Systematic and scoping reviews
A systematic review answers a focused question using a pre-planned, reproducible method: a protocol, a full search of several databases, explicit inclusion criteria, screening by more than one person and quality appraisal. A scoping review maps a broad field without judging study quality.
Report the process with a PRISMA flow diagram: records found, duplicates removed, records screened, full texts assessed and studies included, with reasons for exclusion.
Example
“Searched ERIC, Scopus and Al-Manhal (2015–2025); 1,240 records; 310 duplicates; 64 full texts; 21 included.” — illustrative numbers.
Exercise
Record your databases, search strings and dates in your project notes before you start screening.