Conducting Systematic Literature Reviews in Information Systems: An Analysis of Guidelines

This paper analyzes the guidelines for systematic literature reviews in the Information Systems (IS) field based on 12 influential journal articles published from 2002 through 2018. The analysis indicates that there is heterogeneity among the selected articles in terms of defining the purposes of a literature review, but that in general there is homogeneity among the guidelines provided by various authors regarding conducting the review. The findings also highlight a temporal evolution of the guidelines, the emergence of critiques of too much systematization, and the proposal of new approaches for conducting literature reviews. The number of times the selected papers are cited each year increases with time, and the guidelines are cited in a diversity of fields, suggesting the existence of a growing interest in conducting systematic literature reviews among scholars in IS and other disciplines. The results of the analysis can help guide researchers from IS and other fields to understand not just the general best practices for conducting literature reviews, but also the emerging options available for generating a quality literature review paper.