On the shoulders of giants: undertaking a structured literature review in accounting
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
ISSN: 0951-3574
Article publication date: 20 June 2016
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a method for a structured literature review (SLR). An SLR is a method for examining a corpus of scholarly literature, to develop insights, critical reflections, future research paths and research questions. SLRs are common in scientific disciplines dominated by quantitative approaches, but they can be adapted in accounting studies since quantitative and qualitative approaches are commonly accepted.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review, as a piece of academic writing, must have a logical, planned structure. The authors also argue it requires tests based on qualitative and quantitative methods. Therefore, the authors describe ten steps for developing an SLR.
Findings
The SLR method is a way that scholars can stand “on the shoulders of giants” and provide insightful and impactful research that is different to the traditional authorship approaches to literature reviews.
Research limitations/implications
Traditional literature reviews can have varied results because of a lack of rigour. SLRs use a process that, through a set of rules, potentially offers less bias and more transparency of the execution and measures and techniques of validation and reliability.
Practical implications
SLRs provide an approach that can help academics to discover under-investigated topics and methods, nurturing, therefore, the development of new knowledge areas and research approaches.
Originality/value
The paper presents accounting researchers with an opportunity to develop insightful and publishable studies, and also serves as a basis for developing future research agendas in the accounting field. The authors advocate the SLR method especially to higher degree research students and emerging scholars as a way of potentially developing robust and defensible research agendas and questions.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to participants of PhD and research workshops at Macquarie University, Sydney Australia, the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Italy, the University of Udine, Italy, National Institute of Education, Singapore, and University of Waikato, New Zealand and this paper ' s reviewers for their most valuable input into refining the SLR method. Additionally, thanks to our PhD students for working with the authors and giving feedback on the process. Thanks also to Fiona Crawford from the Editorial Collective for her sterling editorial advice.
Citation
Massaro, M., Dumay, J. and Guthrie, J. (2016), "On the shoulders of giants: undertaking a structured literature review in accounting", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 29 No. 5, pp. 767-801. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-01-2015-1939
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited