LibGuides: HTHRHSC 4590: Standards and Guidelines

Scoping Review Standards

Many different standards and guidelines have been developed to help researchers perform scoping reviews. Below are some of the most frequently cited resources.

There are two main types of guidelines:

Methodology Guidelines: These are guidelines that will talk about how to perform a scoping review. They will provide detailed guidance and discussion about all of the different steps to consider.
Reporting Guidelines: These are guidelines that will talk about what you need to include in your final manuscript or write-up. They may make mention of the different steps of the process, but will not provide much guidance on how to conduct that step, only how to describe it.

Methodology Guidelines

Primary Guidance

JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis - Chapter 11: Scoping Reviews
The Joanna Briggs Institution (JBI) provides guidance for its reviewers performing all types of Evidence Synthesis. They have an entire chapter specifically on performing scoping reviews, and this resource is the top guidance to follow for this methodology.

Foundational Articles

Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework
The original Arksey & O'Malley article where scoping review methods were first formally described.
Scoping studies: advancing the methodology
Building on the Arksey & O'Malley framework, this article begins to refine the process.
Scoping reviews: time for clarity in definition, methods, and reporting
Building on both of the previous articles, this article clarifies some key concepts and makes recommendations moving forward.

Reporting Guidelines

PRISMA, or the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, is the top reporting guideline for both systematic reviews, and they have numerous extensions that can be used when conducting a scoping review.

It is important to note that PRISMA is a reporting guideline, and so includes items that should be in your final write-up; however, it is not a methodology guideline, and so may not have much detail on how to actually perform each step of the process.

PRISMA-ScR
PRISMA for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) is an extension of the original PRISMA guideline that is customized towards Scoping Reviews. You can use the checklist as a guide of what to include in your scoping review report, as well as explore the Explanatory Paper to read a fuller discussion of each item, why it is important, and how to properly report it.
PRISMA-P
PRISMA for Systematic Review Protocols (PRISMA-P) is an extension of the original guideline that specifically addresses how to write up your protocol. This extension is specific to systematic review protocols, but could potentially be adapted to fit a scoping review protocol as well.
PRISMA-S
PRISMA for Searching (PRISMA-S) is an extension of the original guideline that specifically addresses how to report out the search strategies that you use. It can be followed in combination with PRISMA-ScR.

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HTHRHSC 4590

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Scoping Review Standards

Methodology Guidelines

Primary Guidance

Foundational Articles

Reporting Guidelines