Scoping critiques are a kind of information synthesis, which observe a scientific strategy to map proof on a subject and determine major ideas, theories, sources, and data gaps. The Canadian Institutes of Well being Analysis (CIHR) defines a scoping evaluation as:

‘exploratory initiatives that systematically map the literature obtainable on a subject, figuring out key ideas, theories, sources of proof and gaps within the analysis’ and notes ‘They’re usually preliminary to full syntheses, undertaken when feasibility is a priority – both as a result of the possibly related literature is regarded as particularly huge and various (various by technique, theoretical orientation or self-discipline) or there’s a suspicion that not sufficient literature exists.’

Why would somebody wish to do a scoping evaluation in comparison with a scientific evaluation?

Systematic critiques are helpful for answering clearly outlined questions (for instance, “Does this intervention enhance specified outcomes compared with a given comparator on this inhabitants?”), whereas scoping critiques are helpful for answering a lot broader questions (similar to “What’s the nature of the proof for this intervention?” or “What is understood about this idea?”).

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M18-0850

Nevertheless, not sufficient researchers know the right way to conduct a rigorous scoping evaluation.

One well-known strategy for reporting the methodology utilized in a scoping evaluation is the PRISMA-ScR (Most popular Reporting Gadgets for Systematic critiques and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Opinions) methodology. This PRISMA-ScR (Tricco et al. 2018) has a reporting guidelines proven under.

PRISMA-ScR is targeted largely on reporting the methodology and outcomes of a scoping evaluation. To truly learn to do a scoping evaluation, I might level you to the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). The JBI web site has plenty of finest apply paperwork regarding scoping critiques. There’s a complete JBI Handbook for Proof Synthesis that was most not too long ago up to date in March 2024. Different useful paperwork embrace:

Cochrane Coaching has a useful video describing what scoping evaluation is and offers some examples.