The article How to Conduct a Multi-Domain Systematic (Literature) Review? Guidelines Using The Lotus Protocol addresses a growing methodological gap in contemporary scholarship: how to systematically synthesize knowledge that spans multiple, intersecting academic domains. Traditional systematic review protocols such as PRISMA, SPAR-4-SLR, or SALSA were designed primarily for single-domain or limited intersection inquiries. However, today’s grand challenges, including sustainability, digital transformation, and public health crises, increasingly demand integrative, cross-disciplinary evidence synthesis. The authors respond to this need by proposing the Lotus Protocol, a structured methodology tailored specifically for multi-domain systematic literature reviews .
The rationale for the protocol emerges from the structural complexity of interdisciplinary knowledge production. When multiple domains intersect, the volume of literature expands combinatorially, and conventional Boolean search strategies become inefficient. Searches that rely heavily on “OR” operators generate unmanageably broad corpora, whereas “AND” operators produce overly restrictive datasets. This methodological tension leads to fragmented syntheses that either overlook foundational domain knowledge or miss emergent insights at domain intersections. Consequently, existing review approaches struggle to balance breadth and depth when addressing multidimensional research questions .
The Lotus Protocol conceptualizes knowledge domains as petals in a lotus-shaped Venn structure, where each petal represents a domain and each overlap reflects an intersection of shared knowledge. This visualization is not merely metaphorical but operational. It guides scholars to systematically examine individual domains, bilateral intersections, trilateral overlaps, and the full multi-domain convergence. By doing so, the protocol prevents the loss of theoretical nuance while enabling holistic synthesis across complex knowledge systems .
Methodologically, the protocol unfolds across three sequential yet iterative phases: conceptual exploration, corpora curation, and contribution capture. The first phase involves mapping the intellectual landscape, identifying domains, clarifying definitions, and establishing the novelty and necessity of the review. This stage ensures that the inquiry is theoretically justified and not redundant. The second phase structures the evidence base by constructing domain-specific and intersectional corpora. Researchers may adopt qualitative sampling to achieve theoretical saturation or quantitative census strategies aligned with conventional systematic review standards. The third phase synthesizes insights, identifies cross-domain patterns, develops theoretical contributions, and translates findings into actionable implications .
To demonstrate its applicability, the authors implement the Lotus Protocol in a four-domain review examining food waste, behavioral change, mobile applications, and revenue models. This empirical illustration shows how behavioral theories (e.g., nudging, planned behavior), digital platforms, and financial sustainability mechanisms interact to address food waste as a systemic problem. The multi-domain synthesis reveals value creation pathways such as brokerage platforms, inventory planning tools, delivery coordination systems, and educational interventions embedded in app ecosystems .
A major contribution of the article lies in repositioning systematic reviews as translational research infrastructures rather than retrospective summaries. By integrating fragmented knowledge pools, the Lotus Protocol enables theory building, policy design, and innovation strategy development. It also introduces transparency mechanisms, including explicit intersection mapping, structured search logic, and replicable inclusion criteria, thereby enhancing methodological rigor in interdisciplinary scholarship .
The discussion further reflects on epistemological implications. Multi-domain synthesis reveals insights that siloed reviews cannot detect. For example, linking behavioral nudges with real-time inventory data and revenue incentives explains why time-limited discounts combined with consumption planning tools can reduce waste while sustaining platform viability. Such integrative explanations demonstrate the protocol’s capacity to generate systems-level understanding rather than isolated thematic observations .
In conclusion, the article offers both a methodological innovation and a strategic research lens. The Lotus Protocol equips scholars to navigate interdisciplinary complexity, manage combinatorial evidence structures, and produce analytically robust systematic reviews. As research problems become increasingly entangled across technological, behavioral, economic, and policy domains, this protocol provides a scalable blueprint for knowledge synthesis capable of informing both theory and practice.
Mini Dictionary – Key Concepts (10 Terms)
1. Multi-Domain Systematic Literature Review: A structured evidence synthesis approach that integrates findings across multiple academic fields and their intersections rather than focusing on a single discipline.
2. Lotus Protocol: A methodological framework for conducting multi-domain systematic reviews, visualized through a lotus-shaped Venn model and operationalized via three review phases.
3. Conceptual Exploration: The first phase of the protocol involving domain identification, literature familiarization, gap analysis, and justification of review necessity.
4. Corpora Curation: The structured construction of literature datasets representing domains and their intersections using defined search and inclusion strategies.
5. Contribution Capture: The synthesis phase where theoretical insights, cross-domain patterns, and research gaps are identified and translated into contributions.
6. Domain Intersection: The overlapping knowledge space where two or more disciplines converge, often producing novel theoretical or practical insights.
7. Theoretical Saturation: The point in qualitative literature sampling at which additional sources no longer provide new conceptual insights.
8. Boolean Search Complexity: Methodological challenges arising from combining multiple keyword sets using AND/OR operators in interdisciplinary database searches.
9. Translational Review Research: A review approach aimed not only at summarizing literature but also at generating actionable frameworks for policy, industry, or societal challenges.
10. Interdisciplinary Evidence Synthesis: The process of integrating heterogeneous knowledge streams into a coherent analytical framework.
Reference: van Bueren, B. J. A., Lim, W. M., Donthu, N., Argus, K., Water-Lynch, J. M., Sabani, A., & Leenders, M. A. A. M. (2026). How to conduct a multi-domain systematic (literature) review? Guidelines using the Lotus Protocol. Psychology & Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.70112