Based on the Joanna Briggs Institute's Reviews Manual, Arksey & O'Malley (2005), and Cochrane Institute guidelines, there are 5 steps for conducting scoping reviews.
Tip: Be sure to be realistic about the amount of time it will take to conduct a thorough scoping review. While these types of reviews don't include the same level of assessment or data analysis and synthesis as a systematic review, the broad nature of a scoping review typically results in far more identified studies to be screened. A typical scoping review takes a 3-member team about a year to a year and a half to complete.
Which guidelines you choose and how rigorously you follow them will depend on your topic and where you intend to publish. Be sure to look at other reviews published in your target journals and see what guidelines and standards they use.
1) Search for systematic reviews and meta-analyses as well as scoping reviews.
2) Use broader search terms than you will include in your own search protocol. This will help you find related reviews that may not explicitly match your research question but still be useful.
3) The term "scoping review" will not always appear in the title or abstract on an article. In some databases, you cannot limit your searches to a systematic review methodology. So, using a search string like the one below helps you catch more potential reviews of interest.
"scoping review" OR "scoping study" OR “systematic review” OR "research synthesis" OR "synthesis of research" OR "meta analysis" OR meta-analysis
Below are some of the databases related to the Social Sciences. See our Databases A-Z list for a complete list of all the databases we subscribe to.
This link opens in a new windowAn expansive abstracting and indexing database devoted to peer-reviewed literature in the behavioral sciences and mental health.
This link opens in a new windowEducation Resource Information Center provides access to education literature and resources. Consists of journals included in the Current Index of Journals in Education and Resources in Education Index.
A service of the National Library of Medicine that provides access to over 11 million citations from MEDLINE and additional life science journals. PubMed includes links to many sites providing full-text articles and other related resources.
This link opens in a new windowSocial Science Premium Collection is the parent collection that contains all social sciences content available through ProQuest. It covers anthropology, criminology, economics, education, international relations, library science, linguistics, political science, public policy, social work, sociology, and more.
This link opens in a new windowThis resource covers essential areas related to criminal justice and criminology. The increasing globalization of criminology is reflected in the database’s coverage of hundreds of journals from around the world.
This link opens in a new windowA comprehensive and high-quality sociology research database encompassing the broad spectrum of sociological study.
This link opens in a new windowPSC has a worldwide focus reflecting the globalization of contemporary political discourse.
Content on page has been adapted from University of Texas Arlington Libraries, Scoping Reviews Guide, CC BY-NC 4.0