Background: The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) has as its central focus not only effectiveness, but also appropriateness, meaningfulness and feasibility of health practices and delivery methods. These questions are often answered by considering other forms of research evidence. Scoping reviews are used to assess the extent of a body of literature on a particular topic, and often to ensure that further research in that area is a beneficial addition to world knowledge.
Objectives: To develop a methodology for scoping reviews based on the JBI focus on literature synthesis.
Methods: A working group consisting of members of the Joanna Briggs collaborating organisations met to discuss the proposed framework for the methodology and develop a draft for the scoping review methodology based on the Arksey and O'Malley framework (2005) and that of Levac, Colquhoun and O’Brien (2010). This was followed by a workshop attended by other members of the organisations consisting of 30 international researchers to discuss the proposed methodology. Further refinement of the methodology was undertaken as a result of the feedback received from the workshop.
Results: The development of the methodology focussed on five stages of the protocol and review development. These were: identifying the research question by clarifying and linking the purpose and research question; identifying the relevant studies using a three-step literature search in order to balance feasibility with breadth and comprehensiveness; careful selection of the studies using a team approach; charting the data in a tabular and narrative format; and collating the results to identify the implications of the study findings for policy, practice, or research.
Conclusions: Following the JBI trend of valuing different types of scientific literature in order to achieve better health care for all, a proposed methodology was developed based on the Arksey and O'Malley and the Levac, Colquhoun and O’Brien frameworks and was successfully trialled.