How to Conduct a Systematic Literature Review?

Abstract

Training course for doctoral students organized by the ICE and the EID of the Polytechnic University of Madrid, lasting 4 hours, taught on June 22 and 23, 2026, in online format.

The main purpose of this training activity is to introduce researchers to conducting systematic literature reviews (SLRs). It begins with the need to conduct literature reviews to understand the state of the art, distinguishing between the concepts of a literature review and a systematic review. Several types of systematic reviews are presented, with special emphasis on the two most commonly used approaches: systematic literature reviews and literature mapping studies. Once the basic concepts are established, the main methodological frameworks for conducting systematic reviews are introduced. The three major phases of a systematic review (planning, conducting, and reporting) are described in detail. The course concludes with a simple case study of a systematic literature mapping review.

The specific objectives of the course are: 1. To know what is meant by systematic review of the literature. 2. Evaluate the effort required to conduct a systematic review of the literature. 3. Plan a systematic review of the literature. 4. Conduct a systematic review of the literature. 5. Capture the work done in a report or research article.

The contents of the seminar are: 1. Introduction to systematic reviews 2. Systematic literature reviews vs. Literature mapping reviews and Scoping reviews 3. Methodological frameworks of reference for systematic literature reviews 4. Planning phase 5. Conducting the review phase 6. Reporting phase 7. Case study 8. Bibliometrix 9. Collection of workflows and tools for conducting literature reviews 10. Conclusions