The Scoping Review "aims to map the existing literature in a field of interest in terms of the volume, nature, and characteristics of the primary research ... commonly undertaken to examine the extent, range, and nature of research activity in a topic area; determine the value and potential scope and cost of undertaking a full systematic review; summarize and disseminate research findings; and identify research gaps in the existing literature."
Source: A scoping review on the conduct and reporting of scoping reviews
"The search for a scoping review may be quite iterative as reviewers become more familiar with the evidence base, additional keywords and sources, and potentially useful search terms may be discovered and incorporated into the search strategy" (Methodology for JBI scoping reviews).
| Arksey and O’Malley framework | Enhancements proposed by Levac, Colquhoun and O’Brien | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Identifying the research question | Clarifying and linking the purpose and research question |
| 2 | Identifying relevant studies | Balancing feasibility with breadth and comprehensiveness of the scoping process |
| 3 | Study selection | Using an iterative team approach to selecting studies and extracting data |
| 4 | Charting the data | Incorporating a numerical summary and qualitative thematic analysis |
| 5 | Collating, summarizing and reporting the results | Identifying the implications of the study findings for policy, practice or research |
| 6 | Consultation (optional) | Adopting consultation as a required component of scoping study methodology |
from The Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers’ Manual 2015: Methodology for JBI Scoping Reviews, page 9.
Source: Andrea C. Tricco presentation slides via Cochrane Training, p. 24. See also slides 25-38 for more details about the 14 steps.
