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Table 1 Guidelines in assessing the validity and reliability of the literature review (

From: Challenges and opportunities in crop simulation modelling under seasonal and projected climate change scenarios for crop production in South Africa

Action

Validation

Phase 1: Design

 In relationship to the overall research field of crop simulation and data requirement, is this literature review needed and does it make a substantial, practical, or theoretical contribution?

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 Are the motivation, the purpose, and the research question(s) for reviewing the challenges and opportunities in crop modelling clearly stated and motivated?

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 Does the review account for the previous literature review and other relevant literature?

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 Is the approach/methodology for the literature review clearly stated?

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 Is this the most appropriate approach to address the research problem?

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 Are the search strategy clearly and transparently described and motivated (including search terms, databases used, and explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria)?

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Phase 2: Conduct

 Is the search process appropriate for this type of review?

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 Have proper measures been taken to ensure research quality?

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 Can it be trusted that the final sample is appropriate and in concordance with the review’s overall purpose?

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Phase 3: Data abstraction and analysis

 Is the data abstracted from the article appropriate in concordance with the overall purpose of the review?

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 Is the process for abstracting data accurately described?

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 Have proper measures been taken to ensure quality data abstraction?

 

 Is the chosen data analysis technique appropriate with the overall research question and the data abstracted?

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 Is the analysis process properly described and transparent?

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Phase 4: Structuring and writing the review

 Is the review article organized coherently in relation to the overall approach and research question?

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 Can the overall method of conducting the literature review be replicated?

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 Is the result of the review reported appropriately and clearly?

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 Does the article synthesize the literature review findings into a clear and valuable contribution to the topic?

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 Are questions or directions for further research included? Are the results from the review useable?

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