Projects and Organization Guide

Transform your LitView search discoveries into organized research projects that support systematic literature review, collaboration, and long-term research development. This guide covers project creation, paper organization, and research workflow management.

From Search Results to Research Projects

Creating Your First Project

Project Screenshot 1

When to Create a Project

  • After completing a successful search with valuable results
  • When starting a new research initiative or literature review
  • Before beginning systematic paper collection for grants or publications
  • When organizing research for team collaboration

Project Setup Steps

  1. Navigate to the Projects tab in LitView
  2. Click “Create New Project”
  3. Choose a descriptive project name that reflects your research focus
  4. Add a brief description of your research goals and scope

Project Organization Screenshot

Project Naming Best Practices

  • Include research domain and specific focus: “AI-Medical-Diagnosis-Radiology”
  • Add timeframe if relevant: “Climate-Adaptation-2024-Review”
  • Use consistent naming conventions across related projects
  • Avoid overly broad names that won’t scale: “Literature-Review”

Moving Papers from Search to Project

Project Screenshot 4

Selective Paper Addition

After cluster analysis, systematically add papers based on strategic value:

Core Foundation Papers

  • Papers from the densest part of your main keyword cluster
  • Foundational methodological papers that define the field
  • Recent comprehensive reviews that provide field overviews
  • Highly cited papers that represent established knowledge

Methodological Papers

  • Papers from methodology-focused clusters adjacent to your main research area
  • Cross-disciplinary papers that provide applicable methods
  • Recent innovations in research approaches relevant to your work
  • Validation studies that support methodological choices

Contextual Papers

  • Papers from secondary clusters that provide important context
  • Interdisciplinary papers that connect your field to broader domains
  • Policy or application papers that demonstrate real-world relevance
  • Historical papers that provide important background

Exploratory Papers

  • Interesting outliers that might provide unexpected insights
  • Papers from sparse regions that represent emerging opportunities
  • Bridge papers that connect different research domains
  • Recent papers that might indicate emerging trends

Project Organization Strategies

Reference Manager

Thematic Organization Approach

By Research Question

Organize papers according to specific research questions they address:

  • What are the current technical approaches?
  • What are the main application domains?
  • What are the key limitations and challenges?
  • What are the emerging opportunities and directions?

By Methodology Group papers based on research methods and approaches:

  • Experimental studies and clinical trials
  • Computational modelling and simulation
  • Theoretical frameworks and analysis
  • Review papers and meta-analyses

By Timeline Organize papers chronologically to understand field evolution:

  • Foundational papers (historical importance)
  • Established work (current standard approaches)
  • Recent developments (cutting-edge advances)
  • Emerging work (preprints and very recent publications)

Advanced Organization Techniques

Screenshot 5

Cluster-Based Organization

Use insights from LitView cluster analysis to organize projects:

Main Territory Papers

  • Papers from your primary keyword convergence cluster
  • Represents the core research conversation in your area
  • Essential reading for understanding current state of knowledge

Bridge Papers

  • Papers that appeared between major clusters in your search
  • Often provide methodological insights or theoretical frameworks
  • Valuable for connecting different aspects of your research

Opportunity Papers

  • Papers from sparse regions or research gaps you identified
  • Represent potential directions for original contribution
  • May require more critical evaluation but offer innovation potential

Context Papers

  • Papers from adjacent clusters that provide broader perspective
  • Help situate your research within larger academic conversations
  • Important for comprehensive literature reviews and grant applications

Systematic Literature Organization

Paper Evaluation and Tagging

Quality Assessment Tags

Develop consistent criteria for evaluating paper relevance and quality:

Relevance Categories

  • High relevance: Directly addresses your research questions
  • Medium relevance: Provides important context or methodology
  • Low relevance: Tangentially related but potentially useful
  • Reference only: Important for completeness but not detailed review

Quality Indicators

  • Peer-reviewed vs. preprint status
  • Journal impact factor or conference ranking
  • Citation count and recency
  • Methodological rigor and reproducibility

Strategic Value Tags

  • Must-read: Essential papers for understanding the field
  • Methodology: Papers that provide applicable research methods
  • Innovation: Papers that demonstrate novel approaches or findings
  • Context: Papers that provide broader perspective or background

Long-Term Project Maintenance

Project Evolution Strategies

Maintain projects as research develops and literature grows:

Regular Project Updates

  • Schedule periodic literature searches to identify new relevant papers
  • Update project organization as research focus evolves
  • Maintain currency of key papers and recent developments
  • Archive outdated or superseded literature while preserving historical context

Project Documentation

  • Maintain clear records of search strategies and inclusion criteria
  • Document decision-making process for paper inclusion and organization
  • Track evolution of research questions and focus areas
  • Preserve methodology for reproducibility and institutional knowledge

Project Completion and Archiving

  • Develop clear criteria for project completion
  • Create comprehensive project summaries and literature synthesis
  • Archive projects in accessible format for future reference
  • Transfer project insights to subsequent research initiatives

Common Project Organization Challenges

Scope Management Issues

Problem: Project Becomes Too Broad

Solution: Create focused sub-projects for specific research aspects

  • Use cluster analysis to identify natural division points
  • Maintain umbrella project for general coordination
  • Set clear boundaries and inclusion criteria for each sub-project

Problem: Missing Important Literature

  • Solution: Conduct periodic supplementary searches with refined keywords
  • Cross-reference with citation networks from key papers
  • Consult domain experts for literature recommendations
  • Use different databases to ensure comprehensive coverage

Quality Control Challenges

Problem: Inconsistent Paper Evaluation

Solution: Develop explicit evaluation criteria and rubrics

  • Train team members on consistent evaluation approaches
  • Regular calibration exercises to maintain evaluation consistency
  • Document decision-making rationale for future reference

Problem: Project Organization Becomes Unwieldy

Solution: Regular project reorganization based on emerging patterns

  • Use cluster insights to identify natural organization structures
  • Simplify tag systems and reduce unnecessary complexity
  • Focus on organization schemes that support specific research goals

Ready to enhance your workflow further? Continue References and Citations for publication-ready literature organization.