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Qualitative research: literature review .

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Exploring the literature review 

Literature review model: 6 steps.

literature review process

Adapted from The Literature Review , Machi & McEvoy (2009, p. 13).

Your Literature Review

Step 2: search, boolean search strategies, search limiters, ★ ebsco & google drive.

Right arrow

1. Select a Topic

"All research begins with curiosity" (Machi & McEvoy, 2009, p. 14)

Selection of a topic, and fully defined research interest and question, is supervised (and approved) by your professor. Tips for crafting your topic include:

  • Be specific. Take time to define your interest.
  • Topic Focus. Fully describe and sufficiently narrow the focus for research.
  • Academic Discipline. Learn more about your area of research & refine the scope.
  • Avoid Bias. Be aware of bias that you (as a researcher) may have.
  • Document your research. Use Google Docs to track your research process.
  • Research apps. Consider using Evernote or Zotero to track your research.

Consider Purpose

What will your topic and research address?

In The Literature Review: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students , Ridley presents that literature reviews serve several purposes (2008, p. 16-17).  Included are the following points:

  • Historical background for the research;
  • Overview of current field provided by "contemporary debates, issues, and questions;"
  • Theories and concepts related to your research;
  • Introduce "relevant terminology" - or academic language - being used it the field;
  • Connect to existing research - does your work "extend or challenge [this] or address a gap;" 
  • Provide "supporting evidence for a practical problem or issue" that your research addresses.

★ Schedule a research appointment

At this point in your literature review, take time to meet with a librarian. Why? Understanding the subject terminology used in databases can be challenging. Archer Librarians can help you structure a search, preparing you for step two. How? Contact a librarian directly or use the online form to schedule an appointment. Details are provided in the adjacent Schedule an Appointment box.

2. Search the Literature

Collect & Select Data: Preview, select, and organize

AU Library is your go-to resource for this step in your literature review process. The literature search will include books and ebooks, scholarly and practitioner journals, theses and dissertations, and indexes. You may also choose to include web sites, blogs, open access resources, and newspapers. This library guide provides access to resources needed to complete a literature review.

Books & eBooks: Archer Library & OhioLINK

Databases: scholarly & practitioner journals.

Review the Library Databases tab on this library guide, it provides links to recommended databases for Education & Psychology, Business, and General & Social Sciences.

Expand your journal search; a complete listing of available AU Library and OhioLINK databases is available on the Databases  A to Z list . Search the database by subject, type, name, or do use the search box for a general title search. The A to Z list also includes open access resources and select internet sites.

Databases: Theses & Dissertations

Review the Library Databases tab on this guide, it includes Theses & Dissertation resources. AU library also has AU student authored theses and dissertations available in print, search the library catalog for these titles.

Did you know? If you are looking for particular chapters within a dissertation that is not fully available online, it is possible to submit an ILL article request . Do this instead of requesting the entire dissertation.

Newspapers:  Databases & Internet

Consider current literature in your academic field. AU Library's database collection includes The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Wall Street Journal .  The Internet Resources tab in this guide provides links to newspapers and online journals such as Inside Higher Ed , COABE Journal , and Education Week .

Database

Search Strategies & Boolean Operators

There are three basic boolean operators:  AND, OR, and NOT.

Used with your search terms, boolean operators will either expand or limit results. What purpose do they serve? They help to define the relationship between your search terms. For example, using the operator AND will combine the terms expanding the search. When searching some databases, and Google, the operator AND may be implied.

Overview of boolean terms

About the example: Boolean searches were conducted on November 4, 2019; result numbers may vary at a later date. No additional database limiters were set to further narrow search returns.

Database Search Limiters

Database strategies for targeted search results.

Most databases include limiters, or additional parameters, you may use to strategically focus search results.  EBSCO databases, such as Education Research Complete & Academic Search Complete provide options to:

  • Limit results to full text;
  • Limit results to scholarly journals, and reference available;
  • Select results source type to journals, magazines, conference papers, reviews, and newspapers
  • Publication date

Keep in mind that these tools are defined as limiters for a reason; adding them to a search will limit the number of results returned.  This can be a double-edged sword.  How? 

  • If limiting results to full-text only, you may miss an important piece of research that could change the direction of your research. Interlibrary loan is available to students, free of charge. Request articles that are not available in full-text; they will be sent to you via email.
  • If narrowing publication date, you may eliminate significant historical - or recent - research conducted on your topic.
  • Limiting resource type to a specific type of material may cause bias in the research results.

Use limiters with care. When starting a search, consider opting out of limiters until the initial literature screening is complete. The second or third time through your research may be the ideal time to focus on specific time periods or material (scholarly vs newspaper).

★ Truncating Search Terms

Expanding your search term at the root.

Truncating is often referred to as 'wildcard' searching. Databases may have their own specific wildcard elements however, the most commonly used are the asterisk (*) or question mark (?).  When used within your search. they will expand returned results.

Asterisk (*) Wildcard

Using the asterisk wildcard will return varied spellings of the truncated word. In the following example, the search term education was truncated after the letter "t."

Explore these database help pages for additional information on crafting search terms.

  • EBSCO Connect: Searching with Wildcards and Truncation Symbols
  • EBSCO Connect: Searching with Boolean Operators
  • EBSCO Connect: EBSCOhost Search Tips
  • EBSCO Connect: Basic Searching with EBSCO
  • ProQuest Help: Search Tips
  • ERIC: How does ERIC search work?

★ EBSCO Databases & Google Drive

Tips for saving research directly to Google drive.

Researching in an EBSCO database?

It is possible to save articles (PDF and HTML) and abstracts in EBSCOhost databases directly to Google drive. Select the Google Drive icon, authenticate using a Google account, and an EBSCO folder will be created in your account. This is a great option for managing your research. If documenting your research in a Google Doc, consider linking the information to actual articles saved in drive.

EBSCO Databases & Google Drive

EBSCOHost Databases & Google Drive: Managing your Research

This video features an overview of how to use Google Drive with EBSCO databases to help manage your research. It presents information for connecting an active Google account to EBSCO and steps needed to provide permission for EBSCO to manage a folder in Drive.

About the Video:  Closed captioning is available, select CC from the video menu.  If you need to review a specific area on the video, view on YouTube and expand the video description for access to topic time stamps.  A video transcript is provided below.

  • EBSCOhost Databases & Google Scholar

Defining Literature Review

What is a literature review.

A definition from the Online Dictionary for Library and Information Sciences .

A literature review is "a comprehensive survey of the works published in a particular field of study or line of research, usually over a specific period of time, in the form of an in-depth, critical bibliographic essay or annotated list in which attention is drawn to the most significant works" (Reitz, 2014). 

A systemic review is "a literature review focused on a specific research question, which uses explicit methods to minimize bias in the identification, appraisal, selection, and synthesis of all the high-quality evidence pertinent to the question" (Reitz, 2014).

Recommended Reading

Cover Art

About this page

EBSCO Connect [Discovery and Search]. (2022). Searching with boolean operators. Retrieved May, 3, 2022 from https://connect.ebsco.com/s/?language=en_US

EBSCO Connect [Discover and Search]. (2022). Searching with wildcards and truncation symbols. Retrieved May 3, 2022; https://connect.ebsco.com/s/?language=en_US

Machi, L.A. & McEvoy, B.T. (2009). The literature review . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press: 

Reitz, J.M. (2014). Online dictionary for library and information science. ABC-CLIO, Libraries Unlimited . Retrieved from https://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_A.aspx

Ridley, D. (2008). The literature review: A step-by-step guide for students . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

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  • How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

Published on January 2, 2023 by Shona McCombes . Revised on September 11, 2023.

What is a literature review? A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant theories, methods, and gaps in the existing research that you can later apply to your paper, thesis, or dissertation topic .

There are five key steps to writing a literature review:

  • Search for relevant literature
  • Evaluate sources
  • Identify themes, debates, and gaps
  • Outline the structure
  • Write your literature review

A good literature review doesn’t just summarize sources—it analyzes, synthesizes , and critically evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the subject.

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Table of contents

What is the purpose of a literature review, examples of literature reviews, step 1 – search for relevant literature, step 2 – evaluate and select sources, step 3 – identify themes, debates, and gaps, step 4 – outline your literature review’s structure, step 5 – write your literature review, free lecture slides, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions, introduction.

  • Quick Run-through
  • Step 1 & 2

When you write a thesis , dissertation , or research paper , you will likely have to conduct a literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge. The literature review gives you a chance to:

  • Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and its scholarly context
  • Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research
  • Position your work in relation to other researchers and theorists
  • Show how your research addresses a gap or contributes to a debate
  • Evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate your knowledge of the scholarly debates around your topic.

Writing literature reviews is a particularly important skill if you want to apply for graduate school or pursue a career in research. We’ve written a step-by-step guide that you can follow below.

Literature review guide

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the review of literature in qualitative research is

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Writing literature reviews can be quite challenging! A good starting point could be to look at some examples, depending on what kind of literature review you’d like to write.

  • Example literature review #1: “Why Do People Migrate? A Review of the Theoretical Literature” ( Theoretical literature review about the development of economic migration theory from the 1950s to today.)
  • Example literature review #2: “Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines” ( Methodological literature review about interdisciplinary knowledge acquisition and production.)
  • Example literature review #3: “The Use of Technology in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Thematic literature review about the effects of technology on language acquisition.)
  • Example literature review #4: “Learners’ Listening Comprehension Difficulties in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Chronological literature review about how the concept of listening skills has changed over time.)

You can also check out our templates with literature review examples and sample outlines at the links below.

Download Word doc Download Google doc

Before you begin searching for literature, you need a clearly defined topic .

If you are writing the literature review section of a dissertation or research paper, you will search for literature related to your research problem and questions .

Make a list of keywords

Start by creating a list of keywords related to your research question. Include each of the key concepts or variables you’re interested in, and list any synonyms and related terms. You can add to this list as you discover new keywords in the process of your literature search.

  • Social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok
  • Body image, self-perception, self-esteem, mental health
  • Generation Z, teenagers, adolescents, youth

Search for relevant sources

Use your keywords to begin searching for sources. Some useful databases to search for journals and articles include:

  • Your university’s library catalogue
  • Google Scholar
  • Project Muse (humanities and social sciences)
  • Medline (life sciences and biomedicine)
  • EconLit (economics)
  • Inspec (physics, engineering and computer science)

You can also use boolean operators to help narrow down your search.

Make sure to read the abstract to find out whether an article is relevant to your question. When you find a useful book or article, you can check the bibliography to find other relevant sources.

You likely won’t be able to read absolutely everything that has been written on your topic, so it will be necessary to evaluate which sources are most relevant to your research question.

For each publication, ask yourself:

  • What question or problem is the author addressing?
  • What are the key concepts and how are they defined?
  • What are the key theories, models, and methods?
  • Does the research use established frameworks or take an innovative approach?
  • What are the results and conclusions of the study?
  • How does the publication relate to other literature in the field? Does it confirm, add to, or challenge established knowledge?
  • What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research?

Make sure the sources you use are credible , and make sure you read any landmark studies and major theories in your field of research.

You can use our template to summarize and evaluate sources you’re thinking about using. Click on either button below to download.

Take notes and cite your sources

As you read, you should also begin the writing process. Take notes that you can later incorporate into the text of your literature review.

It is important to keep track of your sources with citations to avoid plagiarism . It can be helpful to make an annotated bibliography , where you compile full citation information and write a paragraph of summary and analysis for each source. This helps you remember what you read and saves time later in the process.

To begin organizing your literature review’s argument and structure, be sure you understand the connections and relationships between the sources you’ve read. Based on your reading and notes, you can look for:

  • Trends and patterns (in theory, method or results): do certain approaches become more or less popular over time?
  • Themes: what questions or concepts recur across the literature?
  • Debates, conflicts and contradictions: where do sources disagree?
  • Pivotal publications: are there any influential theories or studies that changed the direction of the field?
  • Gaps: what is missing from the literature? Are there weaknesses that need to be addressed?

This step will help you work out the structure of your literature review and (if applicable) show how your own research will contribute to existing knowledge.

  • Most research has focused on young women.
  • There is an increasing interest in the visual aspects of social media.
  • But there is still a lack of robust research on highly visual platforms like Instagram and Snapchat—this is a gap that you could address in your own research.

There are various approaches to organizing the body of a literature review. Depending on the length of your literature review, you can combine several of these strategies (for example, your overall structure might be thematic, but each theme is discussed chronologically).

Chronological

The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time. However, if you choose this strategy, be careful to avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order.

Try to analyze patterns, turning points and key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred.

If you have found some recurring central themes, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address different aspects of the topic.

For example, if you are reviewing literature about inequalities in migrant health outcomes, key themes might include healthcare policy, language barriers, cultural attitudes, legal status, and economic access.

Methodological

If you draw your sources from different disciplines or fields that use a variety of research methods , you might want to compare the results and conclusions that emerge from different approaches. For example:

  • Look at what results have emerged in qualitative versus quantitative research
  • Discuss how the topic has been approached by empirical versus theoretical scholarship
  • Divide the literature into sociological, historical, and cultural sources

Theoretical

A literature review is often the foundation for a theoretical framework . You can use it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts.

You might argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach, or combine various theoretical concepts to create a framework for your research.

Like any other academic text , your literature review should have an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion . What you include in each depends on the objective of your literature review.

The introduction should clearly establish the focus and purpose of the literature review.

Depending on the length of your literature review, you might want to divide the body into subsections. You can use a subheading for each theme, time period, or methodological approach.

As you write, you can follow these tips:

  • Summarize and synthesize: give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent whole
  • Analyze and interpret: don’t just paraphrase other researchers — add your own interpretations where possible, discussing the significance of findings in relation to the literature as a whole
  • Critically evaluate: mention the strengths and weaknesses of your sources
  • Write in well-structured paragraphs: use transition words and topic sentences to draw connections, comparisons and contrasts

In the conclusion, you should summarize the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasize their significance.

When you’ve finished writing and revising your literature review, don’t forget to proofread thoroughly before submitting. Not a language expert? Check out Scribbr’s professional proofreading services !

This article has been adapted into lecture slides that you can use to teach your students about writing a literature review.

Scribbr slides are free to use, customize, and distribute for educational purposes.

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If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

  • Sampling methods
  • Simple random sampling
  • Stratified sampling
  • Cluster sampling
  • Likert scales
  • Reproducibility

 Statistics

  • Null hypothesis
  • Statistical power
  • Probability distribution
  • Effect size
  • Poisson distribution

Research bias

  • Optimism bias
  • Cognitive bias
  • Implicit bias
  • Hawthorne effect
  • Anchoring bias
  • Explicit bias

A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question .

It is often written as part of a thesis, dissertation , or research paper , in order to situate your work in relation to existing knowledge.

There are several reasons to conduct a literature review at the beginning of a research project:

  • To familiarize yourself with the current state of knowledge on your topic
  • To ensure that you’re not just repeating what others have already done
  • To identify gaps in knowledge and unresolved problems that your research can address
  • To develop your theoretical framework and methodology
  • To provide an overview of the key findings and debates on the topic

Writing the literature review shows your reader how your work relates to existing research and what new insights it will contribute.

The literature review usually comes near the beginning of your thesis or dissertation . After the introduction , it grounds your research in a scholarly field and leads directly to your theoretical framework or methodology .

A literature review is a survey of credible sources on a topic, often used in dissertations , theses, and research papers . Literature reviews give an overview of knowledge on a subject, helping you identify relevant theories and methods, as well as gaps in existing research. Literature reviews are set up similarly to other  academic texts , with an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion .

An  annotated bibliography is a list of  source references that has a short description (called an annotation ) for each of the sources. It is often assigned as part of the research process for a  paper .  

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Writing a Literature Review

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A literature review is a document or section of a document that collects key sources on a topic and discusses those sources in conversation with each other (also called synthesis ). The lit review is an important genre in many disciplines, not just literature (i.e., the study of works of literature such as novels and plays). When we say “literature review” or refer to “the literature,” we are talking about the research ( scholarship ) in a given field. You will often see the terms “the research,” “the scholarship,” and “the literature” used mostly interchangeably.

Where, when, and why would I write a lit review?

