A critical appraisal tool for systematic literature reviews in software engineering

Context: Methodological research on systematic literature reviews (SLRs)in Software Engineering (SE)has so far focused on developing and evaluating guidelines for conducting systematic reviews. However, the support for quality assessment of completed SLRs has not received the same level of attention. Objective: To raise awareness of the need for a critical appraisal tool (CAT)for assessing the quality of SLRs in SE. To initiate a community-based effort towards the development of such a tool. Method: We reviewed the literature on the quality assessment of SLRs to identify the frequently used CATs in SE and other fields. Results: We identified that the CATs currently used is SE were borrowed from medicine, but have not kept pace with substantial advancements in the field of medicine. Conclusion: In this paper, we have argued the need for a CAT for quality appraisal of SLRs in SE. We have also identified a tool that has the potential for application in SE. Furthermore, we have presented our approach for adapting this state-of-the-art CAT for assessing SLRs in SE. © 2019 The Authorsopen access