Literature Reviews
Introduction
The International Journal of Market Research seeks to increase submissions consisting of literature reviews
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Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2007 17:24:20 -0000
From: "Catherine Gardner" <Catherine.Gardner@warc.com>
International Journal of Market Research
Call for Literature Reviews
A comprehensive and relevant literature review is a vital part of any doctoral thesis or academic paper. Literature reviews demonstrate that an author has identified the key sources of information already published on their topic and enables them to place their own research within the context of current knowledge – ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’.
However, a literature review can also be an end in itself. Not only does appropriately structured, in-depth secondary research provide a very comprehensive and succinct source of easily accessible information on a topic, it should also lead to the author drawing conclusions about the key issues, and identifying key gaps in current knowledge worthy of exploration in future research. An effective review also sorts out the ‘wheat from the chaff’.
The IJMR Executive Editorial Board have recently decided that the journal should be pro-active in fostering submissions that provide reviews of current knowledge about topics of importance to our readers. In particular, we believe that in today’s time-pressured world, market research practitioners and academics alike would benefit from papers that help them gain an overview of current knowledge about topics relevant to a particular immediate need. These could be related to methodological issues (e.g. internet research), contextual topics (e.g. brand equity) or applications (e.g. case studies). We are also hoping to publish two themed issues a year, and papers based on literature reviews on the specific topics would also provide useful ‘where are we now’ introductions. Data Integration and Ethnography are the proposed special issue themes for 2007, and have already been the subjects of ‘Calls for Papers’ in recent issues of IJMR (see www.ijmr.com).
The Board view these reviews as needing to be rather more than simply summarising existing papers – authors will need to identify the overall current position; practitioner and academic perspectives; key trends; any suggested new models arising from the review; strengths, weaknesses, issues, gaps in knowledge and recommendations for future research on the topic (‘call to action’).
This could provide a useful opportunity for PhD or MBA students to publish the literature review part of their thesis as a discrete paper. It could also provide academics, specialists or senior practitioners with opportunities to raise issues in their field. Alternatively, this provides a new opportunity for trainee market researchers to develop a thorough understanding of key methodologies as part of their training programme (or continuous professional development) and gain experience of writing a journal level paper. The target is to include a review paper within each issue.
If you, your colleagues, students or staff would like to submit a literature review paper, then please e-mail it to ijmrreviews@warc.com. Further information on submitting papers is contained within the Guidelines for Authors you will find on the IJMR web site (www.ijmr.com).
Peter Mouncey
Editor
International Journal of Market Research