There are a number of different situations where you might write a literature review, each with slightly different expectations; different disciplines, too, have field-specific expectations for what a literature review is and does. For instance, in the humanities, authors might include more overt argumentation and interpretation of source material in their literature reviews, whereas in the sciences, authors are more likely to report study designs and results in their literature reviews; these differences reflect these disciplines’ purposes and conventions in scholarship. You should always look at examples from your own discipline and talk to professors or mentors in your field to be sure you understand your discipline’s conventions, for literature reviews as well as for any other genre.

A literature review can be a part of a research paper or scholarly article, usually falling after the introduction and before the research methods sections. In these cases, the lit review just needs to cover scholarship that is important to the issue you are writing about; sometimes it will also cover key sources that informed your research methodology.

Lit reviews can also be standalone pieces, either as assignments in a class or as publications. In a class, a lit review may be assigned to help students familiarize themselves with a topic and with scholarship in their field, get an idea of the other researchers working on the topic they’re interested in, find gaps in existing research in order to propose new projects, and/or develop a theoretical framework and methodology for later research. As a publication, a lit review usually is meant to help make other scholars’ lives easier by collecting and summarizing, synthesizing, and analyzing existing research on a topic. This can be especially helpful for students or scholars getting into a new research area, or for directing an entire community of scholars toward questions that have not yet been answered.

What are the parts of a lit review?

Most lit reviews use a basic introduction-body-conclusion structure; if your lit review is part of a larger paper, the introduction and conclusion pieces may be just a few sentences while you focus most of your attention on the body. If your lit review is a standalone piece, the introduction and conclusion take up more space and give you a place to discuss your goals, research methods, and conclusions separately from where you discuss the literature itself.

Introduction:

  • An introductory paragraph that explains what your working topic and thesis is
  • A forecast of key topics or texts that will appear in the review
  • Potentially, a description of how you found sources and how you analyzed them for inclusion and discussion in the review (more often found in published, standalone literature reviews than in lit review sections in an article or research paper)
  • Summarize and synthesize: Give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent whole
  • Analyze and interpret: Don’t just paraphrase other researchers – add your own interpretations where possible, discussing the significance of findings in relation to the literature as a whole
  • Critically Evaluate: Mention the strengths and weaknesses of your sources
  • Write in well-structured paragraphs: Use transition words and topic sentence to draw connections, comparisons, and contrasts.

Conclusion:

  • Summarize the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasize their significance
  • Connect it back to your primary research question

How should I organize my lit review?

Lit reviews can take many different organizational patterns depending on what you are trying to accomplish with the review. Here are some examples:

  • Chronological : The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time, which helps familiarize the audience with the topic (for instance if you are introducing something that is not commonly known in your field). If you choose this strategy, be careful to avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order. Try to analyze the patterns, turning points, and key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred (as mentioned previously, this may not be appropriate in your discipline — check with a teacher or mentor if you’re unsure).
  • Thematic : If you have found some recurring central themes that you will continue working with throughout your piece, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address different aspects of the topic. For example, if you are reviewing literature about women and religion, key themes can include the role of women in churches and the religious attitude towards women.
  • Qualitative versus quantitative research
  • Empirical versus theoretical scholarship
  • Divide the research by sociological, historical, or cultural sources
  • Theoretical : In many humanities articles, the literature review is the foundation for the theoretical framework. You can use it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts. You can argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach or combine various theorical concepts to create a framework for your research.

What are some strategies or tips I can use while writing my lit review?

Any lit review is only as good as the research it discusses; make sure your sources are well-chosen and your research is thorough. Don’t be afraid to do more research if you discover a new thread as you’re writing. More info on the research process is available in our "Conducting Research" resources .

As you’re doing your research, create an annotated bibliography ( see our page on the this type of document ). Much of the information used in an annotated bibliography can be used also in a literature review, so you’ll be not only partially drafting your lit review as you research, but also developing your sense of the larger conversation going on among scholars, professionals, and any other stakeholders in your topic.

Usually you will need to synthesize research rather than just summarizing it. This means drawing connections between sources to create a picture of the scholarly conversation on a topic over time. Many student writers struggle to synthesize because they feel they don’t have anything to add to the scholars they are citing; here are some strategies to help you:

  • It often helps to remember that the point of these kinds of syntheses is to show your readers how you understand your research, to help them read the rest of your paper.
  • Writing teachers often say synthesis is like hosting a dinner party: imagine all your sources are together in a room, discussing your topic. What are they saying to each other?
  • Look at the in-text citations in each paragraph. Are you citing just one source for each paragraph? This usually indicates summary only. When you have multiple sources cited in a paragraph, you are more likely to be synthesizing them (not always, but often
  • Read more about synthesis here.

The most interesting literature reviews are often written as arguments (again, as mentioned at the beginning of the page, this is discipline-specific and doesn’t work for all situations). Often, the literature review is where you can establish your research as filling a particular gap or as relevant in a particular way. You have some chance to do this in your introduction in an article, but the literature review section gives a more extended opportunity to establish the conversation in the way you would like your readers to see it. You can choose the intellectual lineage you would like to be part of and whose definitions matter most to your thinking (mostly humanities-specific, but this goes for sciences as well). In addressing these points, you argue for your place in the conversation, which tends to make the lit review more compelling than a simple reporting of other sources.

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Literature Reviews

  • Getting started

What is a literature review?

Why conduct a literature review, stages of a literature review, lit reviews: an overview (video), check out these books.

  • Types of reviews
  • 1. Define your research question
  • 2. Plan your search
  • 3. Search the literature
  • 4. Organize your results
  • 5. Synthesize your findings
  • 6. Write the review
  • Thompson Writing Studio This link opens in a new window
  • Need to write a systematic review? This link opens in a new window

the review of literature in qualitative research is

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the review of literature in qualitative research is

Definition: A literature review is a systematic examination and synthesis of existing scholarly research on a specific topic or subject.

Purpose: It serves to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge within a particular field.

Analysis: Involves critically evaluating and summarizing key findings, methodologies, and debates found in academic literature.

Identifying Gaps: Aims to pinpoint areas where there is a lack of research or unresolved questions, highlighting opportunities for further investigation.

Contextualization: Enables researchers to understand how their work fits into the broader academic conversation and contributes to the existing body of knowledge.

the review of literature in qualitative research is

tl;dr  A literature review critically examines and synthesizes existing scholarly research and publications on a specific topic to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current state of knowledge in the field.

What is a literature review NOT?

❌ An annotated bibliography

❌ Original research

❌ A summary

❌ Something to be conducted at the end of your research

❌ An opinion piece

❌ A chronological compilation of studies

The reason for conducting a literature review is to:

the review of literature in qualitative research is

Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate Students

While this 9-minute video from NCSU is geared toward graduate students, it is useful for anyone conducting a literature review.

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Writing the literature review: A practical guide

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Systematic approaches to a successful literature review

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Doing a systematic review: A student's guide

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Qualitative Research

Literature Review

Literature review is important because it:

  • Provides ideas about what should be studied;
  • Helps us conduct inquires that have not already been done
  • Connects our research to existing studies

But…doing a literature review is not simply summarizing (or copying) what you think is related and useful to your work. BEING CRITICAL AND CAREFUL IS A MUST !

In reviewing existing literature, you may try to look for gaps in the field and rework your study in a different setting or with different people. Nonetheless, literature review is a continuous sense-making process -- you need to review the literature continuously in order to organize your thoughts and refine your analysis.

A good literature review should be able to:  

  • Connect to your research questions
  • Connect to your choice of methods and research design
  • Support your data analysis
  • Help you draw conclusions and make claims about your research.

Selecting your literature with a purpose

It is impossible to read everything, so when selecting literature  for reviewing, consider these:

  • Is it relevant to your topic/field of study?
  • Is it a primary source from the researcher(s) or secondary source (e.g. a summary you read in a book about someone’s research)?
  • Is it updated?

Nature of literatures:

Your literature review can be of different dimensions. Each has its foci and purposes

the review of literature in qualitative research is

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  • Rapid reviews methods series: guidance on rapid qualitative evidence synthesis
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  • http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4808-3880 Andrew Booth 1 , 2 ,
  • Isolde Sommer 3 , 4 ,
  • Jane Noyes 2 , 5 ,
  • Catherine Houghton 2 , 6 ,
  • Fiona Campbell 1 , 7
  • The Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group and Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group (CQIMG)
  • 1 EnSyGN Sheffield Evidence Synthesis Group , University of Sheffield , Sheffield , UK
  • 2 Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group (CQIMG) , London , UK
  • 3 Department for Evidence-based Medicine and Evaluation , University for Continuing Education Krems , Krems , Austria
  • 4 Cochrane Rapid Reviews Group & Cochrane Austria , Krems , Austria
  • 5 Bangor University , Bangor , UK
  • 6 University of Galway , Galway , Ireland
  • 7 University of Newcastle upon Tyne , Newcastle upon Tyne , UK
  • Correspondence to Professor Andrew Booth, Univ Sheffield, Sheffield, UK; a.booth{at}sheffield.ac.uk

This paper forms part of a series of methodological guidance from the Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group and addresses rapid qualitative evidence syntheses (QESs), which use modified systematic, transparent and reproducible methodsu to accelerate the synthesis of qualitative evidence when faced with resource constraints. This guidance covers the review process as it relates to synthesis of qualitative research. ‘Rapid’ or ‘resource-constrained’ QES require use of templates and targeted knowledge user involvement. Clear definition of perspectives and decisions on indirect evidence, sampling and use of existing QES help in targeting eligibility criteria. Involvement of an information specialist, especially in prioritising databases, targeting grey literature and planning supplemental searches, can prove invaluable. Use of templates and frameworks in study selection and data extraction can be accompanied by quality assurance procedures targeting areas of likely weakness. Current Cochrane guidance informs selection of tools for quality assessment and of synthesis method. Thematic and framework synthesis facilitate efficient synthesis of large numbers of studies or plentiful data. Finally, judicious use of Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach for assessing the Confidence of Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research assessments and of software as appropriate help to achieve a timely and useful review product.

  • Systematic Reviews as Topic
  • Patient Care

Data availability statement

No data are available. Not applicable. All data is from published articles.

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ .

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjebm-2023-112620

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WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ON THIS TOPIC

Rapid Qualitative Evidence Synthesis (QES) is a relatively recent innovation in evidence synthesis and few published examples currently exists.

Guidance for authoring a rapid QES is scattered and requires compilation and summary.

WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS

This paper represents the first attempt to compile current guidance, illustrated by the experience of several international review teams.

We identify features of rapid QES methods that could be accelerated or abbreviated and where methods resemble those for conventional QESs.

HOW THIS STUDY MIGHT AFFECT RESEARCH, PRACTICE OR POLICY

This paper offers guidance for researchers when conducting a rapid QES and informs commissioners of research and policy-makers what to expect when commissioning such a review.

Introduction

This paper forms part of a series from the Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group providing methodological guidance for rapid reviews. While other papers in the series 1–4 focus on generic considerations, we aim to provide in-depth recommendations specific to a resource-constrained (or rapid) qualitative evidence synthesis (rQES). 5 This paper is accompanied by recommended resources ( online supplemental appendix A ) and an elaboration with practical considerations ( online supplemental appendix B ).

Supplemental material

The role of qualitative evidence in decision-making is increasingly recognised. 6 This, in turn, has led to appreciation of the value of qualitative evidence syntheses (QESs) that summarise findings across multiple contexts. 7 Recognition of the need for such syntheses to be available at the time most useful to decision-making has, in turn, driven demand for rapid qualitative evidence syntheses. 8 The breadth of potential rQES mirrors the versatility of QES in general (from focused questions to broad overviews) and outputs range from descriptive thematic maps through to theory-informed syntheses (see table 1 ).

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Glossary of important terms (alphabetically)

As with other resource-constrained reviews, no one size fits all. A team should start by specifying the phenomenon of interest, the review question, 9 the perspectives to be included 9 and the sample to be determined and selected. 10 Subsequently, the team must finalise the appropriate choice of synthesis. 11 Above all, the review team should consider the intended knowledge users, 3 including requirements of the funder.

An rQES team, in particular, cannot afford any extra time or resource requirements that might arise from either a misunderstanding of the review question, an unclear picture of user requirements or an inappropriate choice of methods. The team seeks to align the review question and the requirements of the knowledge user with available time and resources. They also need to ensure that the choice of data and choice of synthesis are appropriate to the intended ‘knowledge claims’ (epistemology) made by the rQES. 11 This involves the team asking ‘what types of data are meaningful for this review question?’, ‘what types of data are trustworthy?’ and ‘is the favoured synthesis method appropriate for this type of data?’. 12 This paper aims to help rQES teams to choose methods that best fit their project while understanding the limitations of those choices. Our recommendations derive from current QES guidance, 5 evidence on modified QES methods, 8 13 and practical experience. 14 15

This paper presents an overview of considerations and recommendations as described in table 2 . Supplemental materials including additional resources details of our recommendations and practical examples are provided in online supplemental appendices A and B .

Recommendations for resource-constrained qualitative evidence synthesis (rQES)

Setting the review question and topic refinement

Rapid reviews summarise information from multiple research studies to produce evidence for ‘the public, researchers, policymakers and funders in a systematic, resource-efficient manner’. 16 Involvement of knowledge users is critical. 3 Given time constraints, individual knowledge users could be asked only to feedback on very specific decisions and tasks or on selective sections of the protocol. Specifically, whenever a QES is abbreviated or accelerated, a team should ensure that the review question is agreed by a minimum number of knowledge users with expertise or experience that reflects all the important review perspectives and with authority to approve the final version 2 5 11 ( table 2 , item R1).

Involvement of topic experts can ensure that the rQES is responsive to need. 14 17 One Cochrane rQES saved considerable time by agreeing the review topic within a single meeting and one-phase iteration. 9 Decisions on topics to be omitted are also informed by a knowledge of existing QESs. 17

An information specialist can help to manage the quantity and quality of available evidence by setting conceptual boundaries and logistic limits. A structured question format, such as Setting-Perspective-Interest, phenomenon of-Comparison-Evaluation or Population-Interest, phenomenon of-Context helps in communicating the scope and, subsequently, in operationalising study selection. 9 18

Scoping (of review parameters) and mapping (of key types of evidence and likely richness of data) helps when planning the review. 5 19 The option to choose purposive sampling over comprehensive sampling approaches, as offered by standard QES, may be particularly helpful in the context of a rapid QES. 8 Once a team knows the approximate number and distribution of studies, perhaps mapping them against country, age, ethnicity, etc), they can decide whether or not to use purposive sampling. 12 An rQES for the WHO combined purposive with variation sampling. Sampling in two stages started by reducing the initial number of studies to a more manageable sampling frame and then sampling approximately a third of the remaining studies from within the sampling frame. 20

Sampling may target richer studies and/or privilege diversity. 8 21 A rich qualitative study typically illustrates findings with verbatim extracts from transcripts from interviews or textual responses from questionnaires. Rich studies are often found in specialist qualitative research or social science journals. In contrast, less rich studies may itemise themes with an occasional indicative text extract and tend to summarise findings. In clinical or biomedical journals less rich findings may be placed within a single table or box.

No rule exists on an optimal number of studies; too many studies makes it challenging to ‘maintain insight’, 22 too few does not sustain rigorous analysis. 23 Guidance on sampling is available from the forthcoming Cochrane-Campbell QES Handbook.

A review team can use templates to fast-track writing of a protocol. The protocol should always be publicly available ( table 2 , item R2). 24 25 Formal registration may require that the team has not commenced data extraction but should be considered if it does not compromise the rQES timeframe. Time pressures may require that methods are left suitably flexible to allow well-justified changes to be made as a detailed picture of the studies and data emerge. 26 The first Cochrane rQES drew heavily on text from a joint protocol/review template previously produced within Cochrane. 24

Setting eligibility criteria

An rQES team may need to limit the number of perspectives, focusing on those most important for decision-making 5 9 27 ( table 2 , item R3). Beyond the patients/clients each additional perspective (eg, family members, health professionals, other professionals, etc) multiplies the additional effort involved.

