Towards Explainable RAG - Interpreting the Influence of Retrieved Passages on Generation: Robustness Under Distribution Shift

Abstract

Robustness depends on whether conclusions remain stable when the data distribution, case mix, prevalence, or operating environment differs from the reported setting. This structured evidence review evaluates "Towards Explainable RAG: Interpreting the Influence of Retrieved Passages on Generation" alongside nine author-disjoint, topically matched publications in reliable retrieval-augmented generation. It compares construct definitions, evaluation choices, operating assumptions, and reported limitations instead of treating bibliographic similarity as empirical equivalence. Viewed through robustness under distribution shift, the map separates claims supported by the available record from questions that still require full-text extraction, replication, or new experiments. The synthesis is interpretive rather than meta-analytic and therefore does not present a pooled effect estimate or a new causal result. The resulting agenda uses prespecified shift scenarios, subgroup analysis, calibration checks, and post-deployment monitoring to locate failure boundaries.