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

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.