradictions, and gaps across studies
• Evaluate methodological quality and limitations
• Position your argument within the existing debate

Citation Density

• Introduction: moderate (establish context)
• Literature review/body: high (every claim needs support)
• Discussion: moderate (interpretation + new citations)
• Conclusion: low (synthesis of own arguments)

Citation Style (APA 7)

Read ../../references/apa7-guide.md for the complete APA 7 reference.

Document Generation

Use the docx skill's infrastructure for Word document creation.

Page Setup

// Standard portrait
{ width: 12240, height: 15840, margin: { top: 1440, right: 1440, bottom: 1440, left: 1440 } }

Typography

• Body: Arial or Times New Roman, 12pt (size: 24 half-points)
• Line spacing: double (line: 480)
• Paragraph spacing: 200 after
• Headings: Bold, hierarchical sizing (H1: 16pt, H2: 13pt, H3: 12pt)

Reference List Formatting

• Hanging indent: indent: { left: 720, hanging: 720 }
• Alphabetical by first author surname
• Include DOI as hyperlink where available

Zotero Integration (Citation Helper)

When drafting content that requires citations, use the /scholar:citation-helper skill to search the researcher's Zotero library (the Zotero CSL-JSON library configured in the plugin's .local.md file (default: references/salsu-library.json)) before web searching for sources.

Citation Workflow During Drafting

1. For each claim needing a citation: Search the Zotero library first using /scholar:citation-helper (Operation 1: Search Library or Operation 5: Suggest Citations)
2. Insert Pandoc citation keys: Use [@citekey] format from the CSL-JSON id field (e.g., [@moore.westley2011])
3. Multiple sources: [@key1; @key2; @key3]
4. Narrative citations: @citekey (e.g., @moore.westley2011 argue that...)
5. With page numbers: [@citekey, p. 15]

Source Lookup Priority

When searching for sources to cite, follow this order:

0. ZOTERO: Search the Zotero CSL-JSON library configured in the plugin's `.local.md` file (default: `references/salsu-library.json`) by author, title, keyword, year
   ├── Match found → Use [@citekey] directly — researcher already has this source
   └── No match ↓
1. LOCAL PDFs: Search the local PDFs directory configured in `.local.md` for relevant papers
   └── No match ↓
2. WEB SEARCH: Search for additional academic sources (fallback)

Prioritise sources the researcher already has. Label suggestions with [ZOTERO], [LOCAL], or [WEB].

Reference List Generation

After drafting is complete, use /scholar:citation-helper (Operation 4: Generate Reference List) to:

1. Extract all [@citekey] citations from the document
2. Look up each key in the Zotero CSL-JSON library configured in the plugin's .local.md file (default: references/salsu-library.json)
3. Format as APA 7 reference entries
4. Sort alphabetically
5. Flag any citation keys not found in the Zotero library

Pandoc Rendering (Optional)

To produce a formatted .docx with resolved APA 7 citations, use the Zotero CSL-JSON library and the APA CSL file configured in .local.md:

pandoc paper.md \
  --citeproc \
  --bibliography=<path-to-csl-json-library> \
  --csl=<path-to-apa-csl-file> \
  -o paper.docx

Process

For Standard Essays

1. Clarify the brief: Word count, topic, required theories, citation expectations
2. Develop thesis: Clear, arguable, specific
3. Outline sections: Each body section = one major argument
4. Search Zotero library: Use /scholar:citation-helper to find relevant sources for each argument
5. Draft with citations: Integrate evidence using [@citekey] format throughout
6. Generate reference list: Use /scholar:citation-helper Operation 4 to build the reference list from cited keys
7. Build DOCX: Professional formatting with docx-js (or Pandoc with --citeproc for automatic citation rendering)
8. Verify: Word count, citation completeness, argument coherence

For Literature Reviews

1. Define research question using PICO or PCC framework
2. Establish inclusion/exclusion criteria across 10 categories
3. Document search strategy with full Boolean strings
4. Screen and select studies (simulate PRISMA flow)
5. Extract data into review matrix
6. Search Zotero library: Use /scholar:citation-helper to get citation keys for all included studies
7. Synthesise findings thematically or by outcome, citing with [@citekey]
8. Generate reference list: Use /scholar:citation-helper Operation 4
9. Write manuscript following PRISMA 2020 or PRISMA-ScR
10. Build DOCX with all required sections and appendices
11. Verify completeness against PRISMA checklist

Reference Files

• ../../references/apa7-guide.md — Complete APA 7 formatting rules
• ../../references/prisma-checklist.md — PRISMA 2020 reporting items
• ../../references/review-methodology.md — Detailed systematic review methodology guide