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The Systematic Literature Review: Advantages and Applications in Nonprofit Scholarship

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Abstract

Voluntary and nonprofit sector studies are relatively young and still seeking common intellectual ground. One vehicle for accomplishing this task is the systematic literature review (SLR). SLRs approach knowledge generation through a rules-driven comprehensive process for finding and analyzing prior knowledge. SLRs support the voluntary sector’s current emphasis on data transparency in publication. They also support the growth of voluntary sector empiricism by offering a greater claim to reliability and generalizability of findings. Finally, they support goals of inclusiveness and knowledge unification that are important to the voluntary sector academy, its funders, and its constituents. This explanatory article draws on examples from the nonprofit and voluntary sector to describe the rationale and methods of the SLR.

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Data Availabilty

There is no data, therefore the data-sharing statement is not applicable.

Notes

  1. For more on publication bias, see https://methods.cochrane.org/bias/reporting-biases.

  2. Grey literature is industry and government publications outside of academic and commercial publishing channels. They are commonly considered a legitimate element of SLRs. For more, see www.greylit.org.

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  1. O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs, Indiana University-Bloomington, 1315 East Tenth Street, SPEA 353, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Beth Gazley

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  1. Beth Gazley
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Correspondence to Beth Gazley.

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Gazley, B. The Systematic Literature Review: Advantages and Applications in Nonprofit Scholarship. Voluntas 33, 1256–1262 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-021-00410-1

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