A rapid QES may require strict date and setting restrictions 17 and language restrictions that accommodate the specific requirements of the review. Specifically, the team should consider whether changes in context over time or substantive differences between geographical regions could be used to justify a narrower date range or a limited coverage of countries and/or languages. The team should also decide if ‘indirect evidence’ is to substitute for the absence of direct evidence. An rQES typically focuses on direct evidence, except when only indirect evidence is available 28 ( table 2 , item R4). Decisions on relevance are challenging—precautions for swine influenza may inform precautions for bird influenza. 28 A smoking ban may operate similarly to seat belt legislation, etc. A review team should identify where such shared mechanisms might operate. 28 An rQES team must also decide whether to use frameworks or models to focus the review. Theories may be unearthed within the topic search or be already known to team members, fro example, Theory of Planned Behaviour. 29

Options for managing the quantity and quality of studies and data emerge during the scoping (see above). In summary, the review team should consider privileging rich qualitative studies 2 ; consider a stepwise approach to inclusion of qualitative data and explore the possibility of sampling ( table 2 , item R5). For example, where data is plentiful an rQES may be limited to qualitative research and/or to mixed methods studies. Where data is less plentiful then surveys or other qualitative data sources may need to be included. Where plentiful reviews already exist, a team may decide to conduct a review of reviews 5 by including multiple QES within a mega-synthesis 28 29 ( table 2 , item R6).

Searching for QES merits its own guidance, 21–23 30 this section reinforces important considerations from guidance specific to qualitative research. Generic guidance for rapid reviews in this series broadly applies to rapid QESs. 1

In addition to journal articles, by far the most plentiful source, qualitative research is found in book chapters, theses and in published and unpublished reports. 21 Searches to support an rQES can (a) limit the number of databases searched, deliberately selecting databases from diverse disciplines, (b) use abbreviated study filters to retrieve qualitative designs and (c) employ high yield complementary methods (eg, reference checking, citation searching and Related Articles features). An information specialist (eg, librarian) should be involved in prioritising sources and search methods ( table 2 , item R7). 11 14

According to empirical evidence optimal database combinations include Scopus plus CINAHL or Scopus plus ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global (two-database combinations) and Scopus plus CINAHL plus ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global (three-database combination) with both choices retrieving between 89% and 92% of relevant studies. 30

If resources allow, searches should include one or two specialised databases ( table 2 , item R8) from different disciplines or contexts 21 (eg, social science databases, specialist discipline databases or regional or institutional repositories). Even when resources are limited, the information specialist should factor in time for peer review of at least one search strategy ( table 2 , item R9). 31 Searches for ‘grey literature’ should selectively target appropriate types of grey literature (such as theses or process evaluations) and supplemental searches, including citation chaining or Related Articles features ( table 2 , item R10). 32 The first Cochrane rQES reported that searching reference lists of key papers yielded an extra 30 candidate papers for review. However, the team documented exclusion of grey literature as a limitation of their review. 15

Study selection

Consistency in study selection is achieved by using templates, by gaining a shared team understanding of the audience and purpose, and by ongoing communication within, and beyond, the team. 2 33 Individuals may work in parallel on the same task, as in the first Cochrane rQES, or follow a ‘segmented’ approach where each reviewer is allocated a different task. 14 The use of machine learning in the specific context of rQES remains experimental. However, the possibility of developing qualitative study classifiers comparable to those for randomised controlled trials offers an achievable aspiration. 34

Title and abstract screening

The entire screening team should use pre-prepared, pretested title and abstract templates to limit the scale of piloting, calibration and testing ( table 2 , item R11). 1 14 The first Cochrane rQES team double-screened titles and abstracts within Covidence review software. 14 Disagreements were resolved with reference to a third reviewer achieving a shared understanding of the eligibility criteria and enhancing familiarity with target studies and insight from data. 14 The team should target and prioritise identified risks of either over-zealous inclusion or over-exclusion specific to each rQES ( table 2 , item R12). 14 The team should maximise opportunities to capture divergent views and perspectives within study findings. 35

Full-text screening

Full-text screening similarly benefits from using a pre-prepared pretested standardised template where possible 1 14 ( table 2 , item R11). If a single reviewer undertakes full-text screening, 8 the team should identify likely risks to trustworthiness of findings and focus quality control procedures (eg, use of additional reviewers and percentages for double screening) on specific threats 14 ( table 2 , item R13). The Cochrane rQES team opted for double screening to assist their immersion within the topic. 14

Data extraction

Data extraction of descriptive/contextual data may be facilitated by review management software (eg, EPPI-Reviewer) or home-made approaches using Google Forms, or other survey software. 36 Where extraction of qualitative findings requires line-by-line coding with multiple iterations of the data then a qualitative data management analysis package, such as QSR NVivo, reaps dividends. 36 The team must decide if, collectively, they favour extracting data to a template or coding direct within an electronic version of an article.

Quality control must be fit for purpose but not excessive. Published examples typically use a single reviewer for data extraction 8 with use of two independent reviewers being the exception. The team could limit data extraction to minimal essential items. They may also consider re-using descriptive details and findings previously extracted within previous well-conducted QES ( table 2 , item R14). A pre-existing framework, where readily identified, may help to structure the data extraction template. 15 37 The same framework may be used to present the findings. Some organisations may specify a preferred framework, such as an evidence-to-decision-making framework. 38

Assessment of methodological limitations

The QES community assess ‘methodological limitations’ rather than use ‘risk of bias’ terminology. An rQES team should pick an approach appropriate to their specific review. For example, a thematic map may not require assessment of individual studies—a brief statement of the generic limitations of the set of studies may be sufficient. However, for any synthesis that underpins practice recommendations 39 assessment of included studies is integral to the credibility of findings. In any decision-making context that involves recommendations or guidelines, an assessment of methodological limitations is mandatory. 40 41

Each review team should work with knowledge users to determine a review-specific approach to quality assessment. 27 While ‘traffic lights’, similar to the outputs from the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool, may facilitate rapid interpretation, accompanying textual notes are invaluable in highlighting specific areas for concern. In particular, the rQES team should demonstrate that they are aware (a) that research designs for qualitative research seek to elicit divergent views, rather than control for variation; (b) that, for qualitative research, the selection of the sample is far more informative than the size of the sample; and (c) that researchers from primary research, and equally reviewers for the qualitative synthesis, need to be thoughtful and reflexive about their possible influences on interpretation of either the primary data or the synthesised findings.

Selection of checklist

Numerous scales and checklists exist for assessing the quality of qualitative studies. In the absence of validated risk of bias tools for qualitative studies, the team should choose a tool according to Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group (CQIMG) guidance together with expediency (according to ease of use, prior familiarity, etc) ( table 2 , item R15). 41 In comparison to the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist which was never designed for use in synthesis, 42 the Cochrane qualitative tool is similarly easy to use and was designed for QES use. Work is underway to identify an assessment process that is compatible with QESs that support decision-making. 41 For now the choice of a checklist remains determined by interim Cochrane guidance and, beyond this, by personal preference and experience. For an rQES a team could use a single reviewer to assess methodological limitations, with verification of judgements (and support statements) by a second reviewer ( table 2 , item R16).

The CQIMG endorses three types of synthesis; thematic synthesis, framework synthesis and meta-ethnography ( box 1 ). 43 44 Rapid QES favour descriptive thematic synthesis 45 or framework synthesis, 46 47 except when theory generation (meta-ethnography 48 49 or analytical thematic synthesis) is a priority ( table 2 , item R17).

Choosing a method for rapid qualitative synthesis

Thematic synthesis: first choice method for rQES. 45 For example, in their rapid QES Crooks and colleagues 44 used a thematic synthesis to understand the experiences of both academic and lived experience coresearchers within palliative and end of life research. 45

Framework synthesis: alternative where a suitable framework can be speedily identified. 46 For example, Bright and colleagues 46 considered ‘best-fit framework synthesis’ as appropriate for mapping study findings to an ‘a priori framework of dimensions measured by prenatal maternal anxiety tools’ within their ‘streamlined and time-limited evidence review’. 47

Less commonly, an adapted meta-ethnographical approach was used for an implementation model of social distancing where supportive data (29 studies) was plentiful. 48 However, this QES demonstrates several features that subsequently challenge its original identification as ‘rapid’. 49

Abbrevations: QES, qualitative evidence synthesis; rQES, resource-constrained qualitative evidence synthesis.

The team should consider whether a conceptual model, theory or framework offers a rapid way for organising, coding, interpreting and presenting findings ( table 2 , item R18). If the extracted data appears rich enough to sustain further interpretation, data from a thematic or framework synthesis can subsequently be explored within a subsequent meta-ethnography. 43 However, this requires a team with substantial interpretative expertise. 11

Assessments of confidence in the evidence 4 are central to any rQES that seeks to support decision-making and the QES-specific Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach for assessing the Confidence of Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research (GRADE-CERQual) approach is designed to assess confidence in qualitative evidence. 50 This can be performed by a single reviewer, confirmed by a second reviewer. 26 Additional reviewers could verify all, or a sample of, assessments. For a rapid assessment a team must prioritise findings, using objective criteria; a WHO rQES focused only on the three ‘highly synthesised findings’. 20 The team could consider reusing GRADE-CERQual assessments from published QESs if findings are relevant and of demonstrable high quality ( table 2 , item R19). 50 No rapid approach to full application of GRADE-CERQual currently exists.

Reporting and record management

Little is written on optimal use of technology. 8 A rapid review is not a good time to learn review management software or qualitative analysis management software. Using such software for all general QES processes ( table 2 , item R20), and then harnessing these skills and tools when specifically under resource pressures, is a sounder strategy. Good file labelling and folder management and a ‘develop once, re-use multi-times’ approach facilitates resource savings.

Reporting requirements include the meta-ethnography reporting guidance (eMERGe) 51 and the Enhancing transparency in reporting the synthesis of qualitative research (ENTREQ) statement. 52 An rQES should describe limitations and their implications for confidence in the evidence even more thoroughly than a regular QES; detailing the consequences of fast-tracking, streamlining or of omitting processes all together. 8 Time spent documenting reflexivity is similarly important. 27 If QES methodology is to remain credible rapid approaches must be applied with insight and documented with circumspection. 53 54 (56)

Ethics statements

Patient consent for publication.

Not applicable.

Ethics approval

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Supplementary materials

Supplementary data.

This web only file has been produced by the BMJ Publishing Group from an electronic file supplied by the author(s) and has not been edited for content.

  • Data supplement 1

Contributors All authors (AB, IS, JN, CH, FC) have made substantial contributions to the conception and design of the guidance document. AB led on drafting the work and revising it critically for important intellectual content. All other authors (IS, JN, CH, FC) contributed to revisions of the document. All authors (AB, IS, JN, CH, FC) have given final approval of the version to be published. As members of the Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group and/or the Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group all authors (AB, IS, JN, CH, FC) agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Competing interests AB is co-convenor of the Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group. In the last 36 months, he received royalties from Systematic Approaches To a Successful Literature Review (Sage 3rd edition), honoraria from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and travel support from the WHO. JN is lead convenor of the Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group. In the last 36 months, she has received honoraria from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and travel support from the WHO. CH is co-convenor of the Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group.

Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.

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  • v.9(1); 2015 Feb

Qualitative systematic reviews: their importance for our understanding of research relevant to pain

This article outlines what a qualitative systematic review is and explores what it can contribute to our understanding of pain. Many of us use evidence of effectiveness for various interventions when working with people in pain. A good systematic review can be invaluable in bringing together research evidence to help inform our practice and help us understand what works. In addition to evidence of effectiveness, understanding how people with pain experience both their pain and their care can help us when we are working with them to provide care that meets their needs. A rigorous qualitative systematic review can also uncover new understandings, often helping illuminate ‘why’ and can help build theory. Such a review can answer the question ‘What is it like to have chronic pain?’ This article presents the different stages of meta-ethnography, which is the most common methodology used for qualitative systematic reviews. It presents evidence from four meta-ethnographies relevant to pain to illustrate the types of findings that can emerge from this approach. It shows how new understandings may emerge and gives an example of chronic musculoskeletal pain being experienced as ‘an adversarial struggle’ across many aspects of the person’s life. This article concludes that evidence from qualitative systematic reviews has its place alongside or integrated with evidence from more quantitative approaches.

Many of us use evidence of effectiveness for various interventions when working with people in pain. A good systematic review can be invaluable in bringing together research evidence to help inform our practice and help us understand what works. In addition to evidence of effectiveness, understanding how people with pain experience both their pain and their care can help us when we are working with them to provide care that meets their needs. A high-quality qualitative systematic review can also uncover new understandings, often helping illuminate ‘why’ and can help build theory. A qualitative systematic review could answer the question ‘What is it like to have chronic non-malignant pain?’

The purpose of this article is to outline what a qualitative systematic review is and explore what it can contribute to our understanding of pain. A qualitative systematic review brings together research on a topic, systematically searching for research evidence from primary qualitative studies and drawing the findings together. There is a debate over whether the search needs to be exhaustive. 1 , 2 Methods for systematic reviews of quantitative research are well established and explicit and have been pioneered through the Cochrane Collaboration. Methods for qualitative systematic reviews have been developed more recently and are still evolving. The Cochrane Collaboration now has a Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group, including a register of protocols, illustrating the recognition of the importance of qualitative research within the Cochrane Collaboration. In November 2013, an editorial described the Cochrane Collaboration’s first publication of a qualitative systematic review as ‘a new milestone’ for Cochrane. 3 Other editorials have raised awareness of qualitative systematic reviews in health. 4

Noblit and Hare 5 were pioneers in the area of synthesising qualitative data. They describe such reviews as aggregated or as interpretative. The aggregated review summarises the data, and Hannes and Pearson 6 provide a worked example of an aggregation approach. Interpretative approaches, as the name suggests, interpret the data, and from that interpretation, new understandings can develop that may lead to development of a theory that helps us to understand or predict behaviour. Types of interpretative qualitative systematic reviews include meta-ethnography, critical interpretative synthesis, realist synthesis and narrative synthesis. More details about these and other approaches can be found in other papers and books. 1 , 5 , 7 – 11 This article will describe one approach, meta-ethnography, as it was identified as the most frequently used approach, 1 and there are some examples using meta-ethnography that focus on pain. A meta-ethnographic approach can be used with a variety of qualitative methodologies, not only ethnography. The data for a meta-ethnography are the concepts or themes described by the authors of the primary studies.

Noblit and Hare 5 outlined the seven steps of a meta-ethnography: (1) getting started, (2) deciding what is relevant, (3) reading the studies, (4) determining how studies are related to each other, (5) translating studies into each other, (6) synthesising translations and (7) expressing the synthesis.

The first three might seem relatively straightforward, although Lee et al. 12 emphasised both the importance and nuances of the reading stage, and Toye et al. 13 discuss the complexities of making quality assessments of qualitative papers and searching for this type of study. You need to understand what data to extract from the papers and how you are going to do this.

You have to first identify what is a concept and what is purely descriptive. Toye et al. 2 describe a process for collaboratively identifying concepts. In determining how studies are related to each other and translating them into each other, the meta-ethnographer compares the concepts found in each study with each other and then groups similar concepts into conceptual themes. Translating studies into each other involves looking at where concepts between studies agree (reciprocal synthesis) and where they do not agree (refutational synthesis). Developing conceptual categories can be challenging as you need to judge the extent to which a concept from one study adequately reflects concepts from other studies and choose one that seems to fit best. This is discussed in more detail in Toye et al. 2 , 13

To synthesise the translation, a line of argument is then developed from the conceptual categories. How the concepts group and relate to each other are developed. This provides an overall interpretation of the findings, ensuring this is grounded in the data from the primary studies. You are aiming to explain, and new concepts and understandings may emerge, which can then go on to underpin development of theory. For example, a qualitative systematic review that explored medicine taking found that ‘resistance’ was a new concept, revealed through meta-ethnography, and this helped understanding of lay responses to medicine taking. 1 Hannes and Macaitis, 14 in a review of published papers, reported that over time, authors have become more transparent about searching and critical appraisal, but that the synthesis element of reviews is often not well described. Being transparent about decisions that are interpretative has its own challenges. Working collaboratively to challenge interpretations and assumptions can be helpful. 2 , 12 The next section will use examples of qualitative systematic reviews from the pain field to illuminate what this type of review can contribute to our understanding of pain.

What can a qualitative systematic review contribute to the field of pain – some examples

Toye et al. 2 , 15 undertook a meta-ethnography to look at patients’ experiences of chronic non-malignant musculoskeletal pain. At the time of this research, no other qualitative systematic reviews had been published in this area. Their review included 77 papers reporting 60 individual studies, resulting from searches of six electronic bibliographic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, AMED and HMIC) from inception until February 2012 and hand-searching key journals from 2001 to 2012.

