Background: Systematic Literature Reviews (SLRs) have been gaining significant attention from Software Engineering (SE) researchers since 2004. Several researches have also working on improving the scientific and technological infrastructure available to support SLRs in SE. Objective: The study reported in this paper aims to validate the QGS-based search process for SLR, i.e. whether a more effective and/or productive search can be achieved by following such a systematic process. Method: We used a dual-case study, in which each case includes two observations of SE literature search for the same SLR but using and not using the QGS-based approach. Results: The overall sensitivity and precision of each observation were calculated for the search cases that implemented different search design. Conclusions: A systematic search process (QGS-based search in this paper) appears to gain higher sensitivity and precision in the two cases of SLR. Such a search process may help capture more relevant studies as well as save reviewers' time spent in literature search activities. Our observations also proof that an integrated search strategy is recommended for SLRs in SE to avoid the possible limitations of applying single manual or automated search.
Zhang et al. REF assessed the QGS-based systematic search process for SLRs and found that use of such a search process can help both to identify more relevant studies and to save the time spent in the search process.
An empirical assessment of a systematic search process for systematic reviews
15th Annual Conference on Evaluation & Assessment in Software Engineering (EASE 2011)
15th Annual Conference on Evaluation & Assessment in Software Engineering (EASE 2011)
Computer Science