🛠️ Additional Tools & Resources

🛠️ Additional Tools & Resources#

Beyond Review Buddy (the primary toolkit featured in this book), there are several excellent complementary tools that can enhance your literature review workflow. This section provides practical guides for:

📚 Tools Covered#

️ LitMaps

Visual citation mapping tool for discovering related papers through citation networks

🗺️ LitMaps
💡 Consensus

AI-powered search engine for finding scientific consensus across research papers

✅ Consensus
🤖 Elicit

AI research assistant for literature review automation and data extraction

📊 Elicit
📋 Findpapers

Command-line tool for multi-database searches (configuration-based alternative to Review Buddy)

Findpapers
🔍 PaperScraper

Python library for scraping papers from arXiv, medRxiv, bioRxiv, and PubMed

📄 PaperScraper

Tool Selection Guide#

Different tools excel at different stages of the literature review process:

        graph TD
    A[Research Question] --> B{Initial Search}
    B -->|Primary Tool| C[Review Buddy]
    B -->|CLI Alternative| D[Findpapers]
    B -->|Preprints Only| E[PaperScraper]
    
    C --> F{Enhancement Phase}
    D --> F
    E --> F
    
    F -->|Citation Discovery| G[LitMaps]
    F -->|Check Consensus| H[Consensus]
    F -->|AI Analysis| I[Elicit]
    
    G --> J[Complete Paper Set]
    H --> J
    I --> J
    
    style C fill:#e3f2fd
    style D fill:#f3e5f5
    style E fill:#f3e5f5
    style G fill:#fff3e0
    style H fill:#fff3e0
    style I fill:#fff3e0
    style J fill:#e8f5e9

Complementary Workflows#

These tools work best when combined with Review Buddy:

Workflow 1: Comprehensive Discovery#

  1. Initial Search: Use Review Buddy for systematic 5-database search

  2. Citation Mapping: Upload key papers to LitMaps to discover related work

  3. Validation: Check scientific consensus with Consensus

Workflow 2: Preprint-Focused Research#

  1. Preprint Search: Use PaperScraper for latest research from arXiv/bioRxiv

  2. AI Analysis: Use Elicit to extract key findings from large paper sets

  3. Integration: Combine with peer-reviewed papers from Review Buddy

Workflow 3: AI-Assisted Review#

  1. Broad Search: Use Review Buddy with AI-powered filtering

  2. AI Screening: Use Elicit for additional screening and categorization

  3. Network Analysis: Use LitMaps to ensure comprehensive coverage

Quick Comparison#

Tool

Type

Best For

Access

Cost

Review Buddy

Python Scripts

Systematic reviews, advanced filtering

Local

Free

LitMaps

Web App

Citation network discovery

Web

Freemium

Consensus

Web App

Finding scientific consensus

Web

Freemium

Elicit

Web App

AI-powered screening & extraction

Web

Freemium

Findpapers

CLI/Python

Multi-database searches

Local

Free

PaperScraper

Python Library

Preprint archives

Local

Free

Recommended Approach

Start with Review Buddy as your primary tool, then enhance your workflow with these complementary tools as needed!

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