They developed a new concept which they identified as an ‘adversarial struggle’. This struggle took place across five main dimensions: (1) there was a struggle to affirm themselves, where there was a tension between the ‘real me’ (without pain) and ‘not real me’ (me with pain). (2) The present and future were often unpredictable, and construction of time was altered and they struggled to reconstruct themselves in time. (3) People struggled to find an acceptable explanation for their pain and suffering. (4) There was a struggle to negotiate the healthcare system and (5) a struggle for pain to be seen as legitimate, including the need to be believed, and a struggle to know whether to show or hide their pain. Some people were able to move forward with pain. They saw their body as more integrated, they re-defined what was normal, they told people about their pain, they were part of a community of people with pain and they felt more expert on how their pain affected them and what they could do about it.

So, this meta-ethnography highlighted the adversarial nature of having chronic musculoskeletal pain and how this struggle pervaded many different areas of their life. It also illustrated how by showing patients their pain is understood and being alongside the person in pain, they can start to move forward. A short film based on the 77 papers in this meta-ethnography has been made and is available on YouTube. 16 This film was made as an attempt to disseminate the findings of a meta-ethnography in a way that is accessible to a range of people.

Snelgrove and Liossi 17 undertook a meta-ethnography of qualitative research in chronic low back pain (CLBP) using meta-ethnography. They included 33 papers of 28 studies published between 2000 and 2012. They identified three overarching themes of (1) the impact of CLBP on self, (2) relationships with others (health professionals and family and friends) and (3) coping with CLBP. They found that very few successful coping strategies were reported. Like Toye et al., 2 , 15 they also reported disruption to self, distancing their valued self from their painful self, legitimising pain, the struggle to manage daily living and the importance of social relationships alongside negotiation of their care in the health system.

MacNeela et al. 18 also undertook a meta-ethnography of experiences of CLBP. They included 38 articles published between 1994 and 2012 representing 28 studies. They identified four themes: (1) the undermining influence of pain, (2) the disempowering impact on all levels, (3) unsatisfying relationships with healthcare professionals and (4) learning to live with the pain. They reported the findings being dominated by ‘wide-ranging distress and loss’. They discussed the disempowering consequences of pain and a search for help. However, they also highlighted self-determination and resilience and suggested these could offer ‘pathways to endurance’. They emphasised self-management and adaptation, which resonates with the moving forward category reported by Toye et al. 2 , 15

Froud et al. 19 looked at the impact of low back pain on people’s lives. They describe their approach as meta-ethnographic and meta-narrative. They included 49 papers of about 42 studies from inception of databases searched until July 2011. They described five themes: activities, relationships, work, stigma and changing outlook, which they derived from ‘participant-level data’. They described their findings as showing patients wanted to be believed. They highlighted the importance of social factors when developing relevant outcome measures. There are other examples of qualitative systematic reviews relevant to pain. 20 – 23

Different qualitative systematic reviews on a similar subject may come up with overlapping but also some different findings. This could be, for example, because different search periods or different inclusion criteria are used, so different primary studies may be included in different reviews. In addition, undertaking a qualitative systematic review requires researchers to interpret concepts. This interpretation does not need to be a limitation. For example, to ensure rigour and transparency, Toye et al. 24 report a process of collaborative interpretation of concepts among a team of experienced qualitative researchers to ensure individual interpretations were challenged and remained grounded in the original studies. They also published a detailed audit trail of the processes and decisions made. 2 Campbell et al. 1 argue ‘Meta-ethnography is a highly interpretative method requiring considerable immersion in the individual studies to achieve a synthesis. It places substantial demands upon the synthesiser and requires a high degree of qualitative research skill’. It is important to be able to think conceptually when undertaking a meta-ethnography, and it can be a time-consuming process. However, the ability of a meta-ethnography to synthesise a large number of primary research studies, generate new conceptual understandings and thus increase our understanding of patients’ experiences of pain makes it a very useful resource for our evidence-based practice.

The way forward

A register of qualitative systematic reviews would be useful for researchers and clinicians, so there was a clear way of identifying existing qualitative reviews or reviews that are planned or underway. The Cochrane Collaboration does now have a register for protocols of qualitative systematic reviews being undertaken under the aegis of the Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group. It would help those wanting to undertake qualitative systematic reviews if reviews that were underway were registered and described more clearly to prevent duplication of effort, for example, using ‘qualitative systematic review’ and the methodological approach used (such as meta-ethnography) in the title and/or abstract. The Toye et al. 2 protocol 25 was accessible on the National Institutes for Health website from 2010. The Snelgrove and Liossi 17 study was done without external funding, so it would be difficult to pick up that it was underway. The MacNeela et al. 18 study was listed on the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences under their Research Development Initiative 2008–2009, but was described as ‘Motivation and Beliefs among People Experiencing Chronic Low Back Pain’, so it was not clearly identified at that stage as a qualitative systematic review. Finally, the Froud et al. 19 award details 26 do not mention qualitative systematic reviews or meta-ethnography. This highlights the difficulty of finding some of these reviews and the importance of a register of both completed and ongoing reviews.

This article has argued that qualitative systematic reviews have their place alongside or integrated with more quantitative approaches. There is an increasing body of evidence from qualitative systematic reviews. They can synthesise primary research, and this can be helpful for the busy practitioner. The methods for these approaches are still developing, and attention to rigour at each stage is crucial. It is important that each stage of the synthesis is reported transparently and that the researchers’ stance is clearly reported. 27 Meta-ethnographies published over the last year 2 , 15 , 17 – 19 have drawn together a wide range of primary studies and shown that people’s lives can be markedly changed by their pain across multiple dimensions of their life.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding: The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Literature Reviews

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MindMeister

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Additional Tools

Google slides.

GSlides can create concept maps using their Diagram feature. Insert > Diagram > Hierarchy will give you some editable templates to use.

Tutorial on diagrams in GSlides .

MICROSOFT WORD

MS Word can create concept maps using Insert > SmartArt Graphic. Select Process, Cycle, Hierarchy, or Relationship to see templates.

NVivo  is software for qualitative analysis that has a concept map feature. Zotero libraries can be uploaded using ris files. NVivo Concept Map information.

A concept map or mind map is a visual representation of knowledge that illustrates relationships between concepts or ideas. It is a tool for organizing and representing information in a hierarchical and interconnected manner. At its core, a concept map consists of nodes, which represent individual concepts or ideas, and links, which depict the relationships between these concepts .

Below is a non-exhaustive list of tools that can facilitate the creation of concept maps.

the review of literature in qualitative research is

www.canva.com

Canva is a user-friendly graphic design platform that enables individuals to create visual content quickly and easily. It offers a diverse array of customizable templates, design elements, and tools, making it accessible to users with varying levels of design experience. 

Pros: comes with many pre-made concept map templates to get you started

Cons : not all features are available in the free version

Explore Canva concept map templates here .

Note: Although Canva advertises an "education" option, this is for K-12 only and does not apply to university users.

the review of literature in qualitative research is

www.lucidchart.com

Lucid has two tools that can create mind maps (what they're called inside Lucid): Lucidchart is the place to build, document, and diagram, and Lucidspark is the place to ideate, connect, and plan.

Lucidchart is a collaborative online diagramming and visualization tool that allows users to create a wide range of diagrams, including flowcharts, org charts, wireframes, and mind maps. Its mind-mapping feature provides a structured framework for brainstorming ideas, organizing thoughts, and visualizing relationships between concepts. 

Lucidspark , works as a virtual whiteboard. Here, you can add sticky notes, develop ideas through freehand drawing, and collaborate with your teammates. Has only one template for mind mapping.

Explore Lucid mind map creation here .

How to create mind maps using LucidSpark: 

Note: U-M students have access to Lucid through ITS. [ info here ] Choose the "Login w Google" option, use your @umich.edu account, and access should happen automatically.

the review of literature in qualitative research is

www.figma.com

Figma is a cloud-based design tool that enables collaborative interface design and prototyping. It's widely used by UI/UX designers to create, prototype, and iterate on digital designs. Figma is the main design tool, and FigJam is their virtual whiteboard:

Figma  is a comprehensive design tool that enables designers to create and prototype high-fidelity designs

FigJam focuses on collaboration and brainstorming, providing a virtual whiteboard-like experience, best for concept maps

Explore FigJam concept maps here .

the review of literature in qualitative research is

Note: There is a " Figma for Education " version for students that will provide access. Choose the "Login w Google" option, use your @umich.edu account, and access should happen automatically.

the review of literature in qualitative research is

www.mindmeister.com

MindMeister  is an online mind mapping tool that allows users to visually organize their thoughts, ideas, and information in a structured and hierarchical format. It provides a digital canvas where users can create and manipulate nodes representing concepts or topics, and connect them with lines to show relationships and associations.

Features : collaborative, permits multiple co-authors, and multiple export formats. The free version allows up to 3 mind maps.

Explore  MindMeister templates here .

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Post-traumatic growth of people who have experienced earthquakes: qualitative research systematic literature review.

\nHyun-Ok Jung

  • 1 College of Nursing, The Research Institute of Nursing Science, Daegu Catholic University, Daegu, South Korea
  • 2 Department of Nursing, Kwangju Women's University, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, South Korea

Introduction: Earthquakes can have a variety of physical, emotional, and social effects on the people who experience them. Post-traumatic Growth (PTG) results from people attempting to reconstruct their lives after experiencing a traumatic event. We intend to inform the local community of the importance of disaster psychology by identifying and analyzing the literature on post-traumatic growth experiences of subjects who experienced earthquakes.

Methods: This study applied a systematic review of qualitative research published from January 1, 2012 to January 31, 2021 to understand PTG in people who have experienced earthquakes. The search expressions “Post-traumatic Growth”, “Earthquake”, “Qualitative” were applied to CINAHL, EMBASE, PubMed, PsycInfo, KISS, RISS, and NDSL databases. Initially, 720 papers were found; after removal of duplicates, 318 remained. After a review of titles and abstracts, 186 papers that did not meet the selection criteria of this study were removed. After a further examination of the remaining 132 papers, the researchers removed 65 papers that did not match the research topic. Lastly, of the remaining 67 papers, detailed review eliminated quantitative papers that did not match this study (25), articles that were not original (19), articles in which results were not PTG (8), articles that were not related to this study (3), articles that were not written in English (2), or articles that had mixed topics (2). Eight papers remained.

Results: The results of this study show that the PTG in people who have experienced earthquakes can be classified into three categories: “Change in self-perception”, “Change of interpersonal relationships”, and “Spiritual change”. They can be further classified into eight subcategories: “Reviewing one's existence”, “Acceptance”, “Discovering strengths by working through adversity”, “Gratitude for life”, “Changes in personal relations”, “Changes in social relations”, “Accepting the existence of God”, and “A breakthrough to overcome difficulties”.

Discussion: These results can be used as basic data for a positive psychological understanding for those who have experienced earthquake trauma.

Introduction

Earthquakes are unpredictable and uncontrollable as they occur suddenly, often without warning ( 1 ). In the past year, 103 earthquakes have occurred in the New Caledonia Noumea region of the South Pacific, including one with a magnitude of 7.9. Furthermore, 77 earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.0 or higher have occurred in South Korea ( 2 ). Earthquakes affect humans in a variety of physical, emotional and social ways. Physical effects include various degrees of injury. Emotional effects include anxiety, fear, anger, and depression. Social effects include loss of infrastructure, destruction of communities and workspaces, and damage to the natural environment ( 1 ). Through these effects, earthquakes can have a transformative effect on a person's life ( 1 , 3 ). Natural disasters such as earthquakes are traumatic events that humans did not intend, which inflicts pain on individuals' lives, but in the field of changed life, humans experience another growth and recovery ( 4 ).

Post-traumatic growth has been actively studied in various population groups. In a study on post-traumatic growth of college students who experienced an earthquake, depression was found to be a factor influencing post-traumatic growth ( 5 ). A study on childhood who experienced natural disasters showed that the level of post-traumatic stress following the disaster affects post-traumatic growth ( 6 ). This suggests that emotional states or pain, such as depression or level of post-traumatic stress, are catalytic factors for overcoming the negative psychological consequences of traumatic events. Various traumatic experiences can also influence mental disorders in childhood. In previous study ( 7 ), traumatic experiences in childhood cause various mental health problems. Approximately 20.7% of them had psychotic-like experiences as adults, and 17.5% had frequent delusional experiences. Considering the results of previous studies, it is believed that traumatic experiences in childhood can have a negative impact on mental health even in adulthood, and various therapeutic interventions should be accompanied. Accordingly, personal protective factors (resilience, depression) and social protective factors (Household income and educational level) have been reported as factors that can positively mediate responses to traumatic events ( 5 , 6 , 8 , 9 ).

Calhoun and Tedeschi, who proposed the post-traumatic growth model ( 10 ), argued that in order to experience post-traumatic growth, the psychological pain induced by the traumatic event and the collapse of individual core beliefs were required. In other words, post-traumatic growth is closely related to negative psychological conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, and the representative symptoms of post-traumatic symptoms are intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal ( 11 ). As a result of studying the post-traumatic growth of terrorist survivors who experienced PTSD ( 12 ), emotional numbing of survivors was found to be related to post-traumatic growth after about 6–12 months, so it is necessary to study various psychological symptoms induced by PTSD. However, it was mentioned that humans do not always accept pain negatively, but rather try to resolve traumatic experiences more positively and goal-focused on the basis of resilience ( 10 ). The importance of positive coping strategies should continue to pay attention.

Post-traumatic Growth (PTG) is an improvement in mental health that occurs while a person develops a better understanding of the meaning of traumatic events, and starts to gain hope for life ( 6 , 13 ). Post-traumatic growth tool development research includes personal strength, new possibilities, relating to others, appreciation of life, and spiritual change ( 14 , 15 ).

The repetitive mental revisiting of the traumatic event by the traumatized person changes cognitive processes, and unpleasant feelings experienced by trauma act as motivations to move forward from the event ( 3 ), and therefore the traumatized persons shows a positive attitude toward understanding themselves, others, and life in general ( 16 ). Therefore, the traumatized person gains confidence that he or she is capable and strong ( 1 , 17 ), and starts to make efforts to know the importance of not returning to the pre-traumatic period. They also try to live a better life by realizing the meaning of life, by finding good behavior to achieve the life they want to pursue, and by inducing positive changes such as escaping from bad behavior ( 3 ). Therefore, PTG is an active and positive process that restructures individual lives to pursue better independent lives ( 3 , 18 ). If common growth experiences of traumatized people can be understood, community health professionals can help traumatized patients escape from pain and return to their pre-traumatic lives.

In this study, a systematic review of qualitative research was conducted to understand the PTG experience of subjects who had experienced earthquakes. A phenomenological research method is applied to derive meaningful subjective interpretations to understand the positive psychological changes of people traumatized by earthquakes. Furthermore, this study intends to lead a quality life by finding the meaning of life through post-traumatic growth and forming a sense of purpose to rebuild a new life.

Materials and methods

Study design.

This study performs a systematic review to search for previous papers and evaluate their quality to ensure that they represent the PTG experience of subjects who have experienced earthquakes.

Research protocol

The purpose of this study is to systematically review the literature of qualitative studies that have studied the post-traumatic growth experiences of subjects who have experienced earthquakes. Based on the qualitative evaluation protocol of the qualitative research, the CASP (Critical Appraisal Skills Program) qualitative research checklist ( 19 ) was used. This CASP qualitative research checklist extracts data based on the following 10 systematic protocols. (1) Is there a clear description of the research goal? (2) Is the methodology for qualitative research appropriate? (3) Study design (4) Recruitment strategy (5) Appropriate data collection method (6) Relationship between researcher and subject (7) Ethical issue (8) Analysis method (9) Is there a clear description of the results? (10) research value.

Literature search and literature selection

In this study, to search for qualitative literature on the experiences of post-traumatic growth of subjects who experienced earthquakes, the literature was searched through foreign databases CINAHL, EMBASE, PubMed, and PsycInfo and domestic databases KISS, RISS and NDSL. Overseas databases checked the terms of MeSH and extracted all of the terms “Post-traumatic Growth”, “Earthquake”, and “Qualitative Research” as intervention methods.

