360° MDL: The Multidimensional Literature Review Model — Version 2026

Abstract

360° MDL (the Multidimensional Literature Review Model) is a methodology for conducting and reporting literature reviews that create value, not just volume. It tells researchers where to look (five evidence stream families: academic databases, influential scholars, industry practice, policy and global organisations, and emerging and diverse voices), what to keep (the 6R Quality Gate and CCD Curation for Complementarity, Coverage and Diversity), how to analyse (eight standard analysis matrices, M1–M8), how sure to be (Triangulation Strength, Resilience Index and a Leave-One-Stream-Out test) and what value to create (Interpretation & Exploitation and an evidence-traced Value-Based Framework). The methodology comes in three tiers: Lite for doctoral students and thesis chapters, Standard for journal review articles, and Advanced for flagship and policy reviews. All three share the 3 × 3 Rule: at least three source streams × at least three analysis matrices. It includes a 30-item reporting checklist (MDL-RC 2026) and a flow diagram compatible with PRISMA 2020, so it complements PRISMA rather than replacing it. This release contains:• Methodology Overview: the full description of the method• Researcher Handbook: step-by-step guidelines, rubrics, checklists and a protocol template• Quick Start Guide and one-page Quick Reference Card: a ready-to-use route in 10 steps for researchers and doctoral students• Excel Toolkit (blank and a worked example) with live calculation of all indices• 24 figures (PNG and vector PDF) and an illustrative example review on smart cities About the author: Professor Miltiadis D. Lytras is Full Professor of Information Systems and Digital Transformation at Deree, The American University of Greece, and Research Professor at Effat University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He holds a BSc in Informatics, an MBA and a PhD in Knowledge Management and e-Learning from the Athens University of Economics and Business. His research spans knowledge management, data science, artificial intelligence, the semantic web, technology-enhanced learning and digital transformation. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal on Semantic Web and Information Systems, has guest-edited more than 85 special issues in Web of Science-indexed journals, and has authored or edited more than 80 international books. He has been listed among the world's top computer scientists by Guide2Research and among leading scientists in the AD Scientific Index, and he has served as Distinguished Scientist at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah. 360° MDL distils more than two decades of his experience in editing, reviewing and writing literature reviews into an open, citable methodology. How to cite: Lytras, M. D. (2026). 360° MDL: The Multidimensional Literature Review Model — Version 2026. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23724393 Researchers who use the methodology are invited to state in their methods section: "This review was conducted and reported according to the 360° MDL methodology, Version 2026 (Lytras, 2026)."