[Study] A systems approach to conduct an effective literature review in support of information systems research

Levy and Ellis (2006) stated the following:

A. OVERALL


What is a Research:
a. Research must enhance the current understanding of a phenomenon, or contribute to enhance the BoK
What is a Literature Review: 

• a) methodologically analyze and synthesize quality literature, 

• b) provide a firm foundation to a research topic, 

• c) provide a firm foundation to the selection of research methodology, and 

• d) demonstrate that the proposed research contributes something new to the overall body of knowledge or advances the research field’s knowledge-base. [uncovers areas where research is needed]

• Quality literature stimulates additional research studies, thus providing validation of the original theory proposed 

• The selection of the methodology should not be interpreted as placing more rigor on one type of research but  enable them to provide justifications for why a given approach is optimal for their study. 

• The keyword search should be just the initial, not the main step for a literature search. 

• A common mistake by novice researchers, specifically in IS, is to assume that the keyword search yields all that is available from the literature:

• keywords of IS literature tend to have a limited life span (MRP in 1970s, ERP in 1990s)

• use of technology specific terms or ‘buzzwords’that appear and disappear from literature

1. Step 1: backward references search

•  reviewing the references of the articles yielded from the keyword search noted above

• Doing so will enable the researcher to extend his or her knowledge even deeper on the phenomenon under study

1. Step 2: backward authors search

•  reviewing what the authors have published prior to the article

1. Step 3: previously used keywords. 

• reviewing the keywords noted in the articles yielded from the keyword search noted above

1. Step 1: Forward references search refers to reviewing additional articles that have cited the article

1. Step 2: Forward authors search refers to reviewing what the authors have published following the article

1. At the very least, the researcher must demonstrate that he or she has read the article and extracted meaningful information from it. 

1. Pointing at the literature vs Knowledge-level mastery

• Other research also indicates that individual and group marks should be combined in-group activities (Buchy & Quinlan, 2000; Lim et al., 2003; Romano & Nunamaker, 1998). 

• > not good:  reader really don’t have any idea what these references said

• Buchy and Quinlan (2000) interviewed 36 students participating in tutorial groups. These interviews indicated that the students felt they were becoming more conscious of learning processes of both themselves and their peers.

• > good: Research methodology, and references ideas.

• Han and Kamber (2001) suggest an evolution that moves from data collection and database creation, towards data management, and ultimately, data analysis and understanding.

• Not good: does not demonstrate mastery over anything beyond a set of “buzz-words”

• Han and Kamber (2001) suggest an evolution that moves from data collection and database creation, towards data management, and ultimately, data analysis and understanding. For example, data processing is a base function enabling manipulation and aggregation of data, thus facilitating searching and retrieval.

• Good: demonstrates an understanding of the concepts presented by Han and Kamber through example.

b. Research must communicate to the scientific community.



Why Conduct a Literature Review:

1. Demonstrate "what is already know?" and "what is needed to be known?"

2. Justifying the proposed study as one that contributes something new to the BoK
3. Framing the valid research methodologies, approach, goals, and research questions for  the proposed study


Literature Review process:

a.Input (Collect)
b. Processing (Know > Comprehend > Apply > Analyze > Synthesize > Evaluate "quality literature" )
c. Output ("contributes something new to the overall body of knowledge")

IS Literature Review:

a. An effective IS literature search  must exhaust all sources that contain IS research publications (i.e. journals, quality conferenceproceedings, etc.) that are valid to the proposed study

b. Large number of electronic and print sources are available that the novice researcher can be overwhelmed in determining quality literature.

Fitting the literature into your research:

a. Asking: "how is the work presented in the article I read related to my study?"
b. During the review of the literature researchers should utilize sources that substantiate the
presence of the problem under investigation. => enable the researcher to provide a solid argument for the need for their study

Place your study in the context of existing work

Quality research 

must provide justifications for the potential contributions provided by the proposed study. => 

demonstrate how the proposed research contributes something new to the

overall BoK or advances the research field’s knowledge

B. INPUT

Where to Look for Quality IS Literature?  

Quality IS research literature from leading, peer-reviewed journals should 

serve as the major base of literature review as it provides sufficient theoretical background as 

well as leads for additional references on the specific subject matter

Although conferences are valuable scientific venues for exchange of ideas and a major incubator for new research agendas, the overall rigor of conference proceedings is lower than one found in leading journals 

=> IS researchers must ensure that references used in a proper context and with high degree

of confidence

Keywords search  

Backward search 

Forward search 

How to Tell When You Are Done With the Literature Search? 

As noted previously, the use of backward and forward literature search techniques should

provide additional valid references as the search progresses. However, it may appear to novice

researchers that this process is a never-ending one.

one common rule of thumb is that the search is near completion when one discovers that new articles only introduce familiar arguments, methodologies, findings, authors, and studies

C. PROCESSING

Know the Literature  

Comprehend the Literature

Pre-comprehension level mastery vs Pre-comprehension level mastery

Cognitive/construct-level 

Theory: Definition and Use in IS Literature 

Constructs/variables: Definition and Use in IS Literature 

Many researchers note the term “construct” similarly to the term “concept”. “a concept expresses an abstraction formed by generalization from particulars”, whereas a construct is a concept with added meaning “deliberately and consciously invented or adopted for a special scientific purpose” 

Models/frameworks: Definition and Use in IS Literature 

D. OUTPUTS:

Writing Arguments and Argumentation Theory 

Writing the Literature Review 

E. DISCUSSION:

1) Keep an annotated copy of all the articles, book chapters, or conference proceedings you read

in both hardcopy and electronic format. It is unbelievably frustrating to need to refer back to an

article and find you do not have ready access to it. 

2) Highlight everything in the article that is applicable to your research, even if you don’t think

you will use the material. It is almost impossible to tell exactly what direction research will take,

and it can be very frustrating and time consuming to try to re-locate information you are almost

certain you found in a given paper. 

3) Write notes to yourself about the article you are reading regarding issues, thoughts, or general

comments such as “nice methodology for …”, “interesting definition of…,” etc.  

4) Write a brief (one to two paragraph(s)) annotated bibliography entry that encapsulates the essential

points applicable to your research derived from the article. It is important to note that the annotated bibliography is specific to your research and is not the same as the abstract for the article, which summarizes the entire study.

5) As one reads literature, be sure to look for and circle any terms or expressions that might serve as keywords that would facilitate the forward or backward searching described earlier. 

6) Remember, it is important to place each article in the context of the body of knowledge by

identifying the applicable model(s), construct(s), theory(ies), and/or literature stream(s) (see section “Cognitive/construct-level” above). Annotate the applicable model(s), etc. on the front of the article.

Managing the literature review process 

Questions:
1. In defining a meaningful literature review, Levy and Ellis (2006) stated that it should "provide a firm foundation to the selection of research methodology". How can research methodology be selected through Literature Review?
2. Are there any different ways of performing literature review process except the mentioned systematic way (input-processing-output)?
3. How can researcher address all sources of related IS research publications from all literature databases and all vendors? The author provided list of ranking sources for research's input in Figure 2 and Figure 3. Are The Figure 2. ISWorld’s top 50 ranked MIS journals and electronic availability  provided by Saunders (n.d.) and Figure 3. Ranked and non-ranked IS conferences  with electronic availability of proceedings  provided by Hardgrave and Walstrom (1997) still valid today (2015)?

Reference:
Levy, Y. and Ellis, T. J. (2006) 'A systems approach to conduct an effective literature review in support of information systems research', Informing Science: International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline, 9: 181-212.