Drone Technologies: A Tertiary Systematic Literature Review on a Decade of Improvements

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have emerged as versatile tools with significant potential in various fields, including, but not limited to civil engineering, ecology, networking and precision agriculture. Systematic literature reviews (SLRs) play a crucial role in assessing the quality of research methods and approaches, aiding researchers and practitioners in selecting and optimizing their projects. However, the quality assessment of UAV-related SLRs and the aggregation of UAV technologies across research fields remain limited. This study aims to address these gaps by conducting a tertiary literature review (TLR) that assesses the quality of SLRs, aggregates data across research fields, and provides guidelines for researchers and practitioners in the UAV community. Based on a review of 73 SLRs, it is evident that the quality of UAV-related SLRs is generally low, with a lack of quality assessment and inadequate reporting of detailed information on primary studies. Consequently, this study presents reporting items and example quality assessment ratings sourced from the SLRs to enhance the transparency and comparability of future UAV-related research. Additionally, it highlights common limitations faced by UAV applications, such as regulatory, technical, social, and research-related challenges, which require attention for progress in the field. Overall, this study aims to enhance the quality and knowledge sharing in the UAV research community by providing insights into the current state of UAV-related SLRs and offering practical guidance for researchers and practitioners through the provision of data-extraction templates and quality control questions for future UAV-related reviews and primary research.