Review articles or literature reviews are a critical part of scientific research. While numerous guides on literature reviews exist, these are often limited to the philosophy of review procedures, protocols, and nomenclatures, triggering non-parsimonious reporting and confusion due to overlapping similarities. To address the aforementioned limitations, we adopt a pragmatic approach to demystify and shape the academic practice of conducting literature reviews. We concentrate on the types, focuses, considerations, methods, and contributions of literature reviews as independent, standalone studies. As such, our article serves as an overview that scholars can rely upon to navigate the fundamental elements of literature reviews as standalone and independent studies, without getting entangled in the complexities of review procedures, protocols, and nomenclatures.

Purpose: Startup companies represent a powerful engine of open innovation (OI) processes. The purpose of this paper is to represent a first step in building a map of the state-of-the-art knowledge of the “startups in an OI context” phenomenon. Through the selection and analysis of relevant literature, this study aims at deepening our understanding of the theme and at providing directions for future research. Design/methodology/approach: By using an explicit method for the review (Pittaway et al., 2004) the authors selected a set of papers, which cover the knowledge domain object of this study. In total, 41 articles about “startups and OI” have been selected and the full papers have been analysed. Findings: The analysed literature has been synthesized in seven sub-topics, which have been evaluated as the most relevant in explaining the phenomenon of startups in relation to OI. Implications for research, for managers and for policy makers conclude the paper. Practical implications: The review produced valuable knowledge for both managers and policy decision-makers. The paper allows a better understanding of the role of startups in OI processes. This improved understanding can help managers of large firms as well as policy makers involved in OI in making their decisions. Besides, implications of OI strategies for startup managers have been singled-out. Originality/value: Startup companies are intrinsically open organizations, necessarily engaged in innovation processes. Research at the intersection between the themes of OI and startups is gaining momentum. This review of the literature represents the first attempt to organize the scientific knowledge related to the intersection between the startups and OI phenomena systematically.

Purpose: The article discusses the current relevance of artificial intelligence (AI) in research and how AI improves various research methods. This article focuses on the practical case study of systematic literature reviews (SLRs) to provide a guideline for employing AI in the process.Design/methodology/approach: Researchers no longer require technical skills to use AI in their research. The recent discussion about using Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT), a chatbot by OpenAI, has reached the academic world and fueled heated debates about the future of academic research. Nevertheless, as the saying goes, AI will not replace our job; a human being using AI will. This editorial aims to provide an overview of the current state of using AI in research, highlighting recent trends and developments in the field.Findings: The main result is guidelines for the use of AI in the scientific research process. The guidelines were developed for the literature review case but the authors believe the instructions provided can be adjusted to many fields of research, including but not limited to quantitative research, data qualification, research on unstructured data, qualitative data and even on many support functions and repetitive tasks.Originality/value: AI already has the potential to make researchers’ work faster, more reliable and more convenient. The authors highlight the advantages and limitations of AI in the current time, which should be present in any research utilizing AI. Advantages include objectivity and repeatability in research processes that currently are subject to human error. The most substantial disadvantages lie in the architecture of current general-purpose models, which understanding is essential for using them in research. The authors will describe the most critical shortcomings without going into technical detail and suggest how to work with the shortcomings daily.

The crisis triggered by the COVID-19 emergency is changing the competitive landscape by pushing companies to adapt to sudden change. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that want to survive must innovate their business. Antifragility represents the capability of a system to absorb shocks and get better, allowing it to overcome a crisis and improve its performance. The use of digital technologies by enterprises is expected to play an important role in building antifragility. The aim of this paper is to study how digital technologies can contribute to the development of antifragility in SMEs. This study analyzed the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis of six small and medium-sized enterprises located in Calabria, South of Italy. All the six enterprises have turned the crisis into a business opportunity developing new products, investing in marketing and communication, or starting new collaborations. The research identifies the factors leveraged by the investigated organizations that enabled this anti fragile behavior. They include slack financial resources, strategic agility, and relations with research institutions. The study highlights the positive impact of digital technologies in developing antifragility. Results were summarized into research propositions to be tested in future confirmatory studies. The findings of the study are useful for researchers interested in antifragility and digital technologies in SMEs. The results are also important for entrepreneurs and managers of SMEs, since they can support their decisions in terms of survival and transformation of their companies.