Search Results

Hans-Dieter Klingemann Library Awarded Open Library Badge The Hans-Dieter Klingemann Library at Berlin International University of Applied Sciences (BI) has been awarded the Open Library Badge 2020, joining a select group of academic libraries in Germany re...

Berlin International's IT department provides instructions for printing from either MacOS or Windows computers.

What is Open Access? Open Access (OA) refers to the free, immediate, online availability of research outputs such as journal articles or books, combined with the rights to use these outputs fully in the digital environment. Open access journals are scholarly p...

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials that are free to access, adapt, and share thanks to open licenses that explicitly permit retention, reuse, revision, remixing, and redistribution —the “5 Rs”. Why Use OER? Cost s...

Systematic literature reviews (SLRs) are a structured, reproducible method for identifying and synthesizing existing research to answer a focused research question. This page will guide you through the concept and process step by step. What Is a Systematic Li...

Overview A protocol is a written plan that specifies, in advance, exactly how you intend to conduct your systematic literature review. It is not complete until all 11/12 sub-sections below have been worked through and recorded. Writing the protocol is not a b...

Overview This step translates the search strategy you documented in your protocol into actual database queries, records the results systematically, and prepares a clean, deduplicated set of references for screening. Precision and documentation at this stage a...

Overview Screening is the process of applying your pre-specified inclusion and exclusion criteria to the deduplicated set of references produced earlier, in order to identify the studies that will form the basis of your review. It proceeds in two sequential p...

Overview Quality appraisal is the systematic assessment of the methodological rigor of each study included after screening. It answers the question: how much confidence can we place in the findings of this study? Appraisal does not judge whether a study is in...

Overview Data extraction is the process of systematically pulling the information you need from each included study and recording it in a standardised form. It bridges the gap between your screened, appraised set of studies and the synthesis you will conduct ...

Overview Synthesis is where the work of the review becomes an argument. Having identified, screened, appraised, and extracted data from your included studies, you now interpret what they collectively say in response to your research question. Reporting then t...

Overview A well-defined research question is the foundation of a systematic literature review. Every subsequent decision (which databases to search, what terms to use, which studies to include) flows directly from it. A question that is too broad produces an ...

This checklist, adapted from vom Brocke et al. (2015), helps you evaluate whether your search meets the standards of rigor expected in a systematic review. Use it at three stages: before you search, while searching, and after completing your search. Before th...

This section is distinct from Appraise Study Quality, which assesses the rigor of the primary studies you have included. This section asks a different question: how rigorously did you conduct the review itself? Overview Quality appraisal tools such as CASP, ...

Overview This document explains how to develop, refine, and evaluate a research question. A research question is the central question your essay or thesis aims to answer. It guides your literature search, determines your methodology, and keeps your writing fo...

Overview This document explains how to map the landscape of your topic before diving into complex academic journals. Gathering background information helps you understand the context of your research, identify key theories, and discover the exact vocabulary u...

Overview Searching for academic literature is different from using Google. A simple web search guesses what you mean; academic databases match your exact words. This means you must build a structured search strategy to ensure you find the most relevant litera...

Overview Not everything you find in a library database is perfect for your research, and not everything you find on the open web is useless. Evaluation is the process of deciding whether a piece of information is credible, relevant, and appropriate for your s...

Overview Once you have found and evaluated a collection of high-quality sources, you must process them. This step bridges the gap between researching and writing. It involves reading efficiently, storing your files logically, and combining different authors' ...