workspace-course-topics

Assignment: Subsequent Literature

Due: Before next class
Time: ~45-60 minutes

Prerequisites:

• Ballpark Paper Selection — you’ve chosen a paper
• PaperPile Bibliography — you have a .bib file

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Objective

1. Use LitMaps to find papers that have cited your ballpark paper (the “subsequent literature”)
2. Export them as subsequent-literature.bib
3. Use AI to analyze where the field has gone since your paper

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Ask Cursor First

Before diving into LitMaps, open Cursor and ask:

“I have a paper titled [your ballpark paper title]. I want to find papers that have cited it since publication. What’s the best way to do this, and what should I look for when selecting which citing papers are most important?”

This helps you think about your approach before starting the mechanical steps.

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Background

Your ballpark paper was published at some point in the past. Since then, other researchers have cited it. These citing papers represent the “subsequent literature” — work that builds on, extends, or responds to your paper.

LitMaps can identify these citing papers and export them as a .bib file.

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Free account limitations

LitMaps free accounts have limits:

• 2 maps total
• 100 articles per map
• 20 search inputs

This is sufficient for this assignment if you work strategically.

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Part A: Find Citing Papers with LitMaps

1. Sign in to LitMaps

Go to https://www.litmaps.com and sign in (or create a free account).

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2. Import your ballpark paper’s bibliography

1. Click Import (top left)
2. Select the .bib file you exported from PaperPile
3. Click Import

This adds your ballpark paper’s references to LitMaps.

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3. Find your specific ballpark paper

Your imported .bib may contain many papers. You need to identify the one paper that is the subject of your ballpark entry.

1. In LitMaps, use the search bar to find your ballpark paper by title or author
2. If it doesn’t appear in search, check “My Articles”

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4. Create a LitMap focused on citing papers

1. Click New Litmap
2. Add your ballpark paper as the seed article
3. Click Discover to find related articles

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5. Filter for CITING papers only

LitMaps shows both:

• Papers cited by your paper (backward citations — older papers)
• Papers citing your paper (forward citations — newer papers)

You want only the citing papers (forward citations).

To filter:

1. Look at the visualization — citing papers appear to the RIGHT of your seed paper
2. In the article list, look for publication dates AFTER your ballpark paper’s publication date
3. Only add articles that are more recent than your ballpark paper

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6. Add citing papers to your map

1. Click Add to Litmap for each paper that cites your ballpark paper
2. Prioritize:
   • Highly cited papers (indicates importance)
   • Recent papers (last 3-5 years)
   • Papers directly relevant to your ballpark topic
3. Stay within the 100-article limit — be selective

Tip: You don’t need to add every citing paper. Focus on the most relevant 20-50.

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7. Export the citing papers as BibTeX

1. With your litmap open, click the download/export icon
2. Select BibTeX format
3. Save the file as subsequent-literature.bib

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8. Verify your export

Open subsequent-literature.bib in a text editor.

Check:

• All entries have publication dates AFTER your ballpark paper
• The file contains valid BibTeX entries (lines starting with @article{, @inproceedings{, etc.)

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Part B: AI Analysis

9. Give the .bib to AI

Open Cursor and use this prompt:

“Here are papers that have cited [your ballpark paper title]:

[Paste your subsequent-literature.bib]

Please analyze: What research directions emerged? What’s cutting-edge now? Which 3-5 papers are most important for understanding where this field is heading?”

10. Iterate

Push deeper:

• “What gaps remain in this literature?”
• “What would a researcher need to know to contribute here?”

11. Save your analysis

Save as subsequent-literature-analysis.md:

# Subsequent Literature Analysis: [Paper Title]

## Papers that cite my ballpark paper

I found [X] papers in LitMaps.

## What the subsequent literature tells us

[2-3 paragraphs: research directions, cutting-edge topics, open questions]

## Most important subsequent papers

1. [Paper]: [Why important]
2. [Paper]: [Why important]
3. [Paper]: [Why important]

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Deliverables

• subsequent-literature.bib — BibTeX entries for papers that cite your ballpark paper
• subsequent-literature-analysis.md — AI-assisted analysis of research directions

Save both files — they are required for subsequent assignments.

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Troubleshooting

“Can’t find my ballpark paper in LitMaps”:

• Try searching by DOI if you have it
• Try searching by exact title
• Some papers (especially working papers or very recent publications) may not be in LitMaps’ database

“No citing papers found”:

• Your paper may be very recent and not yet cited
• Document this — we’ll discuss alternatives in class

“Too many citing papers (>100)”:

• This is a good problem! Be selective
• Focus on the most recent and most cited
• Use your second map if needed (you have 2 maps on free accounts)

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Tips for success

1. Work backward from dates: Your ballpark paper was published in year X. Only papers from year X+1 onward can cite it.

2. Quality over quantity: 20 highly relevant citing papers are more valuable than 100 tangentially related ones.

3. Check the citation relationship: LitMaps shows connections. Make sure the arrow points FROM the newer paper TO your ballpark paper (indicating citation).

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If You Get Stuck

Ask Cursor AI. If the “auto” model is inadequate, try Claude Opus 4.6 or ChatGPT 5.3. If both agree, the answer is probably correct.