1. A computer-implemented method for generating a reference set via seed documents, comprising: obtaining a collection of documents; identifying one or more seed documents related to an issue for which a reference set of documents is needed; selecting the seed documents from at least one of a current document set and a previously defined document set; comparing the seed documents to the document collection and identifying those documents similar to the seed documents as reference set candidates; applying a size threshold to the reference set candidates; and grouping the reference set candidates as the reference set when the size threshold is satisfied, wherein the reference set is reduced by identifying the reference set candidates that are closely related and common reference set candidates and by removing the closely related reference set candidates and the common reference set candidates.