How Tos

How To: Scoping Review

The term paper is realised as part of a scoping review. A scoping review provides information on the current news or scope of the research literature for a defined research topic. Or to put it simply: A scoping review is a structured literature search that is implemented in compliance with scientific standards. The answers to the following questions should provide a good introduction to writing a scoping review and offer a basic orientation for the implementation of the scoping review.

This "How to" is essentially based on the publications "Methodische Anleitung für Scoping Reviews"¹. It is strongly recommended that you read the publication before the start date of the scoping review.

How is a scoping review structured?
The scoping review to be written as part of the term paper has the following structure:

0. Cover sheet

1. Summary (approx. 500 words)

• Objectives (approx. one to two sentences)
• Introduction (approx. one to two sentences)
• Inclusion criteria (approx. one to two sentences, in individual subsections)
• Methods
• Results of the study
• Conclusions

2. Research question

3. Introduction (approx. 1000 words)

4. Methods

• Inclusion criteria
• Study participants (population)
• Concept
• Context
• Study types

5. Data extraction

6. Results

7. Discussion

8. Conclusion and recommendations

9. Recommendations for research

10. Recommendations for practice

11. Bibliography

Detailed information on the structure of a scoping review can be found from page 3 of the publications „Methodische Anleitung für Scoping Reviews“ ¹ can be found.

 

What is the scope of a scoping review?
The scoping review comprises 10-15 pages (approx. 25,000 to 30,000 characters) excluding illustrations.

 

How many publications should be analysed as part of the scoping review?
At least 30 publications must be analysed as part of the scoping review.

 

How do I cite in the scoping review?
The Vancouver citation style is used in the scoping review. The implementation of the Vancouver citation style is described in detail on the Wikipedia website "Vancouver system".

 

How can I search for literature?
Bielefeld University's library offers numerous options for researching academic literature. In addition, the university library offers various courses on literature research.

The successful realisation of a scoping review is based on a solid and comprehensive literature search. In order to implement such a form of literature search and thus facilitate the preparation of the scoping review, the following courses of the university library are recommended:

• General literature search - compact
• Finding scientific information online - Google Scholar and BASE in a nutshell

 

How is the scoping review formatted?
The scoping review is formatted as follows:

• The text alignment is justified
• The font size is 12pt in continuous text
• Arial is used as the font, alternatively Times New Roman can be selected
• Page numbering is on the right
• The line spacing is 1.5

 

What do I do if I get stuck?
Writing a scientific paper is a challenge. If you get stuck at any point, you are welcome to contact the supervisor of the term paper. The email address is: digitale-medizin@uni-bielefeld.de