Systematic reviews and tech mining: A methodological comparison with case study

Area of Science:

• Library and Information Science
• Emerging Technologies Research
• Scientific Methodology

Background:

• The Medical Library Association identified critical future-focused questions for the profession.
• Systematic review methodology, designed for retrospective analysis, was found unsuitable for predicting future trends in emerging technologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore and develop methodologies appropriate for answering future-oriented research questions.
• To compare the established systematic review process with the emerging tech mining methodology.

Main Methods:

• A novel research design was developed, integrating systematic review principles with text mining and visualization techniques.
• A comparative analysis was conducted between the developed process and tech mining.

Main Results:

• Both systematic reviews and tech mining share common elements: defined questions, database selection, iterative search strategies, broad data collection, and analysis.
• A key difference lies in their temporal focus: systematic reviews look backward, while tech mining primarily looks forward.
• The study identified potential enhancements for both methodologies.

Conclusions:

• Tech mining can be improved by integrating librarians and emphasizing standards and collaboration.
• Systematic reviews can benefit from tech mining tools for data analysis and improved communication strategies for findings adoption.