A Methodology for Undertaking Scoping Reviews

Uses of scoping reviews: Scoping reviews are useful when one wants to map the key concepts related to an area of research; to clarify definitions or identify the boundaries of a topic. For these reasons they may be undertaken as a preliminary exercise prior to a systematic review.  They may also be used to identify gaps in the literature including the type of evidence that is already available within a specific field of interest.    

Fundamental difference from systematic reviews: Scoping reviews have a broader scope than  systematic reviews and therefore less restrictive inclusion criteria; may draw upon data from any research methodology and because they seek to provide an overview of the existing evidence, they do not require an appraisal of the evidence.

Scoping reviews  include:    A clearly stated title, objective/s and review question. Inclusion criteria should state the types of participants being considered in the review (P); the core concepts being studied ( C)  and the context ( C) -  the acronym PCC.

Search strategy: as with systematic reviews a comprehensive search of the literature is undertaken in order to identify both published and unpublished data. The search in a scoping review may become iterative as the researcher becomes familiar with the evidence base and so new search terms can be added.

Extraction of results:  This is referred to as charting the results. An initial charting table would include the author (s), year of publication, origin/ country of origin, aims/purpose, study population and sample size (if applicable), methodology / methods, intervention type, comparator and details of both, duration of intervention, outcomes and key findings.  Charting the data may become iterative and require updating the data.

Presentation of results: These may be presented as a map, tables and charts. The results can be grouped into conceptual categories.  The diagrammatic presentation of the results must be accompanied by a narrative summary. The discussion must refer back to the objectives of the review. Finally, the review findings can be used to develop implications for research and in some instances for practice.