1. Introduction

 

Building your research on and relating it to existing knowledge is the building block of all academic research activities, regardless of discipline. Therefore, to do so accurately should be a priority for all academics. However, this task has become increasingly complex. Knowledge production within the field of business research is accelerating at a tremendous speed while at the same time remaining fragmented and interdisciplinary. This makes it hard to keep up with state-of-the-art research and to be at the forefront, as well as to assess the collective evidence in a particular research area. This is why the literature review as a research method is more relevant than ever. A literature review can broadly be described as a more or less systematic way of collecting and synthesizing previous research (Baumeister & Leary, 1997; Tranfield, Denyer, & Smart, 2003). An effective and well-conducted review as a research method creates a firm foundation for advancing knowledge and facilitating theory development (Webster & Watson, 2002). By integrating findings and perspectives from many empirical findings, a literature review can address research questions with a power that no single study has.

It can also help to provide an overview of areas in which the research is disparate and interdisciplinary. In addition, a literature review is an excellent way of synthesizing research findings to show evidence on a meta-level and to uncover areas in which more research is needed, which is a critical component of creating theoretical frameworks and building conceptual models. However, traditional ways of describing and portraying the literature often lack thoroughness and are not undertaken systematically (Tranfield et al., 2003). This results in a lack of knowledge of what the collection of studies is actually saying or to what it is pointing at. As a result, there is a great chance that authors build their research on flawed assumptions. When researchers are selective of the evidence on which to build their research, ignoring research that points the other way, serious problems can be faced. In addition, even when the methodology of the reviews is valid, there are often issues with what constitutes a good contribution.

Of course, there already exist some guidelines for conducting literature reviews that suggest different types of reviews, such as narrative or integrative reviews (e.g., Baumeister & Leary, 1997; Wong, Greenhalgh, Westhorp, Buckingham, & Pawson, 2013), systematic reviews, and meta-analysis (e.g., Davis, Mengersen, Bennett, & Mazerolle, 2014; Liberati et al., 2009; Moher, Liberati, Tetzlaff, & Altman, 2009) or integrative reviews (e.g., Torraco, 2005). There have also been some attempts to develop guidelines specifically for business or management research (e.g., Palmatier, Houston, & Hulland, 2018; Tranfield et al., 2003). By building on and synthesizing these different types of literature reviews, this paper takes a broader view by summarizing and integrating the different guidelines, including how to apply them in business research.

 this paper provides context and guidance to researchers seeking to use the literature review as a method to synthesize research in their own domains, to inform their own research, or to provide guidance for social policy. Last, this paper also aims to provide some guidelines for how to assess quality when evaluating review papers which hopefully will be helpful to editors, reviewers, and authors, as well as to any reader of a review paper.

 

2. Why you should write a literature review

Consideration of prior, relevant literature is essential for all research disciplines and all research projects. When reading an article, independent of discipline, the author begins by describing previous research to map and assess the research area to motivate the aim of the study and justify the research question and hypotheses. This is generally referred to as the “literature review,” “theoretical framework,” or “research background.” However, for a literature review to become a proper research methodology, as with any other research, follow proper steps need to be followed and action taken to ensure the review is accurate, precise, and trustworthy. As with all research, the value of an academic review depends on what was done, what was found, and the clarity of reporting (Moher et al., 2009). Depending on the purpose of the review, the researcher can use a number of strategies, standards, and guidelines developed especially for conducting a literature review. 

 

2.1. Different approaches to conducting a literature review

As mentioned previously, there are a number of existing guidelines for literature reviews. Depending on the methodology needed to achieve the purpose of the review, all types can be helpful and appropriate to reach a specific goal (for examples, please see Table 1).

 These approaches can be qualitative, quantitative, or have a mixed design depending on the phase of the review. In the following, three broad types of methods commonly used will be described, as summarized in . The broad types that will be presented and discussed include the systematic review, the semi-systematic review, and the integrative review. Under the right circumstances, all of these review strategies can be of significant help to answer a particular research question. However, it should be noted that there are many other forms of literature reviews, and elements from different approaches are often combined. As these approaches are quite wide, it should be noted that they might require further adaptation for a particular research project.