Reinvigorating the Notion of Becoming “Scholars Before Researchers”: Experiences With Systematic Literature Reviews

Systematic literature reviews (SLRs) present scholars with an opportunity to develop deep conceptual and methodological understanding of their field of interest. Unfortunately, this skill is not necessarily a compulsory component of one’s formal graduate training. In this paper, we have storied our lived experiences with SLRs in the form of 13 vignettes. These vignettes were created from a series of open-ended questions that were developed from continued engagement with 10 articles, which were foundational in our own teaching and learning of the SLR method. A content analysis of the vignettes revealed five inter-related themes: (1) Rigor, (2) Process, (3) Benefits, (4) Learning, and (5) Teaching. Each of these five themes are discussed in relation to recollections of our experiences with SLRs. We provide recommendations for engagement with the SLR method with the goal of empowering researchers, professors, and students to explore its use in postsecondary coursework and research activities.