In the last few years, systematic review has been given a considerable thought. This approach seeks to review literature which adopts explicit procedures.
Systematic review has basically emerged as an area of interest for two reasons:
it is often suggested that many reviews of literature can lack thoroughness and also tells about the biasness of the researcher. Pro pounders of systematic review opine that adopting explicit procedures makes such biasness less probable to emerge.
In areas like medicine and latterly business, there has been a growing movement for evidence centric solutions. Systematic review is observed as a cornerstone of evidence based approaches. Its purpose is to give advice for practitioners who are based on all the available sources. Such reviews are considered to be valuable for decision makers, specifically in areas where there is conflicting evidence that are concerned with the right and the best way of performing acts.
Unlike medical science, management and business research is basically a new field that has emerged from the social rather than the biological and is featured by low consensus regarding key research questions.
The main steps to conduct systematic review are:
- Specifying the question and review planning
- Conducting the review
- Reporting and dissemination
It is suggested that systematic review provides a more dependable foundation on which research design could be based as it concentrates on a more complete comprehension of what the researcher knows about the subject.