Scoping Reviews

1. Identify the research question(s)

• Conduct a preliminary search to determine whether there are any existing systematic or scoping reviews that address your research question.
• Write a review protocol specifying your plan for conducting the review. 
  • Consider using a template such as the Scoping Review Protocol Guidance template or the Generalized Registration Form to frame and report key information. 
• Register your protocol. You can deposit your protocol into an open science repository such as Open Science Framework or Feinberg's institutional repository (Prism). There are also several journals that publish protocols:
  • BMC Systematic Reviews 
  • JMIR Research Protocols
  • JBI Evidence Synthesis
  • BMJ Open
• Remember to document revisions and update the protocol accordingly. 

2. Identify relevant studies

• Search for studies using a systematic approach and comprehensive search strategy.

3. Study selection

• Apply inclusion and exclusion criteria established in the protocol.
• Consider a platform such as Covidence or Rayyan to screen the results.  

4. Chart the data

• Extract data from individual studies.

5. Collate, summarize, and report the results

• Write up your manuscript using the PRISMA for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) as a guide.