Advancing Theory with Review Articles

• Date: 01 March 2020
• Author: John E. Prescott,Caroline Gatrell,Corinne Post,Riikka Sarala
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12549
• Published date: 01 March 2020

© 2019 Society for the Advancement of Management Studies and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Advancing Theory with Review Articles*

Corinne Posta, Riikka Saralab, Caroline Gatrellc

and John E. Prescottd

aLehigh University; bUniversity of North Carolina Greensboro; cUniversity of Liverpool; dUniversity of

Pittsburgh

ABSTRACT Reviewing a body of work presents unique opportunities for making a theoretical

contribution. Review articles can make readers think theoretically differently about a given field

or phenomenon. Yet, review articles that advance theory have been historically under-repre-

sented in Journal of Management Studies. Accordingly, the purpose of this editorial is to propose

a multi-faceted approach for fashioning theoretical contributions in review articles, which we

hope will inspire more authors to develop and submit innovative, original, and high-quality

theory-building review articles. We argue that advancing theory with review articles requires an

integrative and generative approach. We propose a non-exhaustive set of avenues for developing

theory with a review article: exposing emerging perspectives, analysing assumptions, clarifying

constructs, establishing boundary conditions, testing new theory, theorizing with systems theory,

and theorizing with mechanisms. As a journal, Journal of Management Studies is a journal of ideas

– new ideas; ideas drawn from reflections on extant theory and ideas with potential to change

the way we understand and interpret theory. With this in mind, we think that advancing theory

with review articles is an untapped source of new ideas.

Keywords: literature review, management, organization, reviews, synthesis, systematic, theory,

writing

INTRODUCTION

The Journal of Management Studies (JMS) has a long history of publishing impactful review

articles on important topics in management and organization literatures. In contrast to

some other journals that publish only reviews, or that feature an annual special issue

consisting of reviews, JMS publishes review articles alongside regular conceptual and

Journal of Man agement Studi es 57:2 March 2020

doi:10. 1111/j oms .12 54 9

Address for reprints: Corinne Post, Lehigh University, College of Business, 621 Taylor Street, Bethlehem, PA

18015-3117 (cgp208@lehigh.edu).

*Forthcoming, 2020.

352 C. Post et al.

© 2019 Society for the Advancement of Management Studies and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

empirical articles in regular and special issues. Review articles can take many different

approaches and can vary from systematic to less systematic ones (Snyder, 2019) as long

as they describe in at least some detail the scope of the works under review, how the in-

cluded studies were analysed, and what conclusions were drawn from them. For the pur-

pose of this editorial, we define a review article as a study that analyses and synthesizes

an existing body of literature by identifying, challenging, and advancing the building

blocks of a theory through an examination of a body (or several bodies) of prior work.

To be published in Journal of Management Studies (JMS), articles must make a substan-

tive contribution to theory in the management and organization literatures, that is, they

must ‘advance conceptual and empirical knowledge, and address practice in the area of

management and organization’ (JMS Mission Statement). Review articles provide many

opportunities for making a theoretical contribution and advancing scientific knowledge.

They can help other researchers understand the research topic and discern important,

under-examined areas, which allows for the development of novel and interesting re-

search questions and empirical studies in subsequent research. In novel or emergent re-

search areas, review articles can connect research findings from various disparate sources

in original ways so that a new perspective or phenomenon emerges. In more mature

research areas, review articles can help to bridge fragmented areas of research as knowl-

edge in management studies often times develops along disciplinary lines resulting in

different theoretical perspectives not sufficiently informing and drawing from each other.

Regrettably, review articles are under-represented among articles published in JMS,

despite their potential for advancing theory and generating impact, and despite their

longstanding presence in JMS’ volumes. Many review articles do not advance far in JMS’

review process because they do not satisfy JMS’ aim to put forth a significant theoretical

contribution, even when their topic clearly fits within JMS’ scope. In other words, even

when review articles address a topic that is of interest to JMS they encounter rejection

when they fail to advance our theoretical understanding of the topic or phenomenon in

novel ways. It may well be more expedient to write a summative and descriptive review,

but such efforts often produce limited theoretical contributions and, therefore, do not

meet JMS’ standards. However, as authors and editors, we can attest to the challenges of

advancing theory with reviews, a challenge compounded by the spareseness of articles

on how one might theorize with reviews (Hoon and Baluch, 2019).

We propose that unlocking the potential for making a theoretical contribution with a

review article requires combining integrative and generative approaches, which can move

a review’s contribution beyond a summary of prior research and a list of suggestions

for future research directions towards a fundamental theoretical contribution. The inte-

grative aspect involves analysis and synthesis of existing research (Torraco, 2016) while

the generative aspect refers to creating new ideas and theories based on reviewing prior

studies to provide a strategic platform for future scholarship (Gatrell and Breslin, 2017).

Typically, a review paper consists of both critical analysis and synthesis, which support

each other (Torraco, 2005). A critical analysis is the examination of an issue or question

with a transparent methodology from a new perspective that questions the ‘taken for

granted’ approach (Torraco, 2005). It lays out a compelling, logical argument to explain

key dimensions of the topic, phenomenon, method, or conceptualization examined, such

as origins, history, strengths, key conclusions, flaws, contradictions, interdependencies,