Background: The growing demand for efficient and deployable language models has led to increased interest in Small Language Models (SLMs). However, existing research remains fragmented, lacking a unified lifecycle perspective. Objective: This study aims to define a comprehensive lifecycle framework for SLMs by synthesizing insights from academic literature and practitioner sources. Method: We conducted a comprehensive survey of 36 works, analyzing and categorizing lifecycle-relevant techniques. Results: We propose a modular lifecycle model structured into main, optional, and cross-cutting components. The model captures key interconnections across stages, supporting method reuse, co-adaptation, and lifecycle-awareness. Conclusion: Our framework provides a coherent foundation for developing and maintaining SLMs, bridging theory and practice, and guiding future research and tool development.
@article{arxiv.2506.07695,
title = {Towards a Small Language Model Lifecycle Framework},
author = {Parsa Miraghaei and Sergio Moreschini and Antti Kolehmainen and David Hästbacka},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.07695},
year = {2025}
}