Reviewing the literature

1. Reviewing the literature András István Kun

2. An 8 step model of research processes 0. Identify broad area of research • discipline, school • Formulating the research problem (specification) • Conceptualising • valid, workable, managable • Constructing an instrument for data collection • Selecting a sample (sampling) • Writing a research proposal • ‘Final’ research questions • Collecting data • Processing data • Writing a report

3. Conceptstheory Deductive Dataanalysis Researchquestion Empirical data Inductive Cyclic (‘never-ending’) process of research Where is the place of literature reviewing?

4. Functions of reviewing literature • Knowledge basis • Theoretical background • Help to find a research problem: • What is known and what is unknown • How can you contribute to the existing knowledge body of your profession • Finding the appropriate hyptheses (abduction) • Help to find out what methodology to use • Formal hypotheses, research techniqe, sampling… • Enables you to contextualize your findings

5. Paradox of literature review • You read to know, but • You have to know what to read (and you have to have some knowledge to understand) • Solution: iterative process of research reviewing

6. Improving methodology • What are the accepted methodologies • Methodological problems and solutions

7. Knowledge basis • To some extent it is needed to show the context of your research and your findings • Obligatory chapter of Master and PhD theses

8. 5 steps of reviewing literature • Search for existing literature in your of study; • Review the literature selected; • Develop a theoretical framework; • Develop a conceptual framework; • Writing up the literature reviewed.

9. Main sources • Books • Journals • Grey literature • Statistical data

10. Books • Availability • Libraries • Bookshops • Bibliographies (!) • Internet: computer catalogs (keywords, subject) • Advantages: greater likelihood of importance, relevance, quality • Disadvantages: not up to date, price, avaliability, quality-control (bibliography!) • They serve best as starters

11. Journals • Advantages: up-to-date (depends on the journal), area-specific journals • Disadvantages: need more knowledge to understand • They serve best for focused study • Availability: • Libraries • Electronic databases (!) • Internet

12. Gray literature • Grey literature (or gray literature) is a term used variably by the intelligence community, librarians, and medical and research professionals to refer to a body of materials that cannot be found easily through conventional channels such as publishers, "but which is frequently original and usually recent„ • Working papers • Theses • Company documents • Magazines • etc.

13. Quality in research • Whowhat can be qualified? • Researcher • Article • Journal • Institution • Publisher • …

14. Quality in research (Scientometrics) • The most accepted field of qualification is based on journals. • Academic journals • Referred journals • Peer reviewing • Journal qualification systems • Based on citation (aim: measuring impact) • Rankings • Impact factors • Hirsch index (h-index), half-life, immediacy • „Page rank”, altmetric score…

15. An example: ABDC journal quality list • http://www.abdc.edu.au/ • In 2007, ABDC established an ABDC Journal Quality List to overcome the regional and discipline bias of international lists.  • Reviewed in 2013 and 2009. The next major review will be in the second half of 2017. • In 2016:interim review:  • 1) new journals started since 1 January 2011; • 2) removal of predatory open access journals; • 3) change of Field of Research (FoR) grouping; and • 4) incorrect factual details - to produce a revised 2016 list. 

16. ABDC journal quality list • The ABDC Journal Quality List 2013 comprises 2,767 different journal titles, divided into four categories of quality, A*: 6.9%; A: 20.8%; B: 28.4%; and C: 43.9% journals.  • In each Field of Research (FoR) group, journals deemed NOT to reach the quality threshold level are not listed. 

17. The Scientific Information (ISI) impact factor (Thomson Reuters) • From 1975 • The journal must be indexed in the Journal Citation Reports • Calculation: • IF for year X = A/B. • A = citations on the citable articles of the journal in years (X-1) and (X-2). • B = total number of the citable articles n a journal in years (X-1) és (X-2). • IF for year X is published in year (X+1). • The sum of the IFs can be used as a quality measure of authors, too.

18. Highest IF journals by some areas • Economics: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC LITERATURE, IF: 6.614 • General management:ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW, IF: 7.288 • Accounting, finance:JOURNAL OF FINANCE, IF: 5.290JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING & ECONOMICS, IF: 3.535 • Logistics:TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH PART B: METHODOLOGICAL, IF: 3.769SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT - AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, IF: 2.731 • http://www.lib.unideb.hu/hu/adatbazis?b=i • > Impact Factor Social Sciences Edition

19. Where to start your search • You can search for: • Title • Author • Keyword • JEL classification

20. Where to start your search • Electronic databases: • lib.unideb.hu (meta search engines) • www.jstor.org • search.epnet.com (EBSCO database) • http://www.nber.com/ • http://econpapers.repec.org/ • University pages • Pages of libraries • Library…

21. Where to start your search • „Social media” for researchers: • academia.edu • researchaget.net • ssrn.com • scholar.google.hu • tudoster.idea.unideb.hu/en

27. „Publish or Perish” • You are a good researcher if you can prove it through qualified publications. • The role of citations. • Its adverse effects. • The journey of a manuscript to become an article.

28. Other current trends • Open Access movement • Predatory journals

29. Referencing • Why? The role of references in research. • When? • How? Systems of referencing. • Author-date sytems: Harvard, APA • Numeric systems: in the text or in the list • Plagiarism

30. Thanks for your attention