From Toil to Thought: Designing for Strategic Exploration and Responsible AI in Systematic Literature Reviews

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Ye, Runlong, Sibia, Naaz, Bernuy, Angela Zavaleta, Zhu, Tingting, Nobre, Carolina, Pammer-Schindler, Viktoria, Liut, Michael
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Ye, Runlong
Sibia, Naaz
Bernuy, Angela Zavaleta
Zhu, Tingting
Nobre, Carolina
Pammer-Schindler, Viktoria
Liut, Michael
author_facet Ye, Runlong
Sibia, Naaz
Bernuy, Angela Zavaleta
Zhu, Tingting
Nobre, Carolina
Pammer-Schindler, Viktoria
Liut, Michael
contents Systematic Literature Reviews (SLRs) are fundamental to scientific progress, yet the process is hindered by a fragmented tool ecosystem that imposes a high cognitive load. This friction suppresses the iterative, exploratory nature of scholarly work. To investigate these challenges, we conducted an exploratory design study with 20 experienced researchers. This study identified key friction points: 1) the high cognitive load of managing iterative query refinement across multiple databases, 2) the overwhelming scale and pace of publication of modern literature, and 3) the tension between automation and scholarly agency. Informed by these findings, we developed ARC, a design probe that operationalizes solutions for multi-database integration, transparent iterative search, and verifiable AI-assisted screening. A comparative user study with 8 researchers suggests that an integrated environment facilitates a transition in scholarly work, moving researchers from managing administrative overhead to engaging in strategic exploration. By utilizing external representations to scaffold strategic exploration and transparent AI reasoning, our system supports verifiable judgment, aiming to augment expert contributions from initial creation through long-term maintenance of knowledge synthesis.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_05514
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle From Toil to Thought: Designing for Strategic Exploration and Responsible AI in Systematic Literature Reviews
Ye, Runlong
Sibia, Naaz
Bernuy, Angela Zavaleta
Zhu, Tingting
Nobre, Carolina
Pammer-Schindler, Viktoria
Liut, Michael
Human-Computer Interaction
Artificial Intelligence
Systematic Literature Reviews (SLRs) are fundamental to scientific progress, yet the process is hindered by a fragmented tool ecosystem that imposes a high cognitive load. This friction suppresses the iterative, exploratory nature of scholarly work. To investigate these challenges, we conducted an exploratory design study with 20 experienced researchers. This study identified key friction points: 1) the high cognitive load of managing iterative query refinement across multiple databases, 2) the overwhelming scale and pace of publication of modern literature, and 3) the tension between automation and scholarly agency. Informed by these findings, we developed ARC, a design probe that operationalizes solutions for multi-database integration, transparent iterative search, and verifiable AI-assisted screening. A comparative user study with 8 researchers suggests that an integrated environment facilitates a transition in scholarly work, moving researchers from managing administrative overhead to engaging in strategic exploration. By utilizing external representations to scaffold strategic exploration and transparent AI reasoning, our system supports verifiable judgment, aiming to augment expert contributions from initial creation through long-term maintenance of knowledge synthesis.
title From Toil to Thought: Designing for Strategic Exploration and Responsible AI in Systematic Literature Reviews
topic Human-Computer Interaction
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.05514