Scoping Reviews are broad by nature. As the name suggests, their purpose is to identify the scope of the literature on a topic. Therefore, the research questions that a Scoping Review can answer are also broad. Questions appropriate for Scoping Review methodology include:
Example:
What is known from the literature about the use of animal-assisted therapies in people with mood disorders?
What you want to know can help you determine which review methodology is best for you to conduct. Different types of questions are more appropriate for different types of reviews. If you want to ask the types of questions below, you may want to consider switching from Scoping Review methodology to Systematic or Umbrella Review methodology.
| Systematic Review | Umbrella Review |
|---|---|
| Is a specific intervention effective? | Is there sufficient quality of evidence related to a broad condition, problem, or intervention? |
| How do two interventions compare to one another? | What is known about a broad condition, problem, or intervention? |
| What experience do patients undergo with an intervention? | |
| What is the prevalence of a specific condition? | |
| How accurate is a test or measure? | |
| What is the association between a specific risk factor and a specific outcome? | |
| What is the prognosis of a specific condition? | |
| Is a specific research method effective? |
Here is an example of how you might think differently about your research question based on the type of review you want to conduct.
| Systematic Review | Scoping Review | Umbrella Review |
|---|---|---|
| Are animal-assisted therapies as effective as traditional cognitive behavioral therapies in treating people with depressive disorders? | What is known from the literature about the use of animal-assisted therapies in people with mood disorders? | Have the methodologies in studies related to therapies for people with mood disorders been sound enough to validate their effectiveness? |
A variety of frameworks can help develop an appropriate Scoping Review Research question. You may be familiar with the common PICO (population, intervention, comparison, outcome) framework recommended for Systematic Reviews. This framework is generally too specific for scoping review methodology. The following are the more common frameworks for Scoping Reviews.
PCC
PCC is the framework recommended for Scoping Reviews by the JBI Manual.
Additional frameworks are modified from PICO.
PIO
PEO
Though not directly connected to your research questions, your objectives should inform your research question and vice versa. Having a clear objective helps prevent scope creep and can help you determine what you actually want to the literature to answer. Your PCC or other framework can help you identify your objectives. It's also helpful to ask why you're asking the research question that you are? What knowledge or practical application are you hoping to find? Developing a research question and setting clear objectives is an iterative process, so you may revisit both multiple times. This is why you want to have clearly identified these elements in the protocol before you begin work on the review itself. Without them, a scoping review can morph and easily get out of hand.
Be sure your objectives are clear and concise.