Concept of research literacy in academic continuing education: a systematic review

Abstract

To date, research literacy has not been studied conceptually in academic continuing education even though it has gained recognition in practice as one of competence areas that learners need to acquire. The aim of our review was to identify the concepts and competences related to research literacy in academic continuing education in order to provide a fit concept of research literacy in academic continuing education. We roughly followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement. We conducted the search in the domains of continuing education and higher education, in case of lack of research in continuing education. Our search identified in total 857 items. Based on title and abstract review, we considered 111 articles for review. After scrutinising the full-text articles, we included 72 publications for the extraction of the data and analysis. The main finding of the review is the lack of research on research literacy in continuing education. Our search did not yield any study that focused on academic continuing education. A second important finding is the lack of a comprehensive and holistic concept of research literacy, not only for continuing education, but also for higher education. Especially with the global trends and changes altering ways of production and research, it is important to provide an up to date definition of research literacy and the right set of skills and competences that meet the needs of learners in academic continuing education.