According to the characteristics of each database, MeSH terms and text words were used for the search formula, and methods to increase the specificity in addition to the sensitivity of the search were used by applying the Boolean operators AND/OR and truncation search. The domestic database search was based on the search strategy used for overseas searches, but considering the lack of a MeSH search function, the search was conducted according to the characteristics of each database. As the keywords for the search, concepts such as post-traumatic growth, earthquake, and qualitative research were searched and extracted. The literature selection criteria were (1) qualitative research on post-traumatic growth of earthquake-experienced individuals, (2) papers published in the last 10 years from January 1, 2012 to January 31, 2021, (3) In case of overlap between academic research paper and degree thesis, academic research paper was selected and (4) academic research paper composed in English and Korean was included. The exclusion criteria were (1) papers using words similar to post-traumatic growth (e.g., psychological adaptation and resilience), (2) papers published before and after between January 1 2012 and January 31, 2021, (3) papers related to natural disasters other than earthquakes (e.g., floods, forest fires, etc.), (4) papers not published in English or Korean.

Data collection

In this study, the literature was selected according to the selection and exclusion criteria, and the selection process was described in the following stages: Identification → Screening → Eligibility → Included. A total of 720 documents were searched in the database, and 318 articles were derived after removing 402 documents that were duplicated. Two researchers reviewed the title and abstract of a total of 318 articles, and 132 articles were first selected, excluding 186 articles that did not meet the selection criteria of this study. Of the 132 papers that were reviewed according to the same criteria and process, mainly the original text, 65 papers that did not match the research topic were excluded through three meetings, and 67 papers were secondarily selected. Finally, cross-analysis was performed twice on 67 documents that researchers secured the suitability of the study. The final 8 papers were selected except for the quantitative papers (25 papers), non-original articles (19 papers), post-traumatic growth papers (8 papers), papers (3 papers), non-English papers (2 papers), and mixed papers (2 papers) that did not correspond to this study. The searched literature was independently performed by two researchers, and the final paper was selected through discussion in case of disagreement ( Figure 1 ).

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Figure 1 . Flow chart of the sample selection process.

Ethical consideration

This study was approved by the K University Institutional Review Board (IRB No: 1041459-202103-HR-004-01) as it complied with research ethics in the use of literature data.

Assessment of research quality

This research generally used the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) to evaluate the quality of qualitative research; CASP is an effective means of improving the understanding of individual studies ( 20 ). The final selection of papers was evaluated using CASP, which determined that all met 23 to 26 out of 28 items, and therefore were appropriate for use in this study. Specifically, two papers did not conform to “Qualitative methodology for question?”, two papers did not conform to “Discussed saturation of data?”, and five were inconsistent in the item “Critically examined the role, potential bias and influence during data collection?” These results suggest that the biases that are caused during data collection in future qualitative studies should be closely examined. Two papers did not meet the items “Sufficient details of how the research was explained to participants” and two did not meet “Approval sought from an ethics committee?” This result suggests that compliance with research ethics should be considered as being important in qualitative research. One paper did not meet the “In-depth description of the analysis process?” item, and one did not meet the “Sufficient data presented to support the findings?” Six papers that did not meet the item of “Contradictory data taken into account?”, and CASP evaluation showed that this item was the most frequently violated. This observation implies that bias in research should be minimized by specifically stating and reviewing contradictory data in qualitative research. Finally, two papers did not meet “Discussed evidence for and against research's arguments?” and “Discussed contribution study makes to existing knowledge?” ( Table 1 ). We then checked the systematic literature review based on the PRISMA checklist ( 21 ).

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Table 1 . Quality assessment (CASP, Critical Appraisal Skills Programme).

Characteristics of literature subject to systematic literature review

The eight papers that were ultimately selected in this study were all published from 2015 to 2020, and most focused on subjects in the South Pacific and Southeast Asia, where earthquakes occur frequently. Interview duration ranged from 30 to 240 min (or no duration was provided), and the action was described as a revisit to ask a question or an additional question. The number of subjects studied ranged from four to 23, and included both males and females, although one paper did not specifically mention the gender(s) of the participants. The ages of the subjects ranged from the teens to the sixties. Occupations were middle and high school students, college students, nurses, and psychiatric specialists. Data collection used semi-structured interviews in five cases, and in-depth interviews in three cases ( Table 2 ).

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Table 2 . Demographic characteristic.

Post-traumatic growth experience of earthquake-experienced people

The papers finally selected in this study were assigned to three categories and eight subcategories encompassing the PTG experiences of subjects who had experienced an earthquake ( Table 3 ).

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Table 3 . Categories and subcategories of PTG response.

Change in self-perception

The first category of responses identified in this study is a change in self-perception. By reflecting on the world in which they live and by changing their values and philosophy on life, the traumatized people reflected on the meaning of life and became aware of their existence. This change meant the subjects who had experienced earthquakes found their inner strength and could accept their current life and overcame the adversity that they had experienced.

Reviewing one's existence

Some subjects who experienced PTG after an earthquake underwent a change in attitude toward life. Before the event, they thought they were just ordinary people, but afterward, they realized their own importance. They also realized the limitations of their existence in that they could not do anything in the face of an earthquake, and experienced a change in life priorities.

“ Many things that had previously seemed to be important in the past are no longer important. After experiencing an earthquake, I felt that I should value myself more and I realized that I was precious to others. I've lived for others, but from now on I want to live a more valuable life for myself because you only get one chance at life .” ( 22 , 24 )

“ My view of the world has suddenly changed. The world is not as gentle as I thought, the earth can move under my feet, and buildings can collapse around me at any point. The earthquake made me realize so many things; that human beings are weak, small, and not omnipotent. I want to be a person who has a purpose in life because I live to die and I am always ready to die...” ( 3 , 25 )

Most of the subjects who experienced the earthquake realized that the place where they lived was not safe: that it could take away someone's life in an instance, and they learned the importance of accepting this fact as a part of life.

“ I try to think of pain as a normal part of life because life is not about letting go of the pain, but about carrying it with you. So life has no answer. It would be more comfortable if the answer was given to you. I couldn't express my sad feelings after experiencing the earthquake. I can't erase the thought that the residents who had been with me disappeared one by one and lost what they had built up. But I thought I shouldn't feel pain because my family was safe .” ( 25 , 26 )

Discovering strengths by working through adversity

Some subjects who underwent PTG after experiencing an earthquake said that the experience of an earthquake did not emphasize human weakness. They felt that humans were stronger than they thought because they did not die even though they had experienced a terrifying environment. They had learned that their strengths were not simply limited to physical strength, but also include the inherent tendency, intrinsic flexibility, confidence, and occupational consciousness that all humans possess.

“ After experiencing the earthquake, I became more positive because seeing the collapsed city rebuild itself and thinking about what was going to happen now and, in the future, made things less confusing and more hopeful. I saw the difficult things, but I also saw the beautiful things. I have learned a lot. Living by overcoming this situation had made me face new challenges, and now I believe I can do anything.” ( 1 , 22 , 23 )

“ Looking back on whether I really responded well to others after the earthquake made me realize a lot and helped me grow my professional expertise as well as my own personal growth. Also, after the earthquake, I had learned how to deal with uncontrollable situations during work. I was impressed to see people recover one by one. By knowing that patients can recover from their pain, we have learned that we should not overlook anything for them” ( 25 , 26 )

Gratitude for life

Some subjects who experienced PTG after the earthquake showed a positive change compared to life before the earthquake.

“ I wasn't hurt or killed and the house wasn't badly damaged. Although I haven't been hurt, I think it's a very amazing experience to be with other people who have been hurt. The earthquake was a pretty good experience for me, and I think it was an opportunity to remind me of my existential appreciation for life. Through this experience, I want to look back on myself and live my life with gratitude for everything .” ( 22 , 23 )

Change of interpersonal relationship

Some subjects who went through PTG after experiencing an earthquake changed positively in realizing that people should develop mutual relations with others, and help and support each other. These subjects showed more active behaviors such as taking care of family, friends, and colleagues, and showed empathy with people in need.

Changes in personal relations

Some subjects who underwent PTG after the earthquake experienced a change in their interpersonal relationships completely different from before the earthquake.

“ I have a reduced prejudice against others and my neighbors. Before, I had a prejudice against people from other regions or people from other religions, and after experiencing the earthquake, I tried to see the positive aspects of those people. I realized that the pain of others was my pain because the whole country suffered. In the end, shared experiences with people who experienced earthquakes has given me an opportunity to experience hope, solidarity, learning and growth as well as pain.” ( 23 , 24 )

“ After the earthquake, I realized many things. When I go to work I feel like I'm the only one working hard, and I wondered why my colleagues wouldn't work hard. But I noticed that they also worked hard and did their best. We survived and we are still working hard. Through this, we could feel a different sense of fellowship than before. In the past, I was just resting at home doing nothing, but now I help my parents and cook for them. I realized that what really matters is my relationship with my family, friends and colleagues.” ( 3 , 22 , 26 )

Changes in social relations

Some subjects who experienced PTG after an earthquake then viewed social relations completely differently compared to before the earthquake. Community solidarity with other communities increased and people felt friendliness with residents. In addition, the earthquake experience allowed subjects to feel the culture of helping each other unlike before, so they experienced many changes in the form of social networking.

“ After the earthquake, I could feel that my intimacy with my neighbors increased and the community was strengthening. The earthquake brought us together and allowed us to feel the atmosphere of harmony and cooperation. Also, I was able to cooperate with people from other professions, and I was able to help people who are more in need than I am .” ( 24 , 26 )

“ I give up my things to others, and I am not only thinking about myself or my family, but also other people. After the earthquake, I contacted people with who I had a distant relationship with and encouraged them to participate in aid agencies. Also, I made frequent contact with nurses at local hospitals and cooperated with them when they were having difficulties. We were able to talk directly to local group staff who had no involvement before the earthquake. So am now more capable of helping people who are in a more difficult situation than me compared to before the earthquake .” ( 3 , 26 )

Spiritual change

The third essential theme of the final selected papers in this study is spiritual change. Some people who experienced the earthquake have broadened their religious and spiritual perspectives and felt that the experience of the earthquake was a step toward God. After all, it was an experience that reminded me once again that being alive in an earthquake was the same as if God was alive.

Accepting the existence of god

For some people, the experience of the earthquake increased their faith in religion and God, because they believed that they survived the earthquake because God had helped them. They also said that the experience of an earthquake was a part of the process of approaching God. In the end, it was an opportunity to experience the ability of humans to live with God, and that religion is not a metaphysical point of view, but an existential point of view.

“ After a disaster, my chance to live is a gift from God. After seeing what the Lord is doing for us, I started praising God. After experiencing the earthquake, I think the disaster has become a channel to connect with God. In doing so, I think the relationship between me and God has been further strengthened.” ( 1 , 27 )

A breakthrough to overcome difficulties

Among the subjects who experienced an earthquake, those who experienced PTG experienced the power of religion differently. Those with religion were more flexible than those without religion in their coping attitude to overcome difficulties and experienced the difficult moments (such as facing death) through God.

“ I feel the power of religion, and I can overcome the trauma through religion. I have religion on the basis of my life as a whole and I can overcome my difficulties through faith.” My environment, based on the influence of my parents and my religious life, helped me to overcome and overcome the earthquake even after the earthquake. If you have faith, you will find Paradise as a reward for your difficulties .” ( 24 , 25 )

This study systematically applied a phenomenological research method to understand PTG in subjects who had experienced earthquakes and discussed the categories and subcategories derived from this study.

“Reviewing one's existence” and “Acceptance”, which are subcategories of “Change in self-perception”, reveal the experience of subjects having a change in their view of life and philosophy of life after the earthquake. Also, by discovering strengths while undergoing adversity, and finding gratitude for life, they sublimated their painful traumatic experience into strengths, so the experience of the earthquake was not solely a bad one, but an opportunity to discover that they were grateful just to be alive.

Post-traumatic growth is the result of individuals' cognitive and emotional efforts to treat and give meaning to natural disasters as events in their difficult lives. At this time, fear leads to finding the meaning of life in the event of trauma, and the rumination of questions about life's doubts is later converted to rumination of questions about the meaning of life. Stronger self-confidence and new beliefs are reconstructed ( 4 ).

In previous studies, it was said that human experience of a terrible traumatic event creates new wisdom and experiences post-traumatic growth through the rumination process of thinking about the impact and meaning on one's own existence and life ( 23 ). In the end, by reflecting on one's own existence, it recognizes the optimal direction of life and activates aspiration and hope. This is not a life cycle in which mental suffering through trauma simply falls into a bad abyss. It is to positively accept information related to the new trauma in the meaning and purpose of being in one's life ( 27 ).

In this study, subjects who experienced earthquakes also accepted earthquakes as an unavoidable fate, so just being alive was a great luck and gratitude for their lives, and they recognized earthquakes as good experiences in life. This study result is consistent with the result that the factor of gratitude (Factor V) was statistically significant even in the study of the author who developed the PTG tool ( 28 ).

In particular, “An appreciation for the value of my own life” was 0.85 among the life's gratitude factors, and it was the item most related to post-traumatic growth. After all, the experience of earthquakes can be regarded as a starting point that makes people think about their existential gratitude once again.

We can think about it once again. What could be the cause of these positive emotions? This is because some people experience post-traumatic stress, not post-traumatic growth, after experiencing trauma. In previous study ( 29 ), it was found that in people who survived traumatic events, internal emotions such as guilt and self-deprecation cause post-traumatic stress on the contrary. In this study, subjects who experienced an earthquake also experienced internal suppression in situations in which they were unable to express their shock, fear, and sadness at the death of their colleague. However, they were able to experience post-traumatic growth because human strength existed even in pain. In this study, strength was expressed as flexibility and confidence. It is consistent with this study in that previous study ( 30 ) also mentioned that internal strength factors such as strength and flexibility are triggers that can promote post-traumatic growth and overcome pain. In addition, in the study ( 28 ) of the author who developed the post-traumatic growth tool, the “Knowing I can handle difficulties” item in the personal strength factor (Factor III) was 0.79, which is the same as the result that it is related to post-traumatic growth the most.

In traumatic events, PTG and pain coexist. Dealing with the pain and threats to life's worth of traumatic events requires a lot of time and cognitive effort. Through the repetitive process of understanding and trying to understand the traumatic event experience, human suffering is reduced by experiencing positive psychological changes and meaning to life. In addition, the value and meaning of a new life are integrated, leading to a higher standard of life ( 31 ).

In the second essential theme of this study, 'changes in interpersonal relationships', earthquake victims experienced various changes in personal and social relationships. They demonstrated a reduction in prejudice against others who have different values, and that their value of family, friends, and colleagues increased. In addition, as community solidarity with other communities increased, the experience of cooperative social consciousness changed.

Some subjects who experienced the earthquake realized that the pain experienced during the earthquake was shared by all who experience it. This shared experience between people who had survived the earthquakes allowed people to recognize that they never lived alone, helping them develop a sense of solidarity with others, and gratitude toward family, friends, and colleagues. As a result, in serious situations such as natural disasters, others support trauma experienced people with a sincere heart. Trauma survivors realize or experience the meaning of life through satisfactory relationships, and form close relationships with others by expanding and deepening interpersonal relationships. In particular, this is because, as traumatized people get social support from meaningful relationships, their philosophy of life has changed, reconstructing their meaning system, and more effectively participating in the emotional and cognitive processes of post-traumatic growth ( 4 ). In the previous study ( 32 ), it is consistent with the results of the study that talking and sharing trauma experiences with others increases intimacy with others and improves understanding and empathy for others suffering. In addition, in the study ( 28 ) of the author who developed the post-traumatic growth tool, the “A sense of closeness with others” item in the Relating to Others factor (Factor I) was 0.81, which is the same as the result that it is related to post-traumatic growth the most. Through the earthquake experience, the subjects who experienced pain recognized the importance of human relationships that were different from before. In addition, the formation of social networks, such as cohesion different from those before the earthquake experience, allows earthquake survivors to reconstruct the meaning of the experience and recognize the potential benefits of this experience. In doing so, the experience of events is sublimated positively, improving relationships with others, and creating new life possibilities to experience positive psychological changes ( 33 ). Therefore, through the changed interpersonal relationships, traumatized people discovered a new form of meaning for life after trauma, and formed a sense of purpose to rebuild a new life ( 31 ).

