Guidance for Submitting Authors

Table of Contents

The phrase literature review is often used as a catchall term that describes any work derived from a canvassing of extant literature. In practice, there are myriad types of reviews that require different methods (cf. Grant & Booth, 2009; Snyder, 2019); Andreeva (2021) created a helpful webpage with additional references. The LREHS editorial board uses the broadest definition of “literature review [that is] [t]ypically narrative [and] may or may not include comprehensive searching” (Grant & Booth, 2009, p. 94). As a narrative, the board desires to publish literature reviews that offer well-developed summaries organized in a manner that provides a coherent presentation and discussion of the topic (i.e., the manuscript is a substantive learning opportunity with long-term value worthy of archival). Although narrative literature reviews are anticipated to be the prevalent review type submitted, the LREHS editorial board will consider for publication other review types as well; in this regard, authors are encouraged to review the included citations so that the review type performed is clearly indicated in the submitted manuscript.

Defining the Review Approach

The board—like an author—recognizes that it is impossible to present all published literature related to any single topic in a manuscript; thus, the summaries presented in a manuscript are guided by the author's purpose for conducting the review that then guided the method of searching, delimiting, and finally selecting literature to include. In order to help the board and, ultimately, any reader to understand why and how published works were selected, the editor suggests that Purpose and Method sections are included at the beginning of submitted manuscripts. By so doing, the editorial board will be better able to assess the breadth, depth and relevance of the entire literature presented through the author's lens of the purpose and scope of the review.

References

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