Doing a Systematic Literature Review in Legal Scholarship

"This book is indispensable for any beginning legal academic, and a useful guide for even the most experienced researcher. With the rapid proliferation of legal literature, and its increasing globalization, neither memory nor intuition is sufficient to inform legal scholars of the published sources likely to be relevant for their own work. The authors provide a step-by-step solution that is clear, succinct and eminently practical, something that should be read before one embarks on legal research and consulted regularly as one proceeds."--Professor Ed Rubin *** In short, a literature review is the comprehensive study and interpretation of literature that relates to a particular topic. While legal scholars have increasingly started to emphasize the importance of conducting a systematic literature review prior to embarking on a larger academic research venture, discipline-specific guidelines have been absent until now. This book fills this gap by offering a step-by-step guide to doing a systematic literature review in legal scholarship. It first discusses what a systematic literature review is and why it is so important. It then moves consecutively through the process of delineating your topic and determining what information to search for, designing and carrying out a systematic search for relevant literature, critically appraising the literature, and synthesizing, discussing and presenting your findings. This will be vital reading for all those undertaking their undergraduate thesis, PhD dissertation, or any other research module that involves conducting academic research. Subject: Legal Research, Legal Methodology]