In the spiritual change, which is the last essential theme in this study, earthquake experienced a change in recognizing the existence of God and reflecting on the meaning of religion unlike before. After experiencing an earthquake, these people used religion as a method to overcome difficulties and tried to rely on God to solve problems that they could not overcome. Those who had survived earthquakes cast their survival as evidence of a link between themselves and God, and stated that they had become closer to God by surviving. In doing so, they became more convinced of the existence of God and also experienced a change of spiritual emotions. In previous studies ( 28 , 34 ), spirituality is the factor that has the greatest influence on post-traumatic growth, and through loss, we question our spiritual beliefs. Those who had experienced a traumatic event developed the belief that everything that happened around them was God's spirituality. They had accepted the traumatic event, and this acceptance had led to PTG. This observation is consistent with the results of this study in that by accepting the existence of God and one's relationship with God, one's religious beliefs can become more firmly established ( 28 ). Because human beings are complex beings with interrelated physical, psychological, social, and spiritual capacities, a holistic understanding of traumatic events must incorporate religion and spirituality. Traumatic events not only endanger the physical, psychological and social wellbeing of a person, but also have a powerful impact on the spiritual wellbeing ( 35 – 37 ).

In previous studies ( 36 , 37 ), it is consistent with the research results that traumatized people tried to cope after a crisis through spirituality, and through this, they supported God and positively overcome difficulties.

Religion and spirituality affect not only people's perception of life events and their initial evaluation of traumatic events, but also their chosen coping methods, coping functions, and coping outcomes ( 35 ). Positive religious and spiritual coping methods are secure connections with God, self, and others, including: (1) finding meaning, (2) gaining dominance and control, (3) comforting and increasing intimacy with God, (4) increasing intimacy with others and intimacy with God, (5) achieving life change.

On the other hand, negative religious spiritual coping methods attempt to resolve the five-positive religious spiritual coping functions related to conflicts with God, self, and others, but rather worsen post-traumatic pain ( 38 , 39 ). Earthquake survivors use traumatic events as evidence of God's perfect and mystical will, “for good reason,” or as an opportunity for change in their spiritual growth. In addition, it is interpreted as a spiritual challenge or a test of God's devotion and seeks a partnership to solve problems in cooperation with God by utilizing positive religious and spiritual coping methods. In doing so, gaining dominance and control over disasters, finding a new meaning in life, and forming a sense of purpose for a changed life ( 35 ). This study result is consistent with the result that the factor of Spiritual Change (Factor I) was statistically significant even in the study of the author who developed the PTG tool ( 28 ). In particular, “A better understanding of spiritual matters” was 0.84 among the Spiritual Change factors, and it was the item most related to post-traumatic growth.

As a result of this study, changes in self-perspective, changes in interpersonal relationships, and spiritual changes are all included in the five areas (new possibilities and personal strength, relating to others, spiritual change, appreciation of life) of Tedeschi and Calhoun's PTG tool ( 28 ). When humans experience disasters such as earthquakes, they understand the difficult situation and changed reality they face, and find their strengths in the belief that they are strong.

And as they establish new relationships with others, they realize that the most important thing in life is themselves, and they regain the meaning of a new life given to them after the trauma. Gratitude for a new life every day, through stronger religious beliefs, makes spiritual changes and leads to a positive life.

Finally, in a situation where research on post-traumatic growth is being actively conducted, there was a verification of the post-traumatic growth tool using a variety of population groups as samples. However, it was found that the factor structure differed depending on the country that justified the post-traumatic growth tool. Also, some items did not significantly measure post-traumatic cultural change ( 40 ). Therefore, in order to overcome the limitation that cannot objectively express post-traumatic growth in qualitative research, demographic characteristics or cultural aspects of the country should be considered. Based on the research results from qualitative research, it is considered that it is necessary to continuously supplement the weaknesses of the tool through more practical and multifaceted analysis.

Limitation and future direction

This study does however have some limitations. This study presented papers that studied subjects who experienced the special situation of earthquakes among natural disasters. The results of this study have limitations in covering the post-traumatic growth of subjects who have experienced all-natural disasters. Also, because the research topic was very special, the number of published studies was very limited, and most of the studies were published in a limited country where earthquakes occur frequently in the region. Nevertheless, this study is considered to be very valuable in approaching the actual field phenomena of the post-traumatic growth of earthquake-experienced people by examining the qualitative studies on post-traumatic growth. In the special situation of earthquakes among natural disasters, post-traumatic growth experience analysis can provide basic data for the development of psychological intervention programs in regions where earthquakes frequently occur. So far, systematic literature review has been focused on quantitative research, but qualitative research is very lacking. In particular, in quantitative research, guidelines for evaluating the quality of various documents and data extraction for systematic literature review are presented, but in qualitative research, they are very limited. Therefore, it will be necessary to develop various evaluation tools for qualitative research in future research.

This study systematically reviewed published papers that explored PTG in subjects who experienced earthquakes. It then categorized the different PTG phenomena and their individual significance. This study identified that PTG can involve changes in self-perception, interpersonal relationships, and religious beliefs. The subjects of the research papers changed their views on the value of life by reflecting on their existence rather than by struggling to escape the pain they felt. They also experienced increased appreciation for life as they embraced the experience and overcame their adversity. In addition, they placed more value on the importance of human relationships and felt a sense of solidarity. Finally, some subjects experienced a spiritual change where they realized the meaning of religion and affirmed their belief in the existence of God.

People who experienced the earthquake modified their values of life through traumatic events. Finding the meaning of a new life and examining one's own life promoted growth in areas such as personal strength, relationships with others, gratitude for life, and spirituality. Community health professionals should recognize that post-traumatic growth is a cognitive and emotional result of seeking a new life, and provide opportunities for earthquake victims to discover new forms of meaning in their lives sequentially. In addition, it should be helped to maintain a higher level of life satisfaction through addition or modification of the sense of purpose.

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Ethics statement

Author contributions.

H-OJ: conceptualization and investigation. S-WH: methodology and data curation. H-OJ and S-WH: writing-original draft preparation and writing-review and editing. Both authors have read and agree to the published version of the manuscript.

Acknowledgments

This research was followed by research ethics through the Research Ethics Review Committee and helped to proceed by utilizing prior papers.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: systematic review, post-traumatic growth, qualitative research, earthquakes, disaster

Citation: Jung H-O and Han S-W (2023) Post-traumatic growth of people who have experienced earthquakes: Qualitative research systematic literature review. Front. Psychiatry 13:1070681. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1070681

Received: 15 October 2022; Accepted: 25 November 2022; Published: 02 March 2023.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2023 Jung and Han. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Seung-Woo Han, woowoo1209@hanmail.net

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Academic Entrepreneurship Ecosystems: Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Directions

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  • Maria Patrocínia Correia 1 , 2 ,
  • Carla Susana Marques   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1557-1319 2 ,
  • Rui Silva 2 &
  • Veland Ramadani 3  

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Research on the entrepreneurship ecosystem, based on different data and scales, limits the acceptance of a single definition. This conceptual limitation and the still recent research and higher education institutions have come to be seen as ecosystems associated with entrepreneurship. The aim of this study is to contribute to the field of knowledge, identify current and emerging thematic areas and trends and reveal the scientific roots of research on entrepreneurial ecosystems and their relationship with higher education institutions. A bibliometric analysis was developed to analyse a final sample of 110 articles published between 2011 and 2022. In order to develop the analysis, Bibliometrix R-Tool was used and the metadata of two databases (Web of Science and Scopus) was retrieved and merged. The software creates a reference co-citation’s map, which allowed emphasize the state of the art and indicate three thematic clusters: (i) the importance of the higher education context for the entrepreneurial ecosystem, (ii) the evolution and challenges of entrepreneurship education and (iii) academic entrepreneurship ecosystems. The paper concludes by suggesting future research focused on the importance of building an integrated approach to entrepreneurial ecosystems and higher education institutions on a context regional scale.

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Introduction

The new research on the “entrepreneurship ecosystem” (EE) limits the acceptance of a single definition. According to this conceptual limitation and the still recent research, higher education institutions (HEIs) have come to be seen as ecosystems associated with entrepreneurship. While several bibliometric and systematic literature reviews have advanced for a research agenda for academic entrepreneurial ecosystems (AEEs), a holistic approach that integrates theories, attributes and methods is still necessary.

The concept of EE in HEIs has emerged in the literature (Fetters et al., 2010 ). Consequently, initial studies have addressed the components of these ecosystems (Fetters et al., 2010 ; Graham, 2014 ; Meyer et al., 2020 ), and internal and external actors have been identified (e.g. Hayter, 2016 ; Hayter et al., 2018 ; Meyer et al., 2020 ). Hayter ( 2016 ) and Hayter et al. ( 2018 ) further elaborated on the research by relating the effectiveness of academic EEs to the levels of the interconnectedness of the constituent elements and their collective capacity.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) and their surroundings play a “fundamental role for contemporary societies in the field of education and knowledge generation” (Kobylinska & Lavios, 2020 : 118). For the authors, during the last decade, the university and its surroundings have become a special ecosystem. Specifically, favourable conditions are created for cooperation between various entities, namely, HEI, business incubators, technology transfer centres and funding institutions, which contribute to developing academic entrepreneurship ecosystem (AEE) (Meyer et al., 2020 ; Kobylinska & Lavios, 2020 ). The combination of EE and HEI requires further research.

The systematic literature review (SLR) developed in this article found five studies that allow us to assess what is known about this subject. Malecki ( 2018 ) reviews the literature, concepts and operationalizations of the concept of EE with a bibliometric analysis. Kansheba and Wald ( 2020 ) present a systematic review of the existing literature, develop a research agenda and analysing, only, articles that focused on EEs (conceptual, theoretical or empirical). They concluded that the concept of EEs is poorly theorised and dominated by conceptual studies, revealing existing theoretical and empirical gaps on EEs. In the third SLR found, Kobylinska and Lavios ( 2020 ) aimed to analyse the state of research on University EE and to identify research trends related to the topic. They concluded that the study of University EE is little recognized in the literature, lacking a solid methodological basis and revealed that the topic may constitute a research area of interest. In the fourth review, Guindalini et al. ( 2021 ) present an SLR with bibliometric and network analysis, with the aim of mapping AEE. In this SLR, as in the two previously mentioned, the authors conclude that this topic is at an “embryonic stage of academic research” (Guindalini et al., 2021 : 6). They also find a gap in research regarding evaluation studies that support the targeting of potential scientific discoveries in the market. With bibliometric and SLR, the study develops a holistic framework that integrates sustainability factors into the EE literature. They confirm that EE research has mostly focused on academic entrepreneurship, innovation and regional development, among others.

The originality of this research is directly linked to the chosen emerging theme. In this context, this study aims to complement and stand out from the five reviews found and understand the characteristics of an AEE and their successful development as a potential research area relevant in the future. To this end, a bibliometric analysis is proposed to answer the following research questions: (a) RQ1: Is it possible establish common attributes for AEE?; (b) RQ2: What are the opportunities and challenges that HEIs must recognize to achieve an successful EE?; (c) RQ3: What key areas require further research with regards to AEE?

In order to complement the proposed research questions, this study also responds to the subsequent objectives: to provide a comprehensive overview of the origins of the EE concept, to explore the research conducted so far in this field of study, to reveal the scientific roots of research on EEs and their relationship with the HEIs and to create knowledge for future research on AEEs.

To achieve them, the SLR followed in this article included a rigorous protocol and definition of research steps and a literature review based on scientific articles published in Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus. In addition, the 110 articles related to EEs were submitted to a bibliometric analysis with the Bibliometrix-R tool . In this quantitative bibliometric, we used the analysis of co-citations, which allowed obtaining a citation network composed of clusters.

The article is structured in seven parts. After this introductory section, the theoretical framework on the concept is presented in the second section of the paper and is organized as follows: entrepreneurial ecosystems and academic entrepreneurial ecosystems. In the third section, the methodological characteristics of the research used in the SLR, the sample and the bibliometric analysis method are presented. The results are explained in the fourth section. The thematic analysis exposing the resulting visual maps and discussing the results of the articles classified by clusters is the fifth section. In the sixth and final section, the future lines of research and conclusions are addressed presenting limitations that resulted from the review and future of research.

Theoretical Framework

Defining entrepreneurial ecosystems and academic entrepreneurship ecosystem.

The concept of entrepreneurial ecosystem is an ambiguous term, but, in fact, this concept has been increasingly explored by researchers over the years (Bischoff et al., 2018 ; Clarysse et al., 2014 ; Cohen, 2006 ; Isenberg, 2010 , 2011 ; Kansheba & Wald, 2020 ; Stam & Spigel, 2017 ; Van de Ven, 1993 ). The term entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) is a composite of two terms.

The component of the term—entrepreneur—according to Mason and Brown ( 2014 ) is often associated with “high growth start-ups” or “economies of scale” as being a source of innovation and growth in productivity and employment. The other component of the term—ecosystem—is associated with biology and is defined as the physical environment and all possible interactions in the complex of living and non-living components (Stam, 2015 ). As in ecology, the biological perspective focuses on the rise and fall of many organizations and institutions that are mutually related and play different but complementary roles that enable their birth, growth and survival (Astley & Van de Ven, 1983 ; Freeman & Audia, 2006 ).

Cohen ( 2006 ) was the first to use the concept of EE building on the study of Neck et al. ( 2004 ). Neck et al. ( 2004 ) used qualitative analysis to identify the components present in the EE in Boulder, USA. This concept became more prominent through Daniel Isenberg, in 2010. For this author, an EE is a set of individual elements combined in a complex way. In isolation, each can generate entrepreneurship but cannot sustain it (Isenberg, 2010 , 2011 ). Mason and Brown ( 2014 : 5) more broadly defined an EE as a “set of interrelated entrepreneurial actors, entrepreneurial organizations, institutions and entrepreneurial processes that formally or informally cooperate in relating and mediate performance within the local entrepreneurial environment.” Audretsh and Belitski ( 2017 : 1031) define EE as “institutional and organisational systems as well as other systemic factors that interact and influence the identification and commercialisation of entrepreneurial opportunities.” Acs et al. ( 2014 ) defined entrepreneurial ecosystems as a dynamic, institutionally embedded interaction between entrepreneurial attitudes, capabilities and aspirations of individuals that drives the allocation of resources through the creation and operation of new projects. Stam and Spigel ( 2017 ) point out that it is the coordination that occurs between actors and interdependent factors that enables productive entrepreneurship in each territory.

As this term has captured the attention of researchers, experts and policymakers significant knowledge gaps have also emerged in terms of its conceptual meaning, theoretical foundation and application (Audretsh et al., 2019 ; Kansheba & Wald, 2020 ). According to Audretsh et al. ( 2019 ), the question remains as to what exactly an EE is and what it comprises. It also mentions that the definition of EE does not add value to academic discourses that rely on “networks”, “cluster initiatives”, “triple helix initiatives” or “public–private partnerships”. For the authors, thinking in terms of EEs may only reflect the importance of a particular topic, such as “business ecosystems”, “digital ecosystems”, “financial ecosystems” and “university ecosystems”, among others.

Combining EEs and HEIs: An Overview of Academic Entrepreneurship Ecosystems

In recent decades, some universities have oriented themselves towards a more entrepreneurial direction through the realization of the third mission as a key player in promoting national and regional economic and social development (Etzkowitz & Leydesdorff, 2000 ; Yi & Uyarra, 2018 ) resulting from the interaction of three actors belonging to different helixes—university-industry-government: triple helix model (Etzkowitz & Leydesdorff, 2000 ). Etzkowitz and Zhou ( 2017 ) point out that the thesis of the model is that the university starts to abandon a social, yet important, role of providing higher education and research and starts to assume an essential role equivalent to that of industry and government as a generator of new industries and enterprises. As a result, the entrepreneurial university has become an increasingly significant academic configuration and is considered a vital element (Etzkowitz & Zhou, 2017 ; Wang et al., 2021 ). Pita et al. ( 2021 ) agree, pointing out that universities actively contribute to the development of EEs by providing a skilled workforce and stimulating new enterprises, such as start-ups or spin-offs.

In the entrepreneurial university, knowledge-sharing processes are outlined, which requires the university to reconfigure its traditional educational programmes and approaches to create a favourable context for university entrepreneurship by supporting students in a process that moves from idea generation to idea development, business model and commercialisation (Secundo et al., 2021 ). Another challenge facing HEIs is to shift their focus from education about entrepreneurship to educating for entrepreneurship. This encompasses any programme or pedagogical process of education aimed at achieving entrepreneurial skills and attitudes (Bischoff et al., 2018 ).

