{"ID":2845007,"CreatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.05264","arxiv_id":"2601.05264","title":"Engineering the RAG Stack: A Comprehensive Review of the Architecture and Trust Frameworks for Retrieval-Augmented Generation Systems","abstract":"This article provides a comprehensive systematic literature review of academic studies, industrial applications, and real-world deployments from 2018 to 2025, providing a practical guide and detailed overview of modern Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures. RAG offers a modular approach for integrating external knowledge without increasing the capacity of the model as LLM systems expand. Research and engineering practices have been fragmented as a result of the increasing diversity of RAG methodologies, which encompasses a variety of fusion mechanisms, retrieval strategies, and orchestration approaches. We provide quantitative assessment frameworks, analyze the implications for trust and alignment, and systematically consolidate existing RAG techniques into a unified taxonomy. This document is a practical framework for the deployment of resilient, secure, and domain-adaptable RAG systems, synthesizing insights from academic literature, industry reports, and technical implementation guides. It also functions as a technical reference.","short_abstract":"This article provides a comprehensive systematic literature review of academic studies, industrial applications, and real-world deployments from 2018 to 2025, providing a practical guide and detailed overview of modern Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures. RAG offers a modular approach for integrating ext...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.05264","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2601.05264v1","authors":"[\"Dean Wampler\",\"Dave Nielson\",\"Alireza Seddighi\"]","published":"2025-11-07T16:26:29Z","proceeding":"cs.IR","tasks":"[\"cs.IR\",\"cs.AI\"]","methods":"[\"RAG\",\"Large Language Model\"]","has_code":false}