Noosa Heads, Queensland, AUSTRALIA, November 16, 2005

All PhD students need to include a literature review in their dissertation. In fact, a review of prior literature is a prerequisite for any research activity. However, most literature reviews are badly written and excruciatingly boring. For example, writing about reviews in the Psychological Bulletin, Bem states that literature reviews are:

“at risk of producing mind-numbing lists of citations and findings that resemble a phone book”.

However, there is a growing understanding among researchers in many disciplines that systematic reviews of the literature are an important research technique in their own right that:

·     Create a firm foundation for undertaking new research.

·     Close areas where no further research is necessary.

·     Uncover areas where research is needed.

·     Help with the development of new theories.

The critical difference between standard literature reviews and systematic literature reviews is that systematic reviews employ a methodology intended to ensure a comprehensive review of existing research that is unbiased and replicable. Guidelines for conducting, reporting and evaluating systematic reviews are available in many disciplines including Information Systems, medicine, and social policy.

The IASESE School will explain the methodology used in a systematic review in computer science including:

·     Preparation of a review protocol

·     Formulating the review question

·     Search strategies

·     Quality Evaluation of studies

·     Data Extraction

·     Data Synthesis

·     Reporting the results

Participants will have the opportunity to practice preparing a protocol for a systematic literature review.

Any computer science/software engineering postgraduate student registered for a PhD. You will have to undertake and report on the literature in your field. This school aims to help you make your literature review a valuable part of your research program. You will be able to produce a concept-centric review that will position your research contribution in the context of current research. You may even delight your examiners with a literature review that doesn’t bore them to tears.  You will also learn how to write a research protocol, which can be used in all areas of your research.

Computer scientists or software engineers from academia and industry interested in research protocols and systematic literature reviews should also attend this exciting day.

Program led by Prof Barbara Kitchenham