As far as I know, both work and works may be correct in different contexts. For example, we say I had much work today. But when referring to different pieces of work we say works, e.g., related works in a paper. However, In these sentences I'm not sure which one is correct:
- This survey sheds light on the differences between our approach and the previously proposed works/work.
- Thanks to X and Y for their help in surveying the related work/works.
Best Answer
I'd say that in academic writing, either is correct. At least to my ear though, the singular "work" sounds more comprehensive and the plural "works" sounds more selective. "Works" are a set of countable papers, but "work" is the whole body of relevant literature. In that second sense, "work," like "literature," is singular.
So I'd say, "...the previously proposed work," if I was trying to contrast with the entire history of published literature on this subject, but "...the previously proposed works," if I was contrasting with a particular set of papers that I had already mentioned earlier.
Note that in your sentence 2, you should use "thanks to..." and use the singular "help."