Guidelines for performing Systematic Research Projects Reviews

Abstract

T number of scientific articles published, regardless of the academic discipline, has dramatically increased in the last decades. The publication in impact journals is considered one of the KPI (key performance indicators) in research centres and one of the measures to get funds. Moreover, in the current information society, most of the published works are available in online journals, repositories, databases, so researchers have access to them. One of the first tasks before conducting a research, regardless of the field of study, is to identify related works and previous studies as a way to support the need to conduct new research on a particular topic. Likewise, the review of available research provides answers to particular research questions and a knowledge base to learn from previous experiences and identify new research opportunities. Nevertheless, although the need to synthesise research evidence has been recognised for well over two centuries, it was not until the end of the last century that researchers began to develop explicit methods for this form of research. In particular, a literature review allows for achieving this objective. According to Grant and Booth [1], it involves some process for identifying materials for potential inclusion, for selecting included materials, for synthesizing them in textual, tabular or graphical form and for making some analysis of their contributions or value. There are different review types and associated methodologies. Specifically, before 1990, narrative reviews were typically used, but they have some limitations such as the subjectivity, coupled with the lack of transparency, and the early expiration because the synthetization process becomes complicated and eventually untenable as the number of studies increases [2]. The systematic review or systematic literature review method seeks to mitigate the limitations of narrative reviews. Systematic reviews have their origin in the field of Medicine and Health. Nevertheless, the logic of systematic methods for reviewing the literature can be applied to other areas of research such as Humanities, Social Sciences or Software Engineering; therefore there can be as much variation in systematic reviews as is found in primary research [3], [4]. A systematic review is a protocol-driven comprehensive review and synthesis of data focusing on a topic or related key questions. It is typically performed by experienced methodologists with the input of domain experts [5]. The systematic review methods are a way of bringing together what is known from the research literature using explicit and accountable methods [4]. According to Kitchenham [6][8], a systematic review is a means of evaluating and interpreting all available research relevant to a particular research question, topic area, or phenomenon of interest by using a trustworthy, rigorous, and auditable methodology. The analysis of related works and previous studies is not only associated with scientific literature. Another KPI in research centres is the number of projects funded in competitive calls. Project proposals, like other formal studies, have to justify the need to conduct them. Furthermore, most of the calls for funding projects require to justify the innovation of the proposal against other developed projects. Although it might be expected that the results of all funded projects are available in scientific publications, this is not always the norm. Determining the progress made through a research project requires the Guidelines for performing Systematic Research Projects Reviews