International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning, 3(3), 67-87, July-September 2013 67 Copyright © 2013, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. ABSTRACT Mobile phones are increasingly popular tools not only for daily use but also for research purposes. The authors systematically searched related literature using mobile phones as a tool for data collection and found 171 publications consisting of review, empirical, methodological, and theoretical studies in various disciplines such as medicine, engineering, and education. After reviewing contributions of previous review studies, the authors presented a description of data collection process consisting of four steps and used these four steps as a framework to review the existing empirical literature. The authors then reviewed contributions of meth- odological and theoretical studies, and end with a summary of current practices of collecting mobile data. Current challenges and future directions were also mentioned. Mobile Phones in Data Collection: A Systematic Review Füsun Şahin, University at Albany, SUNY,State University of New York at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY, United States Zheng Yan, University at Albany, SUNY, State University of New York at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY, United States Keywords: Cell Phone, Cellular Phones, Data Collection, iPhone, Literature Review, Mobile Data, Mobile Phone, Smart Phone The history of science has witnessed that major breakthroughs in data collection (e.g., radio- activity, brain images, and green fluorescent protein) and data analysis (e.g., method of least squares, genome analysis, and neural networks) often lead to major breakthroughs in a specific discipline of science (e.g., physics, statistics, chemistry, biology, and neuroscience). For the science of mobile phone use in particular (Yan, Chen, and Yu, 2013) and behavioral sciences in general, how to best use mobile phones to collect behavioral data is extremely important to further advance its research methodology and theoretical foundation. Thus, one of the first and foremost tasks at present is to examine both breadth and depth of the existing knowledge of using mobile phones in collecting data. To respond to the present need of the literature review, this review is our effort to systematically search and synthesize the research literature that has existed as early as the mid-90s of last century (e.g., Zito, D’Este, & Taylor. 1995) but is scattered among a wide variety of disciplines in behavioral sciences DOI: 10.4018/ijcbpl.2013070106