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Systematic and Scoping Reviews

Standards

A protocol outlines your objectives, planned methodology, and eligibility criteria. Developing and publishing a prospective protocol is considered a best practice in conducting a systematic review. Publishing a protocol in advance of the work is a requirement for many publishers and a recommendation of others. Additionally, publishing a complete protocol provides the authors with a set of guidelines to follow while working on the initial review and facilitates reliable reproducibility post-publication.

Elements of a Cochrane protocol

  • Research Question 
  • Background
  • Objectives
  • Methods
    • Criteria for selecting studies for this review (eligibility criteria):
      • Types of studies
      • Types of participants
      • Types of interventions
      • Types of outcome measures
    • Search methods for identification of studies
      • Databases you will use
      • Search terms you will use
    • Data collection and analysis

Note: elements may vary by discipline

Formulate the Research Question

A strong research question is needed for any type of literature review. A well-formulated research question:

  • states the purpose of review
  • guides selection of sources
  • provides clarity to guide the search
  • stimulates ideas for search terms

Learn about tools for developing questions on this page. Using a tool to guide the process can be helpful, but is not always necessary.

Recommended Tools

Reporting Standards

PRISMA is an international group of methodology experts dedicated to improving reporting quality of reviews. Most journals that accept systematic reviews will adhere to the PRISMA checklist for systematic reviews and will require a PRISMA flow diagram. 

Register your protocol

Registering your protocol claims your review topic and makes public your plans. It can also inform you about other author's proposals. Some of the options include: