zlacker

I was shoulder deep in primary source material (#4) on real-time fuzzy search and wasn’t able to make heads or tails of where everything fit. Until I found a #3 overview that referenced most of the primary sources and put them in context. That paper was worth its weight in gold!

Do you have any tips for how to quickly find these #3 materials in other spaces?

>>Denzel+(OP)
The name for what you and the parent described is a review paper. I can't speak for Math or CS, but in life sciences the following techniques would work:

1. Search X and sort by citation count. High quality review papers get cited A LOT, typically in introduction sections of primary research papers. Alternatively, google "[X] review" or "best review paper on X".

2. Look for review journals. Many fields will have journals who only publish reviews. Nature has several such publications for example.

3. Look for the top journals in the space (start by sorting by impact factor) and see if they have review sections. If they do, try to search those sections. Most journals will reach out to top labs in a space and request that they write a review on a subject if the journal editors feel one is needed.

4. Ask someone in the field. Any researcher should be able to immediately point you to canonical reviews in their space.