Literature Matrix Builder
Record each study you read in one matrix: its context, methods, variables, findings and gaps, with your own reflection. The builder finds what recurs across studies, explains why such patterns are common, and points out gaps worth checking.
Your project
Optional. Your project details are shown beside the matrix and used to find which of your variables each study covers, and which none do.
Add your project details
One per line.
One variable per line. Put its indicators after a colon, separated by semicolons, such as “wellbeing: life satisfaction; positive mood”.
A plan from the Sample Size Calculator, using Cochran's formula at 95% confidence.
Add studies
Add a study and fill it in as you read, or import studies from your reference manager.
The example studies are fictional, for trying the builder.
Import
Export BibTeX from Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote or Google Scholar, and paste it here or choose the file.
Your matrix
No studies yet. Add a study, import some, or load the example matrix.
Patterns and gaps
No studies yet. Add a study, import some, or load the example matrix.
Compare two studies
Choose two studies to see them side by side.
Export
No studies yet. Add a study, import some, or load the example matrix.
Matrix columns and patterns
What to record in each column, and how the builder finds patterns and gaps.
Columns
Source
- Author(s)
- Surnames and initials, separated by semicolons, such as “Smith, J.; Lee, K.”.
- Year
- The year of publication, such as 2023.
- Title
- The study's title, to tell studies by the same authors apart.
- Journal
- The journal, or the book or conference for other sources.
- Publisher
- The publisher, such as Elsevier or SAGE.
- DOI
- Such as 10.1177/0013189X17739591, or its https://doi.org/ address.
Context and aims
- Country
- Where the study took place. Separate several with semicolons.
- Research context
- The setting, population or sector studied.
- Research problem
- The problem the study addresses.
- Research objectives
- What the study set out to do.
Methodology
- Research design
- Such as survey, experiment, case study or cross-sectional.
- Research philosophy
- Such as positivism or interpretivism, if the study states it.
- Research approach
- Deductive, inductive or abductive; or quantitative, qualitative or mixed.
- Theory or framework
- The theories or models the study uses, separated by semicolons.
- Sampling technique
- Such as convenience, purposive or stratified random sampling.
- Sample size
- The number of participants or cases analysed.
- Data collection method
- Such as questionnaire, interviews or secondary data.
- Analysis technique
- Such as regression, SEM or thematic analysis, separated by semicolons.
Variables
- Variables
- Every variable or concept studied, separated by semicolons.
- Independent variables
- Predictors or causes, separated by semicolons.
- Dependent variables
- Outcomes, separated by semicolons.
- Mediator
- Variables that carry an effect from predictor to outcome.
- Moderator
- Variables that change the strength of a relationship.
Findings and gaps
- Major findings
- The main results, in your words.
- Research gap
- The gap the study addresses or says remains.
- Limitations
- Limitations the authors state, or you notice.
- Future recommendations
- What the authors suggest future research should do.
- Key contribution
- What the study adds to knowledge or practice.
Your notes
- Notes
- Anything else worth keeping, such as quotations with page numbers.
- Researcher's critical reflection
- Your own evaluation: strengths, weaknesses and relevance to your study.
How patterns and gaps are found
- Designs, sampling techniques, analyses, philosophies and approaches are recognised by their usual names, such as “stratified random”, “PLS-SEM” or “interpretivist”, and matched to the catalogues the other research tools use.
- Variables, theories and countries are counted by their wording, ignoring case, accents and bracketed abbreviations; theories named in a study's context, problem, contribution or notes also count.
- A pattern is anything found in two or more studies; each study counts once.
- Stated gaps are grouped when statements from different studies share at least two key words, and at least half of the shorter statement's key words.
- Potential gaps need at least three studies. They flag a design, setting or sampling approach used by 60% or more of the studies reporting it, a median quantitative sample below 100, no study in the last five years, theory named by fewer than half the studies, mediators and moderators in under 20% of relationship studies, and your project's variables or relationships that no study covers.
What should I do next?
Your studies are side by side. Now check how you found them and how you will cite them.
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How to write a literature review
What a literature review is for, the main types of review, how to search for and record sources, how to synthesise rather than summarise, how to find genuine gaps, and how to structure and write the review.
How the builder works
- Add your project details if you like: the matrix shows which of your variables each study covers, and your topic, question, objectives and hypotheses stay in view as you read.
- Add studies one at a time, or import them from BibTeX or RIS files exported by your reference manager, or from a CSV or spreadsheet.
- Fill in each study's context, methods, variables, findings and gaps as you read it, with your own critical reflection. Tag, star and prioritise studies, and track what you have read.
- Search, sort and filter the matrix, and choose which columns to see. Compare any two studies side by side.
- Patterns and gaps update as you go: repeated variables, designs, samples, analyses and theories, each explained, and the gaps the studies name or the matrix suggests.
- Export the matrix to Word, PDF, Excel, CSV, Markdown or HTML, and copy the synthesis into your literature review as a starting point.
What this tool can't do
- Patterns and gaps come from what you enter. The builder matches common names for designs, sampling techniques and analyses, so unusual wording may be counted separately; check the patterns against your matrix.
- Reasons given for patterns are the usual reasons researchers make each choice, from the same catalogues the other research tools use. They don't say why a particular study made its choice.
- Potential gaps are prompts, not findings. They describe only the studies in your matrix; confirm each against a wider search before claiming it in your review.
- Stated gaps are grouped by shared key words, so statements worded very differently may not be grouped, and unrelated ones sharing words occasionally are.
- Looking up a study's details from its DOI isn't available yet; the DOI is added and you fill in the details.
- BibTeX and RIS imports read the fields reference managers export: authors, year, title, journal, publisher, DOI, abstract and keywords. The rest of the matrix is yours to fill.
- The matrix isn't saved between visits. Export it as CSV or Excel to keep it; importing that file again restores everything, including tags and reading status.
- Everything happens in your browser; no data leaves your device.
Awaiting review
- Methodological review: the pattern explanations, the gap thresholds and the descriptions of data collection methods and qualitative analyses.
- Systematic review practice: the matrix columns against common data extraction forms.
- Accessibility review: the matrix table and study editor with screen reader users.
- References: sources for the gap types and thresholds, after academic review.
Privacy
Everything stays in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere or saved, and it is cleared when you leave the page, so export your matrix to keep it.