Against entrepreneurial HEIs and their pedagogical competencies of entrepreneurship education, researchers highlight that the entrepreneurial university itself can form an EE (Miller & Acs, 2017 ; Wang et al., 2021 ). The EE developed with an academic campus as a context is referred to as “University-based Entrepreneurship Ecosystem” (UBEE) or “University Entrepreneurship Ecosystem” (UEE) or “Academic Entrepreneurship Ecosystem” (AEE). All these terms refer to the ecosystem developed on the university campus, which are part of a wider ecosystem. For Wang et al., ( 2021 : 2), the creation of UEEs, currently, is a “hot topic.”

Naturally, many definitions were put forward, leading to the decision to present, chronologically, a selection of definitions (Table  1 ).

An effective AEE is critical for entrepreneurial academic activities as they not only act as a catalyst for the acceleration of knowledge commercialisation but also as a platform and dynamic in maintaining the sustainable development of academic entrepreneurship (Yi & Uyarra, 2018 ). However, little literature exists on the AEE’s structure and function and particularly how the transition from the academic entrepreneurial system to an AEE occurs (Hayter, 2016 ; Yi & Uyarra, 2018 ).

Similarly, to research on EE, academics attach greater importance to the conceptualisation and elements of the UEE. Several authors identify the factors contributing to the evolution of EEUs (Fetters et al., 2010 ; Graham, 2014 ; Meyer et al., 2020 ). Fetters et al. ( 2010 ) cite seven factors contributing to the evolution of UBEEs: senior leadership, strong teaching and programmatic capacity, long-term commitment, the commitment of financial resources, the commitment to continuous innovation in programmes and curricula, adequate organizational infrastructure and the commitment to increasing critical mass and creating enterprises. Graham ( 2014 ) also identifies seven factors that underpin UEEs: institutions, culture, university leadership, university research capacity, regional or governmental support, effective institutional strategies and strong demand for entrepreneurial students.

Brush ( 2014 ) believed that entrepreneurship education is the core of the UEE. The researcher divided the internal entrepreneurial education ecosystem into three broad areas (introductory/curricular courses, extracurricular activities and research) and four dimensions (stakeholders, resources, infrastructure and culture). Sherwood ( 2018 ), in addition to the elements, identified curricular, extra-curricular components, Technology Transfer Offices (TTO), resources and informal and community engagement. For Wang et al. ( 2021 ), diversified extracurricular activities have played an important role in stimulating students’ interest in entrepreneurship by providing them with a large number of resources. For the authors, student entrepreneurs also tend to get the guidance and resources they need through these activities.

For Bischoff et al. ( 2018 ), although the concrete strengths and conceptualization of UBEEs generally vary between universities, a number of common characteristics can be identified. Secundo et al. ( 2021 ) mention that UBEE facilitates innovation and entrepreneurial opportunities thanks to the knowledge-sharing processes between the various actors. Within a UBEE, for the author, each actor needs to be connected to the other members through a constant flow of knowledge from information that enables the overflow of entrepreneurial knowledge. The author points out that universities may assume different roles according to the size and composition of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, interacting through different channels.

In accordance with the review carried out, the other authors initiate the development of methods to evaluate an AEE. Table 2 shows three of the conceptual models highlighted in the literature review and published chronologically in the last 5 years.

Within this context, further research work on evaluations of AEE is needed. The findings draw attention to considerations as “unique entrepreneurial architecture” (Prokop & Thompson, 2022 : 17). The Prokop and Thompson ( 2022 : 181) study include 81 UEE and, according to the author, “it is in no way reflective of all types of sub-ecosystems, or broader ecosystems.” The study of university and broader EEs is a critical feature to recognize and involve in future studies. This study aims to contribute to this challenge.

Methodology

To produce a comprehensive review article, Hulland ( 2020 ) refers that authors should carry out their studies in a systematic way. A systematic review needs the definition of clear questions, criteria and conclusions that provide new information based on the examined content. According to Aria and Cuccurullo ( 2017 ), this means that the phases adopted in the review can be replicated in all procedures and there should be clarity in all of them. The authors state that the working model of an SLR is based on five stages: study design, data collection, data analysis, data visualization and interpretation.

Ferreira et al. ( 2019 ) mention that one of the most suitable methods for analysing past research works is bibliometric analysis. According to Aria and Cuccurullo ( 2017 ) and Thelwall ( 2008 ), there are relevant points when using bibliometric. For Aria and Cuccurullo ( 2017 ), there are three types of research questions that can be answered using bibliometrics: identify the knowledge base of a topic or field of research, examine the conceptual structure of a topic or field of research and produce a network structure based on a particular scientific community. The relevance for Thelwall ( 2008 ) concerns the types of procedures in bibliometric analysis. The author identified two types of procedures, evaluation bibliometric and relational bibliometric. The first evaluates the productivity and impact of researchers, research centres and countries. The second type examines the similarity and relationship between publications, authors and keywords using co-word, co-authorship and co-citation analyses.

The article will use the suggestions of both authors in bibliometric analysis. It will respond to the three types of questions posed by Aria and Cuccurullo ( 2017 ) and uses both types of procedures, evaluation bibliometric and relational bibliometric. In evaluation bibliometric, mappings, qualitative analyses and baseline indicators are carried out. In relational bibliometrics will analyse co-citations and the respective clusters.

Data Collection and Eligibility Criteria

In additional search, the research papers were determined through the comprehensive advanced search in two databases including Scopus and Web of Science. These choices were justified for two reasons: they are two multidisciplinary databases that include all indexed journals with the highest number of citations in their respective areas of scientific specialization (Huang et al., 2020 ; Pranckuté, 2021 ). They also provide a citation index, generating information about each publication in documents that cite them as well as cited.

Table 3 elucidates the stages that followed in this study.

The keywords come from the research question and was defined the following search query: “entrepreneur* ecosystem*” (in title) AND “universit*” OR “polytechnic*” OR “higher education institution*” (in topic). All the articles from the current year were excluded because at the time of this research the year had not finished. The document type was limited to “article” and “review.” After applying these criteria, it was obtained 183 papers from the research process (104 obtained in SCOPUS and 79 results in Web of Science) (stages 1 and 2 from Table  3 and Fig.  1 ).

figure 1

Process of data collection and analysis

In the third stage, wherein some records were excluded, the data was filtered. To this end, other restrictions were applied:

Eliminating the repeats by cross-referencing the databases (62 documents)

The exclusion of 11 documents, after analysing the content of each, because the global subject of the articles was different from the scope of the study

Although language was not a filter, it should be noted that the search was developed utilizing English, which could be understood as “quasi-filter.”

The procedures followed in the data collection and the application of the eligibility criteria complete Fig.  1 which demonstrates the careful way in which the final database was obtained ( n  = 110).

Mapping and Qualitative Analysis

R-Bibliometrix summarized the mapping of the documents included in the final database with the information considered relevant, as shown in Table  4 . Table 4 reveals that the dataset contains 110 documents published between 2011 and 2022, representing the work of 276 authors from 32 different countries. The average years from publication is 3.31 and the average number of citations per documents 13.4. The number of authors and co-authors per document is 2.5 and 2.7.

The first study in the final database addressed the entrepreneurship ecosystems, and the global innovation networks were written by Malecki in 2011. For the author, the existing knowledge is dispersed as it results from entrepreneurial activity originating from small and medium enterprises, research institutes and universities. Malecki ( 2011 ) suggested the simultaneous integration of local and global knowledge as well as internal and external.

A reading of Tables  4 and  5 reveals that various articles have been published recently (during 2011–2022). Moreover, an increase of publications (except 2012 and 2013) shows an increasing trend, suggesting that the subject has been progressively gaining popularity in the academic community. The results reveal and confirm the increase prevalence of research on EEs over the past 11 years.

In 2022, the number reached 24 articles in the last year of the period. After 2014, there was a considerable increase in the number of published articles. The data shows a turning point in 2018 (14) and 2019 (23). This latter year and 2022 standing out with the highest number of published articles. It is important to mention that more than half of the articles (62) were published in the last 3 years. The production growth rate is 33.5%.

According to the average number of citations, per year, the articles written in 2022 were those with a higher number (9.79) followed by articles from the years 2011, 2018 and 2019. This increment in the interest of EE results from the fact that this concept has assumed a global and multidisciplinary dimension recognized and associated with innovation by the various economic and social actors.

Table 6 presents the five authors and journals that have contributed for research’s development. The most cited papers by author were those of Malecki, with 185, followed by Audretsh, with 111, and Carayannis, with 110. The three authors who have published the most with the highest local impact (TC index) are Cunningham (4 publications, TC 156), Audretsh (3 publications, TC 184) and Menter (3 publications, TC 154).

R-Bibliometrix software was used to identify the keywords mentioned in the 110 documents of the final sample. As can be seen in the Fig.  2 , the most frequently terms mentioned are “entrepreneurial ecosystem”, “entrepreneurial university”, “entrepreneurial education”, “university”, innovation” and “higher education”. This also shows that of the studies analysed word association results as “academic entrepreneurship”.

figure 2

Most mentioned keywords

Table 7 summarizes the applied methodologies. As an emerging theoretical stream, EEs have been studied through qualitative methods. Thus, several articles use a case study technique. There is an increase on quantitative methods using factor analysis and structural equation modelling to understand variations in entrepreneurship and develop metrics. Researchers have used mixed methods, both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques to address the complexity of the phenomenon.

Concerning methodologies, of a total 110 articles, 59 documents (54%) use a qualitative approach, through the technique of data collection via interviews (in-depth and semi-structured), samples, observation and documentary analysis. The case study technique, inserted in this approach, focuses on 25 articles, meaning that its weighting is 42% in relation to the total number of articles that use qualitative methodologies. The 28 articles (around 25%) use a quantitative approach through data collection techniques involving the application of questionnaires and secondary data (statistics) and eight articles (7%) use mixed methods, namely, they use both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques. Eight conceptual articles (7%) and seven literature review articles (6%) were identified. Of this literature review, five are based on systematic literature reviews. From the numbers, we deduce that there is no balance of methods in EE and HEI studies and literature reviews are the least frequent type of publication.

Thematic Analysis

In this part of the article, the thematic analysis results will be examined. It will start with the strategic and evolutionary analysis and, subsequently, the networks created by the co-citation analysis. The subsequent figures will be presented all results.

Strategic and Evolutionary Thematic Analysis

The strategic diagram for the studied subject is presented in Fig.  3 . The size of the circles represents the number of occurrences of these words. The upper right quadrant represents the main themes, and the upper left quadrant depicts the more specific themes, considered niche themes. The lower right quadrant represents the basic themes, and the lower left means that the theme may be emerging or disappearing.

figure 3

Strategic diagram

The themes in the upper right quadrant are “academic entrepreneurship” and “entrepreneurial”. All these sets of themes are crucial to the research in this paper.

The theme in the upper left quadrant is “start-ups”, “case study” and “networks.

The lower right quadrant represents the basic themes necessary for understanding the present study: “entrepreneurial ecosystem”, “entrepreneurial education”, “entrepreneurial university”. Also “university” and “technology transfer” are essential for the understanding on the topic. The lower left quadrant given the inexistence of declining themes but also gives the emerging themes, “entrepreneurial education” and “entrepreneur”. All this fact enhances the importance of the sets of themes in the article.

Thus, “networks”, “case study” and “academic entrepreneurship” reveal themselves as major themes. The transversal themes are “entrepreneurial ecosystems” and “university incubators”. This last phase, 2022, was the growth stage of an approach integrating Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and the Entrepreneurial University. Therefore, 2023 could be a high growth phase for an integrated approach to AEEs.

Figure  4 presents the evolution of research topics in entrepreneurial ecosystems and the relationship with the university. The data were analysed using the author’s keywords and cut-off points in the years 2014, 2018 and 2020. The results reveal a thematic evolution of the conceptual frameworks from 2011 to 2022. From the general concept of “Entrepreneurial Ecosystem” (2011–2014), “innovation” emerges in the thematic evolution (2015–2017). Therefore, the cut-off points were two periods when the first publications on the topic of the paper appeared (three publications in 2011–2014 and nine publications in 2015–2017).

figure 4

Thematic evolution, with cut-off points

In 2018, results of the emergence of thematic areas such as “education” and “higher education” are revealed. From 2019, “entrepreneurial ecosystem” gives way to “entrepreneurial education”, “entrepreneurial university” and its “ecosystem”. Likewise, the area of “innovation” gives way to a unique “entrepreneurial ecosystem” based on “entrepreneurial education”, “university”, “higher education” and “academic entrepreneurship”. The thematic evolution of the conceptual framework between 2018 and 2022 revealed that these periods are the most productive and creative with the highest number of base themes and driving themes evolving in these periods.

Cluster Analysis

A bibliometric analysis was carried out to understand how this field of study is divided into research clusters, and the co-citations were analysed. No cut-off point for the number of citations per document has been defined. All linked documents were selected, leaving us with a final analysis with 50 documents distributed by clusters. Each of the clusters, identified with different colours, can be observed in Fig.  5 . The colours indicate the clusters and the articles belonging to them. In addition, each article’s weight is assigned based on the links’ total strength, and the number of citations the publication has received. The top nodes are the publications with the highest link strength.

figure 5

Clusters networks through the co-citation analysis technique

Based on the visualization of Fig.  5 and after analysing the resulting network and the content of the articles, it is concluded that the research is divided into three thematic clusters (Table  8 ).

Cluster 1 (Blue)—Conceptualization and Attributes of Entrepreneurship Ecosystems

The first cluster is focused on the definition and attributes present in EEs. No consensus has been reached in the academic community on the theoretical characterization of the concept and the elements that characterize it.

While there is none accepted definition of an EE, as Spigel ( 2018 ) points out, the most active area of interest has been around the types of domains (Isenberg, 2010 , 2011 ), components (Cohen, 2006 ) or attributes (Spigel, 2017 ).

Diverse literature provides tools that show several factors considered important for a successful EE. Cohen ( 2006 ) refers to formal and informal networks, government, university, skilled human resources, support services, funding and talent. The works of Isenberg ( 2010 , 2011 ) list six domains present in the ecosystem: policy, funding, culture, support, human capital and markets.

Spigel ( 2017 ) efforts to rank the categories of an EE in terms of (i) cultural attributes (entrepreneurship stories, supportive culture), (ii) social attributes (talent, mentors, networks, investment capital) and (iii) material attributes (infrastructure, universities, support services, public policies, open markets). Spigel and Harrison ( 2018 ) give attention to several factors such as governance, knowledge, industry, actors, resources and benefits.

Table 9 summarizes the attributes by applying them to the EEs.

Although the topic on the attributes of EEs is innovative, it has not been without trials. Several articles highlight criticisms of previous work (Alvedalen & Boschma, 2017 ; Brown & Mason, 2017 ; Malecki, 2018 ; Nicotra et al., 2018 ; Stam & Spigel, 2017 ). Alvedalen and Boschma ( 2017 ), Nicotra et al. ( 2018 ) and Stam and Spigel ( 2017 ) highlighted the lack of a clear analytical framework to empirically explain the cause-effect relationship of EEs’ attributes and their effects on productive entrepreneurship. The static approach of EE studies was another criticism highlighted as its evolution over time was not considered. Finally, Malecki ( 2018 ) noted the lack of an issue related to spatial scale.

Cluster 2 (Red)—Spatial Context and Knowledge Ecosystems

Beyond definitional debates, the lead author of this cluster, Stam ( 2015 ), expresses himself critically concerning studies of EEs. He underlines that it is not only generating entrepreneurship that makes it a good EE. He also mentions that the approaches only offer a long list of elements without a cause-effect relationship and concludes that it is unclear what level of geographical analysis the approaches have taken into consideration. The author refers that a new emerging approach to EE occurs, conveying a new view on people, networks and institutions. From this emerging approach, differentiations have emerged at two levels: spatial context and dynamics of knowledge ecosystems.

The first sub-division of this cluster refers to the importance of context in EEs (Acs et al., 2014 ; Cohen, 2006 ; Spigel, 2017 ; Stam, 2015 ). For Stam ( 2015 ), the common denominator in this sub-cluster seems to be that entrepreneurs create value in a specific institutional context. The author approach emphasizes the interdependencies within the context and provides a bottom-up analysis of the performance of regional economies. Stam ( 2015 ) argues that EEs open the door to a shared responsibility among actors that foster, encourage and support entrepreneurs, asking about the systemic services that a region tries to achieve.

