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      A scoping review of scoping reviews: advancing the approach and enhancing the consistency

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          Abstract

          Background

          The scoping review has become an increasingly popular approach for synthesizing research evidence. It is a relatively new approach for which a universal study definition or definitive procedure has not been established. The purpose of this scoping review was to provide an overview of scoping reviews in the literature.

          Methods

          A scoping review was conducted using the Arksey and O'Malley framework. A search was conducted in four bibliographic databases and the gray literature to identify scoping review studies. Review selection and characterization were performed by two independent reviewers using pretested forms.

          Results

          The search identified 344 scoping reviews published from 1999 to October 2012. The reviews varied in terms of purpose, methodology, and detail of reporting. Nearly three-quarter of reviews (74.1%) addressed a health topic. Study completion times varied from 2 weeks to 20 months, and 51% utilized a published methodological framework. Quality assessment of included studies was infrequently performed (22.38%).

          Conclusions

          Scoping reviews are a relatively new but increasingly common approach for mapping broad topics. Because of variability in their conduct, there is a need for their methodological standardization to ensure the utility and strength of evidence. © 2014 The Authors. Research Synthesis Methods published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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          Most cited references118

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          Cochrane Update. 'Scoping the scope' of a cochrane review.

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            Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions

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              What are scoping studies? A review of the nursing literature.

              Scoping studies are increasingly undertaken as distinct activities. The interpretation, methodology and expectations of scoping are highly variable. This suggests that conceptually, scoping is a poorly defined ambiguous term. The distinction between scoping as an integral preliminary process in the development of a research proposal or a formative, methodologically rigorous activity in its own right has not been extensively examined. The aim of this review is to explore the nature and status of scoping studies within the nursing literature and develop a working definition to ensure consistency in the future use of scoping as a research related activity. This paper follows an interpretative scoping review methodology. An explicit systematic search strategy included literary and web-based key word searches and advice from key researchers. Electronic sources included bibliographic and national research register databases and a general browser. The scoping studies varied widely in terms of intent, procedural and methodological rigor. An atheoretical stance was common although explicit conceptual clarification and development of a topic was limited. Four different levels of inquiry ranging from preliminary descriptive surveys to more substantive conceptual approaches were conceptualised. These levels reflected differing dimensional distinctions in which some activities constitute research whereas in others the scoping activities appear to fall outside the remit of research. Reconnaissance emerges as a common synthesising construct to explain the purpose of scoping. Scoping studies in relation to nursing are embryonic and continue to evolve. Its main strengths lie in its ability to extract the essence of a diverse body of evidence giving it meaning and significance that is both developmental and intellectually creative. As with other approaches to research and evidence synthesis a more standardized approach is required.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Res Synth Methods
                Res Synth Methods
                jrsm
                Research Synthesis Methods
                Blackwell Publishing Ltd (Oxford, UK )
                1759-2879
                1759-2887
                December 2014
                24 July 2014
                : 5
                : 4
                : 371-385
                Affiliations
                [a ]Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada
                [b ]Division of Public Health Risk Sciences, Laboratory for Foodborne Zoonoses, Public Health Agency of Canada 160 Research Lane, Suite 206, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 5B2, Canada
                [c ]Food Safety and Quality Unit, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153, Rome, Italy
                [d ]Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada
                Author notes
                *Correspondence to: Mai Pham, Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, 2509 Stewart Building (#45), Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.

                The copyright line for this article was changed on 13 February 2015, after original online publication.

                Article
                10.1002/jrsm.1123
                4491356
                26052958
                9bb21556-d478-40ef-9eff-4f2fb8d9c6c0
                © 2014 The Authors. Research Synthesis Methods published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

                This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 24 January 2014
                : 06 June 2014
                : 24 June 2014
                Categories
                Original Articles

                scoping review,literature review,knowledge synthesis,methodology

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