What are scoping reviews? Providing a formal definition of scoping reviews as a type of evidence synthesis

Zachary Munn; Danielle Pollock; Hanan Khalil; Lyndsay Alexander; Patricia Mclnerney; Christina M Godfrey; Micah Peters; Andrea C Tricco

doi:10.11124/JBIES-21-00483

What are scoping reviews? Providing a formal definition of scoping reviews as a type of evidence synthesis

JBI Evid Synth. 2022 Apr 1;20(4):950-952. doi: 10.11124/JBIES-21-00483.

Authors

Zachary Munn¹, Danielle Pollock¹, Hanan Khalil², Lyndsay Alexander^{3

4}, Patricia Mclnerney⁵, Christina M Godfrey⁶, Micah Peters^{7

8

9}, Andrea C Tricco^{6

10

11}

Affiliations

¹ JBI, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
² La Trobe University, School of Psychology and Public Health, Department of Public Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
³ School of Health Sciences, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK.
⁴ The Scottish Centre for Evidence-based, Multi-professional Practice: A JBI Centre of Excellence, Aberdeen, UK.
⁵ The Wits-JBI Centre for Evidenced-Based Practice: A JBI Affiliated Group, University of the Witwa-tersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
⁶ Queen's Collaboration for Health Care Quality: A JBI Centre of Excellence, Queen's University School of Nursing, Kingston, ON, Canada.
⁷ University of South Australia, Clinical and Health Sciences, Rosemary Bryant AO Research Centre, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
⁸ Adelaide Nursing School, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
⁹ The Centre for Evidence-based Practice South Australia (CEPSA): A JBI Centre of Excellence, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
¹⁰ Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹¹ Epidemiology Division and Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.

PMID: 35249995
DOI: 10.11124/JBIES-21-00483

Abstract

Evidence synthesis encompasses a broad range of review types, and scoping reviews are an increasingly popular approach to synthesizing evidence in a number of fields. They sit alongside other evidence synthesis methodologies, such as systematic reviews, qualitative evidence synthesis, realist synthesis, and many more. Until now, scoping reviews have been variously defined in the literature. In this article, we provide the following formal definition for scoping reviews: Scoping reviews are a type of evidence synthesis that aims to systematically identify and map the breadth of evidence available on a particular topic, field, concept, or issue, often irrespective of source (ie, primary research, reviews, non-empirical evidence) within or across particular contexts. Scoping reviews can clarify key concepts/definitions in the literature and identify key characteristics or factors related to a concept, including those related to methodological research.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Publications*
Research Design*