In this article we reflect on the use of a scoping review method in the course of a student assignment. In total, 24 scoping reviews were conducted on police research topics, following the same procedure with similar yet topic-specific review protocols. We discuss each of the eight phases of the scoping review method and provide examples and good practices on how to conduct these steps. We also focus on difficulties that were experienced and how to overcome them in future scoping reviews. The aim of this article is twofold: providing criminological examples of scoping reviews that can help define new scoping review protocols and avoid difficulties experienced in these reviews on the one hand, and reflecting on students' participation in the assignment on the other hand to stimulate involving students in scoping review projects more often.
KeywordsScoping review • Student assignment • Criminology • Synthesis method • Good practices (crime reduction Braga 2005; Braga et al. 2015; Carriaga & Worral 2015) and various other topics such as procedural justice and police legitimacy (Mazerolle et al. 2013a, b), police leadership (Pearson-Goff and Herrington 2014), stress management (Patterson et al. 2012), and the effects of body-worn cameras (Lum et al. 2020).Grant and Booth (2009) distinguish fourteen review types (e.g. critical reviews, mapping reviews, rapid reviews, systematic reviews, scoping reviews), that all differ in purpose, rigour, time necessary to conduct the review and specific procedures to be followed. For instance, scoping reviews 1 differ from systematic reviews by studying a broader topic or theme (Arksey and O'