The second sub-cluster analyses the dynamics of knowledge ecosystems, namely, the role of HEIs for value creation in a given context. Kuratko ( 2005 ), in his study, notes that younger people have become the most entrepreneurial generation since the Industrial Revolution. The growth and development in programmes and curricula dedicated to entrepreneurship and the creation of new projects have been remarkable. The number of colleges and universities offering entrepreneurship-related courses has increased. However, among this enormous expansion, for Kuratko ( 2005 ) there remains the challenge of the academic legitimacy of entrepreneurship. Although there has been this significant growth, the author points out two specific challenges to academia: (i) development of academic programmes and specialized human resources to improve the quality of courses and (ii) commitment by institutions to create formal academic programmes.

Clarysse et al. ( 2014 ) analysed the tension between knowledge and business ecosystems. In relation to the success factors, they seem similar: diversity of organizations and key actors. However, regarding the factors, anchor organizations in knowledge are universities and public research organizations that do not directly compete with the ecosystem. In contrast, key actors in EEs are based on companies that are competitors in the ecosystem. Another difference lies in value creation. In knowledge ecosystems, to Clarysse et al. ( 2014 ), the value creation flows from upstream to downstream, while in EEs, the value creation process is non-linear . The author’s note that some studies already include universities as part of the knowledge system but that further research could focus on analysing the circumstances under which a university could be considered an ecosystem and how the interaction between knowledge and business ecosystems would occur. Miller and Acs ( 2017 ) explore the EE of higher education by choosing a university campus because the “entrepreneurial opportunities had been identified and/or the process of firm-formation had begun by multiple founders…” (p. 82).

Cluster 3 (Green)—Inter-institutional Relationships in University’s Ecosystem

This third cluster leads us to the wider set of relationships in the university’s ecosystem, strategies and their specificities of regional/local factors. Audretsch et al. ( 2019 ) refers that EE is a vehicle for carrying entrepreneurs, policymakers and managers of linked companies and all their relationships organizing the EE. For the author, an EE is defined by frontiers, and the necessary resources are produced and absorbed within and beyond those boundaries.

Audretsch and Belitski ( 2017 ) set out to develop a model that captured both regional and local systemic factors to better understand and explain variations in entrepreneurial activity. In their study, they found four domains under EEs in European cities: norms and culture, infrastructure and equipment, formal institutions and Internet access and connections. To Audretsch and Link ( 2017 : 431), conceptually a university represents a “reservoir of knowledge, knowledge embodied in faculty…”. Universities are one part of the complexity of the research. They have evolved towards taking an active role in regional development and the dynamics of local networks. This evolution in the model involves inter-institutional relationships between the three actors, leading to an increasing overlap of their roles. The work of Schaeffer and Matt ( 2016 ) showed that universities cannot replicate the mechanisms that lead to the success of an EE but rather adapt their strategies to the specificities of each regional context.

Can academia encompass a third mission, beyond research and teaching? This question was formulated by Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff ( 2000 : 110). Three spaces emerge from the triple helix model: the consensus space, a knowledge space (R&D activities) and innovation space.

Schaeffer and Matt ( 2016 ) state these are coordinated and managed by a regional innovation officer. The authors refer that this responsibility can be assigned to the university to contribute to developing the regional networks. They analysed the university of Strasbourg’s Technology Transfer Offices (TTO) and supported entrepreneurial academic activities over 15 years. The study reveals a strong growth in the structure of the TTO and its role as a boundary, changing objectives and developing collaborations with other regional actors. As pointed by Fini et al. ( 2011 ) and Vohora et al. ( 2004 ), since university faculty have limited entrepreneurial experience, networks with outside contacts are crucial to motivate the creation of entrepreneurial activities as well as their success.

In addition to TTOs, entrepreneurship education, either as part of the academic programme or as an extra-curricular offering, can provide students and faculty with important knowledge to stimulate and support entrepreneurial efforts (relationship to Cluster 2). While most of the study streams have focused on the role of faculty as academic entrepreneurs, Boh et al. ( 2016 ) focused on the role of students. The typology created by the authors provides insight into the various responsibilities of students and faculty in technology commercialisation. It is the different relationships between students, faculty and entrepreneurs and the analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each that can lead to the creation of a successful spinoff. The authors, Boh et al. ( 2016 ), group into six the university practices, independent of the TTOs: project disciplines for technology commercialisation, mentoring programmes, incubator programmes, entrepreneurial business plans and entrepreneurial education for students and university professionals.

Other authors analyse the relation between social networks and academic entrepreneurship (Clarysse et al., 2011 ; Fini et al., 2011 ; Vohora et al., 2004 ), Spinoffs (Lockett & Wright, 2005 ; Fini et al, 2011 , 2017 ; Vohora et al., 2004 ; Clarysse et al., 2011 ; Hayter, 2016 ) and the entrepreneurial environment and academic programmes supporting entrepreneurship (Fini et al., 2011 ). As pointed by Fini et al. ( 2011 ) and Vohora et al. ( 2004 ), since university faculty have limited entrepreneurial experience, networks with outside contacts are crucial to motivate the creation of entrepreneurial activities as well as their success. Vohora et al. ( 2004 ) argues that networks are pathways through which access to opportunities will be achieved, for example, gaining knowledge of the market that motivates the creation of the spinoff. Hayter ( 2016 ) uses Vohora et al. ( 2004 ) qualitative model of entrepreneurial development and that includes four stages of development: opportunity recognition, commitment, credibility and sustainability, as well as the resources and network elements associated with each stage. Entrepreneurial development and its success are reflected in the progression of the university spinoff , overcoming the obstacles of each stage, with the aim of achieving entrepreneurial sustainability.

Hayter ( 2016 ), using mixed methods, compares the composition and contribution of social networks among entrepreneurial academics and analyses how these networks relate to the development trajectory of university spinoffs . The traditional definition of spinoff , according to Hayter et al. ( 2017 ) focuses on the role of faculty establishing a company based on a technology licensing agreement, with their home university. University spinoffs , for Hayter ( 2016 ), are an important vehicle for generating productivity, job creation and prosperity for regional economies. The author also mentions that spinoffs are a window through which the contributions of universities can be examined. He compares the composition and contribution of social networks among entrepreneurial academics and analyses how these networks relate to the development trajectory of university spinoffs.

Cluster Relations

The three clusters are related. The cluster 2 indicates the importance of higher education for EE and cluster 3 leads us to the triple helix model with the focus on university entrepreneurial experience. Cluster 1 introduces definitions and attributes necessaries to understand the EE and their relationship with or within the HEIs. This cluster creates a theoretical background with relevant publications in entrepreneurship research.

Clusters 2 and 3 have a robust relation. Notably, the position of Stam ( 2015 ) and Spigel ( 2017 ) influences 2 clusters, indicating higher link strength and confirming its centrality in the EE literature. Various articles from cluster 2 criticize the analytical framework that produces long lists of factors that enhance entrepreneurship. Their perspective enables researchers to measure an EE within a country or territory by considering their specificities. This understanding highlights the configuration, structure and evolution of ecosystems influenced by ecosystem process and territorial boundaries.

In cluster 3 it is evident that the challenge of the third mission that academia encompass emphasizes entrepreneurship and the corresponding emergence of the entrepreneurial university. The relationships between students, faculty and entrepreneurs and the analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each can lead to the creation of a successful spinoff.

To understand the substance of AEE and how the broad research was advanced, the group of these three clusters creates a fundamental and theoretical base to: the terminology of EE, the higher education context and the emergence of an AEE (Fig.  6 ).

figure 6

Academic entrepreneurship ecosystem model

Contributions and Future Research Directions

The scientific literature about entrepreneurial ecosystems has been growing, and within it, one area that has been gaining impulse has been the academic ecosystem. This paper contributes by attempting to consolidate the most important of this growing literature and to try to confirm it.

This study brings important theoretical contributions to the existing literature. Firstly, this study led to a survey and mapping of the main investigations on EE and their relationship with the HEI. Secondly, this study strengthens the credibility of the AEE theoretical frameworks in lending support to the importance of analysing the specific contributions of HEIs to the development of an EE. Thirdly, the developed co-citation analysis allowed obtaining an understanding about the existing field of knowledge on EEs and AEE, identifying their scientific origins and revealing research roots.

Most contributions are conceptual providing an understanding of the different elements that form conducive AEE. Therefore, as a fourth contribution, this study emphasizes the need for more empirical research, especially regarding potential causal relations between elements, context factors, outputs and outcomes of entrepreneurial ecosystems. The few empirical studies on entrepreneurial ecosystems have majorly applied case studies including qualitative methods (Kansheba & Wald, 2020 ; Malecki, 2018 ; Nicotra et al., 2018 ). There is a need of deploying other methodological approaches for more rigor and generalizability purposes.

The above leads us to propose as possible future research directions. As mentioned, most research studies on EEs and AEEs have adopted the qualitative methodological approach (particularly case studies), which is understandable since the research topic is emergent. However, considering the systematic research conducted here, it is believed that this topic would benefit from implementing mixed methodologies (as has already been carried out by some of the authors included here). Thus, with the adoption of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, it will be attempted, in a future line of research, to build an assessment tool for an AEE.

The composition of clusters groups generated research points. Studying an AEE based on a regional scale will imply, firstly, building a theoretical framework, based on multiple dimensions, which allows the development of the EE model. HEIs are a complex process which involves an extensive research approach to accurately represent the levels and components of the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem (cluster 1). It will be necessary to study whether the HEI develops strategies adapted to the specificities of its EE. Likewise, to explore the pillars of the model from the point of view of young university students who show varying degrees of entrepreneurial intention (cluster 2). Several studies have found that entrepreneurship education has a positive impact on students’ entrepreneurial intention (Peterman & Kennedy, 2003 ; Souitaris et al., 2007 ; Pruett et al., 2009 ; Engle et al., 2010 ; Lanero et al., 2011 ; Sanchez, 2013 ; Bae et al., 2014 ; Sansone et al., 2021 ). Vanevenhoven ( 2013 ) and Fiore et al. ( 2019 ) have warned of the need for more research into the impact of entrepreneurship education on students in different contexts. Although there has been a growing number of publications on the role of intentions in the entrepreneurial process (Liñán & Fayolle, 2015 ; Ferreira-Neto et al, 2023 ), there is still a gap in research on how to improve the presence of higher education students in entrepreneurial activities so that they can face the problems of the labour market. A broader study could be undertaken, from a mixed approach, to establish mechanisms to collect appropriate data and to establish the different levels of success of EE outcomes, by the HEI (cluster 3).

Finally, the relevance of knowledge of skilled people has brought to the policy agenda of governments worldwide the need to modernize science and higher education systems and institutions (Santos et al., 2016 ; Scott, 2000 ). Portugal is characterized as a developed country but with a poorly qualified workforce in European average terms, facing structural barriers to economic growth (Carneiro et al., 2014 ). It was also a country that has seen one of the fastest developments in its scientific system at the beginning of the twenty-first century (Heitor et al., 2014 ). The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges to the country: the establishment of telework and the intense decline in economic activity were some of the most evident cross-cutting changes, with direct consequences for the emergence of new forms and policies to support the employment (Sousa & Paiva, 2023 ).

All these reasons have been supporting the need to make a RSL focused on how young graduates capture new forms and conditions of the exercise of work. This knowledge is crucial to investigate wow the entrepreneurial skills or the academic entrepreneurship path is in the future.

Conclusions and Limitations

The quest to identify and define EEs has become an issue of great importance as countries, regions and cities handle with an entrepreneurial economy. The range of these topics is wide and ambiguous. Researchers and practitioners have assessed various contributions, most of which identify HEIs as important development institutions. Marques et al., ( 2021 : 133) highlight their importance, stating that HEIs “… are seen as organizations responsible for human resource training, knowledge transfer, and regional development”.

This work used data from the Scopus and WoS databases. Based on 110 academic articles obtained through a rigorous data collection process, the study went beyond describing elementary information, standing out in relation to the review studies found and filling a gap in the field of EEs taking into consideration higher education institutions. It also revealed the embryonic state of research (2011–2022) and reinforced the scientific importance of the topic since about 56% of the articles were published in the last 3 years. The results were published in a variety of indexed journals. However, this study shows the limitations in other literature reviews.

Despite considering that this study constitutes a work that will be the object of the development in the coming years, the study is not without limitations. The first limitation concerns to the search strategy. This study is based on the regular updating of databases with the consequent increase or decrease in the number of indexed journals, so a bibliometric analysis of an emerging topic can be subject to substantial variations in just a very few years. The other limitation of this study is that it used two different databases to analyse a particular topic. Despite being two of the most influential databases, the overview could be improved by including other databases. Another limitation is the subjectivity present in the scientific articles analysis. Although bibliometric methods help to reduce subjectivity, it is not possible to completely exclude some interpretative biases.

Data Availability

Available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author.

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Correia, M.P., Marques, C.S., Silva, R. et al. Academic Entrepreneurship Ecosystems: Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Directions. J Knowl Econ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-024-01819-x

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Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis: How Is Depression Experienced by Adolescents? A Synthesis of the Qualitative Literature

Affiliations.

  • 1 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil, and Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
  • 2 Hospital Materno-Infantil Presidente Vargas and Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
  • 3 Georgetown University, Washington, DC.
  • 4 The George Washington University, Washington, DC.
  • 5 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil, and Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • PMID: 38340896
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2023.11.013

Objective: To systematically investigate how youth with lived experience report their experience of depression in terms of features of depression and in relation to themselves and their environment.

Method: We conducted a systematic review of qualitative research across the world that explored the subjective experience of depression among youth (age range 10-24) who had self-reported, screened positive, or received a formal diagnosis of the disorder. We used multiple databases to search for relevant studies published in any language up until March 2023. Studies were coded regarding features of depression reported by adolescents. We also used thematic synthesis to extract and synthesize descriptions of the lived experience of depression, and to develop analytic themes. The study was registered with PROSPERO, CRD42021218300.

Results: We identified a total of 23,424 unique records, and included 39 studies in the final review, representing the views of 884 adolescents with lived experience of depression. Most of the studies were conducted in high-income countries (72.8%), and most participants were female (65%). The most frequently reported features of depression were sadness (present in 92.3% of the studies), social withdrawal (76.9%), and loneliness (69.2%). Additionally, we constructed three themes, which aimed to synthesize youths' accounts on their perceptions and experiences of depression: (1) making sense; (2) factoring in culture and contextual influences; and (3) accessing support and care.

Conclusion: Some of the more commonly reported features of depression among youths are not explicitly included in the DSM/ICD diagnostic criteria but are highly relevant and closely connected to the experiences of adolescents. Moreover, contextual interpretations of depression may be more sensitive to capture representations and narratives of depression among youth. Thus, incorporating features of depression reported by adolescents could potentially increase accuracy of detection, promote collaborative work and enhance therapeutic and care outcomes.

Keywords: depression; qualitative research.

Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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    A qualitative systematic review brings together research on a topic, systematically searching for research evidence from primary qualitative studies and drawing the findings together.

  24. Research Guides: Literature Reviews: Concept Mapping

    A concept map or mind map is a visual representation of knowledge that illustrates relationships between concepts or ideas. It is a tool for organizing and representing information in a hierarchical and interconnected manner. At its core, a concept map consists of nodes, which represent individual concepts or ideas, and links, which depict the relationships between these concepts.

  25. Frontiers

    So far, systematic literature review has been focused on quantitative research, but qualitative research is very lacking. In particular, in quantitative research, guidelines for evaluating the quality of various documents and data extraction for systematic literature review are presented, but in qualitative research, they are very limited.

  26. Academic Entrepreneurship Ecosystems: Systematic Literature Review and

    Research on the entrepreneurship ecosystem, based on different data and scales, limits the acceptance of a single definition. This conceptual limitation and the still recent research and higher education institutions have come to be seen as ecosystems associated with entrepreneurship. The aim of this study is to contribute to the field of knowledge, identify current and emerging thematic areas ...

  27. Is literature review a qualitative research method?

    Popular answers (1) Subhash C. Kundu Gurugram University Gurugram No! Literature review is not a qualitative research method. Actually, literature review is related to preparing...

  28. Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis: How Is Depression ...

    Objective: To systematically investigate how youth with lived experience report their experience of depression in terms of features of depression and in relation to themselves and their environment. Method: We conducted a systematic review of qualitative research across the world that explored the subjective experience of depression among youth (age range 10-24) who had self-reported, screened ...