SynthesisBMC psychology2026
Cultural barriers influencing virtual community of practice: a scopic review.
Synthesis in BMC psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundConnectivism is the philosophy of education for the digital age, making Vygotsky’s concept of zone of proximal development (ZPD) more flexible. Stretching it to include learning that lies outside the learner, in social networks and technological tools. It has replaced passive teaching methodologies with more active ones, including student-centered learning, the co-creation of knowledge, and peer review assessment strategies. Subsequently, the virtual communities of practices are considered an important medium for generation and dissemination of soft or tacit knowledge.
objectiveThe objective of this scopic review was to explore the cultural factors which hamper the growth of a ‘virtual community of practice’ of any organization.
methodsThis scopic review was done using Arksey and O’ Malley framework. This framework is comprised of following five steps: (1) identification of the research question, (2) identifying pertinent studies, (3) study selection, (4) charting the data, (5) organizing, summarizing, and reporting the results.
findingsThis research was conducted in ERIC, Pub med, Psycinfo and Cochrane library. A total of 31,000 records were acknowledged. After data characterization of full text articles, four themes emerged from the articles which fulfilled the criteria of inclusion: Individualism vs. collectivism, power distance, in group vs. out group orientation, cultural values and language barrier. Cultural factors like difference in time zone, working in a complex learning environment, missing organized guidance and the social presence of facilitators were also identified as minor aspects impeding the growth of virtual community of practice.
conclusionThe research reported five major cultural elements which have influenced the virtual community of practice, that is, collectivism versus individualism, power distance in society language and geographical barriers, cultural values and in group versus out group orientation. Competitiveness and job security related fears are further influential barriers in the knowledge sharing across different cultures.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.