Figure 1
The vertical flowchart begins from the top with the text “Selecting Relevant Literature.” A line extends downward and branches into three arrows pointing to three text boxes arranged in a horizontal series labeled from left to right as follows: “Web of Science,” “Service and Marketing Journals,” and “International Business Journals.” Below each label, additional text specifies the search fields. Under “Web of Science,” the text reads “Fields: Topic, all subject areas” with “1,426 docs.” Under “Service and Marketing Journals,” the text reads “Fields: Full text (1) & Abstract, Title, Keywords (2)” with “1,788 docs.” Under “International Business Journals,” the text reads “Fields: Full text (1) and Abstract, Title, Keywords (2)” with “5,006 docs.” Each section continues downward with a series of connected boxes and arrows showing filtering steps. Under each source, the first question reads, “Do they directly deal with Service Internationalization? Are they focused primarily on the service industry or any of its sectors?” A “YES” arrow continues downward to the next step. In the left column (“Web of Science”), the “YES” arrow continues downward to the next box labeled “315 docs” and a rightward arrow to “1,111 Excluded.” A downward arrow leads to the filtering question, “Are they articles? Are they written in English?” A downward arrow labeled “YES” leads to “224 docs,” and a rightward arrow to “91 Excluded.” A downward arrow leads to the question, “Is it possible to get full text?” A downward arrow labeled “YES” leads to “224 docs,” and a rightward arrow to “0 Excluded.” Another downward arrow leads to the question, “Content Analysis. Are they useful to the research question? Fit with inclusion criteria?” A downward arrow labeled “YES” leads to “172 docs,” and a rightward arrow to “52 Excluded.” In the middle column (“Service and Marketing Journals”), the “YES” arrow from the first question continues downward to “144 docs,” and a rightward arrow to “1.644 Excluded.” A downward arrow leads to the question, “Do they overlap?” A downward arrow labeled “YES” leads to “81 docs,” and a rightward arrow to “63 Excluded.” A downward arrow continues to the question, “Is it possible to get full text?” A downward arrow labeled “YES” leads to “81 docs,” and a rightward arrow to “0 Excluded.” Another downward arrow leads to the question, “Content Analysis. Are they useful to the research question? Fit with inclusion criteria?” A downward arrow labeled “YES” leads to “61 docs” and a rightward arrow to “20 Excluded.” In the right column (“International Business Journals”), the “YES” arrow from the first question leads downward to “127 docs” and a rightward arrow to “4,886 Excluded.” A downward arrow leads to the question, “Do they overlap?” A downward arrow labeled “YES” leads to “83 docs” and a rightward arrow to “44 Excluded.” A downward arrow continues to the question, “Is it possible to get full text?” A downward arrow labeled “YES” leads to “83 docs” and a rightward arrow to “0 Excluded.” Another downward arrow leads to the question, “Content Analysis. Are they useful to the research question? Fit with inclusion criteria?” A downward arrow labeled “YES” leads to “63 docs” and a rightward arrow to “20 Excluded.” At the bottom, arrows from all three columns converge into a single box labeled “Reference Screening, Quotes,” with a total of “307 docs.” A horizontal arrow extends from this box to the right, ending at the label “11 New.”Summary of the identification process. Source: Authors’ own creation