Introducing university students of English Studies to scientific research through dissertations based on systematic literature reviews

As opposed to other disciplines, whose students have been writing dissertations for years, students of the Humanities in Spain were only required to prepare dissertations a few years ago due to the introduction of the Bologna Plan. With the aim of sharing and discussing our own experience with other experts, the results from our own positive experience with systematic literature reviews conducted by students of the degree on English Studies will be presented. By carrying out such reviews, students do not only acquire important knowledge, but they are also able to familiarise themselves with search engines, which have proved to be essential tools when conducting grounded academic projects. Among others, some key aspects of tutoring these projects were guiding students to identify relevant topics, finding a coherent structure drawing from the hypotheses, using the right methodology that will allow the testing of the hypotheses, and presenting the results according to the principles of open science so that other researchers can access them in order to improve their dissemination.