An Early Look at a Scoping Review of Systematic Review Methodologies in Engineering

This research work-in-progress paper is a scoping review of published systematic literature reviews (SLRs) in engineering. SLRs are considered one of the highest levels of proof for evidence based decision making, but they are only as good as the methods used, starting with the search strategy. With studies described as "systematic literature reviews" proliferating through engineering disciplines, including engineering education, it is necessary to examine how well these studies reflect a methodologically sound understanding of established SLR processes. The initial search returned 4,992 results, after removing duplicates. After completing the abstract review, we included 2,674 results for full text review. A preliminary analysis of the citations included for full text shows that SLRs have increased dramatically over the past decade in engineering education and approximately 14.1% of included results for full text analysis contain an education related term in the title, abstract, or publication title. This trend implies that more education on the SLR research method may be needed in engineering education graduate programs and through professional development opportunities.