Table 1

Phases of the literature review

1Selecting research questions
  • RQ1 and

  • RQ2

2Selecting bibliographic or article databases
  • Scopus and

  • Ebsco (Academic Search Ultimate, Business Source Ultimate and AconLit with Full Text databases)

3Choosing search terms
  • Keywords

  • search terms

  • Boolean- and proximity operators (in Scopus PRE/5 and in Ebsco, N5 was used to permit a maximum word distance of five between the search terms to ensure that there were no overly close keywords)

4Setting practical screening criteria
  • English language

  • study setting and relevance

  • timeframe (2012–2023)

  • general applicability in highly digitalised countries, manufacturing and SMEs

  • abstract and full-text availability

5Setting methodological screening criteria
  • Study design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods

6Conducting the review
  • Database search

  • screening and title- and abstract-level review

  • full-text review and eligibility assessment based on the inclusion criteria

7Synthesising the results
  • Synthesis and analysis of the results

  • summary of the findings

Source(s): Created by the authors; Fink (2020, pp. 6–7)

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