  Context: The Evidence-Based Software Engineering (EBSE) paradigm and the
planning phase of a systematic literature review. Objective: A protocol to do a
systematic literature review with detailed information about the processes
suggested by several guidelines in the field of evidence-based software
engineering. Method: An analisys of recent systematic literature reviews
published in world leading journals, plus the use of two renowned guidelines
and a textbook to sinthetise a formal plan (the protocol). Results: The
validated protocol Conclusions: We found that most of the published systematic
reviews lack on reporting the protocol, or it is weak. There is a lack of tool
support to develop formal protocols. Although a protocol, like a plan, must
have the flexibility to adapt to unforeseen situations, its objective is that
the actual activities should resemble as far as possible of those already
planned. Therefore, it is a difficult balance to achieve and, researchers must
be careful not to introduce alterations that could become threats to the
validity of the entire work.
