Undertaking a scoping review: A practical guide for nursing and midwifery students, clinicians, researchers, and academics

Abstract

Aim The aim of this study is to discuss the available methodological resources and best‐practice guidelines for the development and completion of scoping reviews relevant to nursing and midwifery policy, practice, and research. Design Discussion Paper. Data Sources Scoping reviews that exemplify best practice are explored with reference to the recently updated JBI scoping review guide (2020) and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses Scoping Review extension (PRISMA‐ScR). Implications for nursing and midwifery Scoping reviews are an increasingly common form of evidence synthesis. They are used to address broad research questions and to map evidence from a variety of sources. Scoping reviews are a useful form of evidence synthesis for those in nursing and midwifery and present opportunities for researchers to review a broad array of evidence and resources. However, scoping reviews still need to be conducted with rigour and transparency. Conclusion This study provides guidance and advice for researchers and clinicians who are preparing to undertake an evidence synthesis and are considering a scoping review methodology in the field of nursing and midwifery. Impact With the increasing popularity of scoping reviews, criticism of the rigour, transparency, and appropriateness of the methodology have been raised across multiple academic and clinical disciplines, including nursing and midwifery. This discussion paper provides a unique contribution by discussing each component of a scoping review, including: developing research questions and objectives; protocol development; developing eligibility criteria and the planned search approach; searching and selecting the evidence; extracting and analysing evidence; presenting results; and summarizing the evidence specifically for the fields of nursing and midwifery. Considerations for when to select this methodology and how to prepare a review for publication are also discussed. This approach is applied to the disciplines of nursing and midwifery to assist nursing and/or midwifery students, clinicians, researchers, and academics.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its related restrictions on people with pre-existent mental health conditions: A scoping review

“…As novel research findings regarding COVID-19 are being published daily, a scoping review design was chosen for this paper as it allows for a broad overview and assessment of emerging evidence, while providing a robust foundation for developing practice guidelines and future research (Peterson et al, 2017). Scoping reviews are used to ascertain literature on a given topic, focusing on the extant literature to identify both important conceptions and any gaps evident and publicising the results (Arksey & O'Malley, 2005;Levac et al, 2010;Pollock et al, 2021). It was deemed to be too early in the context of the pandemic evolution to conduct a more comprehensive systematic review.…”

The reported effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with intellectual disability and their carers: a scoping review

“…All studies that met the inclusion criteria were included in this review as the authors wanted to capture all studies on COVID-19 within the intellectual disability population published in 2020. Furthermore, as critical appraisal and risk of bias are a choice in scoping reviews [16], the selection and reporting process followed [17] Preferred Reporting Items for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-Sc-R) and PRISMA flow diagram [18] (Figure 1).…”

Application of action research in the field of healthcare: a scoping review protocol

“…These four factors will be used for the scoping review. A scoping review is the most appropriate approach to the literature as it provides an overview of studies, clarifying concepts or contextual information (Pollack et al, 2021) and it can be used to investigate research conduct (Munn et al, 2018;Tricco et al, 2018). This aim of this scoping review is to explore whether action research studies demonstrate explicitly how the essential factors of a comprehensive framework of action research are upheld.…”