LibGuides: DMSC 7005: Scoping Reviews

Capstone Project

As part of the series of capstone courses in the DMSc program, you will be asked to plan and undertake a scoping review project. This page is an introduction to scoping reviews and their methodology, and acts as a primer before you starting learning in-depth through your coursework.

Scoping Reviews LibGuide
This guide provides a comprehensive and step-by-step overview of how to conduct a scoping review. You may find it helpful to familiarize yourself with some of the concepts early in your program, or to refer to this guide as you conduct your capstone scoping review project.

What Is a Scoping Review?

"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."

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

Common Reasons for Conducting a Scoping Review:

To identify the types of available evidence in a given field.
To identify and analyze knowledge gaps.
To clarify key concepts/definitions in the literature.
To examine how research is conducted on a certain topic
To identify key characteristics or factors related to a concept.
As a precursor to a systematic review.

Required elements of a Scoping Review:

Conducted according to JBI guidelines
Reported according to the PRISMA-ScR standards
File a protocol a priori
Reproducible and transparent search strategies of multiple applicable databases and grey literature sources
Two phases of screening: Title/Abstract and Full Text
Documentation of included and excluded studies according to the PRISMA flow diagram
Documentation of data extraction process per protocol
Citation of included studies, guidelines and tools utilized

Scoping Review Guidelines

JBI Scoping Review Playlist This series of short videos, produced by JBI, provide the most essential information needed to conduct a scoping review.
JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis The JBI Manual is the most widely-accepted guideline for the conduct of scoping reviews. Familiarizing yourself with the JBI manuals requirements is essential to successfully completing a scoping review.