FOIA Requests vs Literature Review — Which AI Skill Should You Use?

The short version

By James Anditis (Journalism)

Draft and file Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain government records.

By Mohit Agarwal (PM Skills)

Turn a pile of research papers into a structured, critical review with themes and gaps.

Provides ready-to-use templates for federal and state FOIA requests with proper legal language
Explains the 9 federal exemptions and state-specific public records laws across all 50 states
Guides you through fee waiver requests, appeals processes, and tracking submission status
Includes reference tables for state-by-state laws and legislative exemptions
Offers strategic advice on crafting specific, targeted requests that agencies are more likely to fulfill

Organizes research evidence by theme instead of summarizing one paper at a time
Synthesizes findings across multiple studies and highlights where they agree or conflict
Critically analyzes study quality, methodology, and bias for key sources
Identifies gaps in the research and what the field still needs to explore
Formats output for academic journals, dissertations, grant proposals, or policy briefs

You're investigating a story and need official documents from a government agency
You need to understand what records are legally available in your state or at the federal level
You're appealing a denied FOIA request or requesting a fee waiver
You're tracking multiple public records requests and need to follow up with agencies

You're writing a dissertation or thesis and need a structured background chapter
You're preparing a grant proposal and need to show what's known and what's missing
You're building the research foundation for a new product or policy initiative
You have a stack of research papers and need to make sense of what they say collectively