Theorizing Through Literature Reviews: The Miner-Prospector Continuum

by Janet Salmons, Ph.D., Research Community Manager for SAGE Methodspace

A feature topic in the Organizational Research Methods journal, Rigorous and Impactful Literature Reviews, explores methodologies for conducting review research. Some of the articles are open access, the others are available until April 12, 2023. Methodspace is highlighting this useful collection with a series of interviews and related resources.

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Are you a miner or a prospector?

In the article “Theorizing Through Literature Reviews: The Miner-Prospector Continuum” Dermot Breslin and Caroline Gatrell pose an intriguing question: do you approach the literature review as a miner or as a prospector? Or is your position as a review researcher somewhere in between?

Watch this interview for their further explanation of these roles and the implications for your study and its contribution.

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Want to learn more and see examples? Read these articles by Dermot and Caroline:

Breslin, D., Gatrell, C., & Bailey, K. (2020). Developing insights through reviews: reflecting on the 20th anniversary of the international journal of management reviews. International Journal of Management Reviews, 22(1), 3-9.

Breslin, D., Callahan, J., & Iszatt‐White, M. (2021). Future‐proofing IJMR as a leading management journal: Reach, relevance and reputation. International Journal of Management Reviews, 23(4), 431-442.

Fan, D., Breslin, D., Callahan, J. L., & Iszatt‐White, M. (2022). Advancing literature review methodology through rigour, generativity, scope and transparency. International Journal of Management Reviews, 24(2), 171-180.

Post, C., Sarala, R., Gatrell, C., & Prescott, J. E. (2020). Advancing theory with review articles. Journal of Management Studies, 57(2), 351-376.

Gatrell, C., Ladge, J. J., & Powell, G. N. (2022). A review of fatherhood and employment: Introducing new perspectives for management research. Journal of Management Studies, 59(5), 1198-1226.

Bios

Caroline Gatrell is Professor of Organization Studies, University of Liverpool Management School, where she is Associate Dean, Research.

She offers a distinguished research record and was awarded the British Academy of Management Research Medal in 2020. Her research critically analyses, from a socio-cultural perspective, how professional workers (often parents) balance paid work and family lives. Current research projects include a focus on fathers and employment; studies on the ‘maternal body’ within organizational settings and research on how senior women clergy experience careers, work and family 

Caroline is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the British Academy of Management. Caroline is presently Chair of the Research Committee, Chartered Association of Business Schools and is a General Editor, Journal of Management Studies

Dermot Breslin is a full professor of Organisational Behaviour at Rennes School of Business, France, director of the research centre, Rethinking Tomorrow's Organization, and fellow of the British Academy of Management. His research focuses on evolutionary approaches in organization studies, organizational learning and change, and has been published in leading journals including the Organization Studies, International Journal of Management Reviews, Organizational Research Methods, and Work Employment and Society. Dermot sits on the editorial boards of the Journal of Management Studies, International Small Business Journal and the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, and previously served as Co Editor-in-Chief for the International Journal of Management Reviews between 2017-2022. Before entering academia he worked as a chartered engineer in the steel, aluminium and paper industries

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Methodspace posts about Literature Reviews and Review Research