Research projects sponsored by state departments of transportation (DOTs) routinely require a literature review as part of the research effort. The literature review is a critical portion of the research process in any field of inquiry and an important component of the final research report. For the researcher, a literature review helps to clarify the scope of the research project by creating a narrative of what is and is not known in the field and where there are areas of dispute. For the customer of the research and other readers, the review also provides valuable context, establishes the researcher’s expertise, and relates the findings of the project to what is already known. However, investigators tasked with developing literature reviews for transportation research projects may not always be aware of the importance of the literature review or have an adequate understanding of the necessary steps for producing a high-quality review. This may lead to the submission of literature reviews that are incomplete, unfocused, poorly explained, or otherwise inadequate. Minnesota DOT Research Engineer Alan Rindels raised this issue during the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, recounting his own experience receiving inadequate literature reviews. He presented his concerns to both the Standing Committee on Conduct of Research (CoR) and the Standing Committee on Library and Information Science for Transportation (LIST) and requested the committees’ assistance in addressing the problem. A working group, comprised of members from both committees, identified four components to address this issue: 1. How to conduct literature searches; 2. Where to search for transportation information; 3. How to put it all together as a quality literature review; and 4. Definitions for related terms. LIST Chair Roberto Sarmiento led work on the first two components of the project with teams from LIST and the Transportation Division of the Special Libraries Association (SLA). Susan Sillick, CoR member and LIST co-research coordinator, led work on the third and fourth components. Together the two coordinated the entire project. For the third component, Minnesota DOT Research Director Linda Taylor supported the preparation of a synthesis of accepted practices on writing a literature review, carried out by consultant CTC & Associates, LLC. This e-circular is the result of a 2-year collaborative effort by more than 50 individuals. The publication is aimed at all transportation researchers, including university investigators, graduate students, consultants, and practitioners at state and federal transportation agencies. The e-circular also will be useful to sponsors of research when conducting initial literature searches and evaluating literature reviews to determine the quality of the products received. (Author/publisher)
Abstract