<p>Literature reviews are crucial for advancing research, including in business and management research. A comprehensive yet flexible flowchart for sample selection, coupled with a reliable tool for determining sample sizes is critical for achieving meaningful literature reviews. This study aims to present a comprehensive flowchart for sample selection, justifications and broad guidelines for analysis and synthesis. This framework is applicable not only to systematic literature reviews (SLR) but also to other review types, including narrative reviews, meta-analyses, and interpretative reviews. By addressing the ambiguities and limitations of existing frameworks such as PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses), our proposed flowchart offers a realistic, flexible, and widely applicable approach in sample selection in diverse areas. Additionally, the sample size approximation matrix assists in justifying the final chosen samples. Overall, our proposed guide is a valuable resource for researchers aiming to conduct literature reveiws.</p>