Systematic-narrative hybrid literature review: A strategy for integrating a concise methodology into a manuscript

Abstract

Attempting to build a house without a blueprint could result in a fundamentally unsound structure. A thorough investigation of a building's foundation is essential to assess its quality and fitness for purpose. This is also true of literature reviews which should be constructed on the foundation of a well-developed methodology that clearly outlines the search strategy, inclusion/exclusion criteria, sources of literature, and information synthesis techniques employed to develop the arguments and conclusions presented to the reader. This research note outlines a systematic-narrative hybrid strategy that can be incorporated into a literature review manuscript without overburdening the reader with unnecessary detail.

Keywords

• Literature review
• Systematic
• Narrative
• Hybrid
• Methodology