X-SLR: A Hexagonal Architecture Framework for Reporting Systematic Literature Reviews

Systematic literature reviews are essential for synthesizing scientific evidence but remain complex and resource-intensive processes that demand significant time and human effort. To reduce bias, they are usually conducted collaboratively and according to established methodologies. However, the way in which the process is documented, including the steps taken and the tools used, often depends on the author’s preferences or basic guidelines of traditional methodologies. This variability makes it difficult to interpret the procedure and results and limits reproducibility for other researchers. This work introduces the Hexagonal Systematic Literature Review (X-SLR) architecture as a framework designed to standardize the reporting of procedures and results in systematic literature reviews. The X-SLR is based on the ports and adapters model from software engineering, which separates the core logic of a system from the tools and platforms used to implement it. Applied to reviews, the model conceptualizes the research goals as a central core connected to six functional components (ports): search strategy, selection criteria, data extraction, quality assessment, analysis and synthesis, and reporting. Each port can be linked to various tools through adapters. The proposed framework provides a structured mechanism for documenting review procedures, tool integration, and methodological decisions. By explicitly documenting port contracts, adapter choices, and traceability links, X-SLR is intended to help researchers assess whether tool substitutions preserve methodological coherence. A conceptual proposal, representative tool configurations, and a demonstration scenario are presented to illustrate the framework. The framework was retrospectively evaluated by applying a 25-item reporting checklist to a previously published SLR. Two independent coders achieved 88.0% agreement (Cohen’s κ=0.82), and the resulting Documentation Coverage score was 0.48. A separate internal formative assessment with two systematic review practitioners provided preliminary evidence regarding the clarity, traceability, complementarity, and usefulness of the X-SLR representation. These results provide preliminary evidence supporting X-SLR as a reporting and traceability artifact, while prospective studies are required to assess its effects on review execution, efficiency, and substantive reproducibility.