On the shoulders of giants: undertaking a structured literature review in accounting

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a method for a structured literature review (SLR).\ud An SLR is a method for examining a corpus of scholarly literature, to develop insights, critical\ud reflections, future research paths and research questions. SLRs are common in scientific disciplines\ud dominated by quantitative approaches, but they can be adapted in accounting studies since\ud quantitative and qualitative approaches are commonly accepted.\ud Design/methodology/approach – A literature review, as a piece of academic writing, must have a\ud logical, planned structure. The authors also argue it requires tests based on qualitative and\ud quantitative methods. Therefore, the authors describe ten steps for developing an SLR.\ud Findings – The SLR method is a way that scholars can stand “on the shoulders of giants” and\ud provide insightful and impactful research that is different to the traditional authorship approaches to\ud literature reviews.\ud Research limitations/implications – Traditional literature reviews can have varied results\ud because of a lack of rigour. SLRs use a process that, through a set of rules, potentially offers less bias\ud and more transparency of the execution and measures and techniques of validation and reliability.\ud Practical implications – SLRs provide an approach that can help academics to discover underinvestigated\ud topics and methods, nurturing, therefore, the development of new knowledge areas and\ud research approaches.\ud Originality/value – The paper presents accounting researchers with an opportunity to develop\ud insightful and publishable studies, and also serves as a basis for developing future research agendas in\ud the accounting field. The authors advocate the SLR method especially to higher degree research\ud students and emerging scholars as a way of potentially developing robust and defensible research\ud agendas and questions.\ud Keywords Citation analysis, Validity, Reliability, Structured literature review, Critique,\ud Traditional authorship literature revie

Disclosure Quality Measurement in the Public Sector: A Structured Literature Review

“…Therefore, according to Massaro et al (2016), it can be classified as a narrative review, with a lower degree of reliability compared to a structured literature review. Finally, the case/field study/interview category has no papers and an old, highly cited paper is normative in nature (Herzlinger, 1996).…”

“…As a consequence, critically reviewing the models and frameworks proposed, as well as determinants adopted in previous studies in measuring the disclosure level, can add fresh light on the topic in the wake of the growing relevance of transparency. This paper adopts a structured literature review (SLR) methodology as developed by Guthrie, Ricceri, and Dumay (2012), Massaro, Dumay, and Garlatti (2015), Massaro, Dumay, and Guthrie (2016) and Dumay, Bernardi, Guthrie, and Demartini (2016). According to Dixon-Woods (2011, p. 331) "researchers use SLRs to map and assess the existing intellectual territory to identify future research needs".…”

Lobbying and the responsible firm: Agenda‐setting for a freshly conceptualized field

“…It is conceptually related to the structured (from scientific disciplines: see Bowen, ) or systematic (from medicine: see Tranfield, Denyer, & Smart, ) literature review and is similar in practice to the process adopted in a recent study on extremism (Moufahim, Reedy, & Humphreys, ) in which the authors write “During each of these stages of analysis we discussed emergent ideas and wrote a set of memos to record our analytical process” (p. 98). Massaro, Dumay, and Guthrie (, p. 769, fig. 1) present a useful continuum, in which they place a rapid review (no rules) and structured literature review (rigid rules) at the two ends.…”

A structured-literature-review of the supply chain practices in dairy industry

“…Structured reviews vary from traditional reviews by assuming a detailed technology aimed at reducing the bias through exhaustive literature examinations. An SLR offers various research questions that form the basis of a research problem (Massaro, Dumay, & Guthrie, 2016) and research questions. The first step in performing an SLR is to create a list of structured questions or groups.…”

“…The second step is to execute an in-depth search of the relevant available literature. Thus, SLR is a way for reviewing the scholarly literature to develop insights, critical reflections, future research area (Massaro et al, 2016). …”