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Scoping Reviews

Library guide for the development of scoping reviews, their associated systematic searches, and required reporting.

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PRISMA-ScR

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) is the established reporting guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. However, given the difference between systematic and scoping reviews, some items in PRISMA may not be appropriate to consider for a scoping review, and other important considerations may be missing.

To address this, a PRISMA extension for scoping reviews, PRISMA-ScR, has been created to provide reporting guidance for this specific type of knowledge synthesis. This extension is also intended to apply to evidence maps, as these share similarities with scoping reviews and involve a systematic search of a body of literature to identify knowledge gaps, with a visual representation of results (such as a figure or graph).

This PRISMA extension was based on PRISMA 2009. The new PRISMA 2020 statement recommends that 'authors report their review in accordance with the recommendations in PRISMA 2020 along with the guidance specific to their extension' (Page et al., 2021, p. 2).

Below is an example of an PRISMA-SCR flowchart.

Please note this is based on PRISMA 2009 - the flowchart has been revised for PRISMA 2020 and this should be consulted alongside PRISMA-ScR, which has not yet been updated to reflect PRISMA 2020. For example, it's now recommended to list figures from individual sources e.g. specific databases and registers.

Screenshot of a PRISMA flowchart showing the number of results included at each stage of the scoping review process.

Reproduced from: Tricco AC, et al 2018, "PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR)"