Systematic literature review
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Systematic Literature Review
Introduction
Systematic literature reviews (SLRs) are essential for synthesizing research findings in a methodical and replicable manner. They provide a comprehensive overview of existing literature, identify gaps, and suggest directions for future research. This review aims to summarize the methodologies, benefits, and challenges associated with conducting SLRs across various fields, including planning, psychology, information systems, software engineering, and more.
Methodologies for Conducting Systematic Literature Reviews
Several papers provide detailed methodologies for conducting SLRs. For instance, a comprehensive guide outlines the steps involved in planning, conducting, organizing, and presenting a systematic review, emphasizing the importance of linking theory to evidence and vice versa. Another paper extends the base methodology from health sciences to information systems (IS) research, highlighting the need for adaptations to accommodate methodologically diverse fields. Additionally, the PRISMA guidelines are recommended for ensuring the rigor and transparency of SLRs.
Benefits of Systematic Literature Reviews
SLRs offer numerous benefits, including the ability to provide a balanced and objective summary of research evidence. They help in clarifying whether and how research findings replicate and explain possible inconsistencies. In fields like engineering education, SLRs can lower the barrier for researchers and practitioners to access literature, enabling more objective critiques of past efforts and identifying gaps. Moreover, including grey literature in SLRs can reduce publication bias and increase the comprehensiveness and timeliness of reviews.
Challenges and Adaptations
Conducting SLRs is not without challenges. Identifying all relevant evidence, including grey literature, can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. In the software engineering domain, the quality of abstracts is often poor, making it difficult to judge the relevance of studies from abstracts alone. To address these challenges, some papers suggest adaptations to the SLR process to better fit domain-specific characteristics. Additionally, traditional literature reviews can benefit from applying lessons from SLRs to increase their reliability and mitigate biases.
Applications and Examples
SLRs have been applied in various fields to improve policy-making, clinical decision-making, and research practices. For example, a model for writing systematic reviews of argument-based literature aims to improve ethically relevant decisions in healthcare, research, or policy. In conservation biology, SLRs are considered the gold standard for reliable synthesis of evidence, although traditional reviews can still be valuable when SLRs are not feasible.
Conclusion
Systematic literature reviews are invaluable tools for synthesizing research findings across diverse fields. By following rigorous methodologies and including comprehensive searches for all relevant evidence, SLRs can provide reliable and objective summaries of existing literature. Despite the challenges, the benefits of conducting SLRs far outweigh the costs, making them essential for advancing knowledge and informing policy and practice.
References
- Guidance on Conducting a Systematic Literature Review
- How to Do a Systematic Review: A Best Practice Guide for Conducting and Reporting Narrative Reviews, Meta-Analyses, and Meta-Syntheses
- Grey literature: An important resource in systematic reviews
- A Guide to Conducting a Standalone Systematic Literature Review
- Lessons from applying the systematic literature review process within the software engineering domain
- Systematic Literature Reviews in Engineering Education and Other Developing Interdisciplinary Fields
- Conducting systematic literature reviews and bibliometric analyses
- How to write a systematic review of reasons
- Making literature reviews more reliable through application of lessons from systematic reviews
- Writing Systematic Reviews of the Literature—It Really Is a Systematic Process!
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