Systematic/Scoping Reviews (Master's/Doctoral): Review Methods and PRISMA

This guide provides step-by-step information for master's and doctoral students completing a systematic or scoping review.

Learning About Reviews

The resources listed here provide some information to help you understand the process of conducting a systematic or scoping review. The series of videos from Yale are particularly helpful for both types of reviews. Also be sure to review the PRISMA reporting guidelines--these will help you see the required steps and provide an outline for your paper.

Systematic Reviews

Systematic reviews typically focus on a very specific research question and analyze particular types of research studies. For example, researchers may look only at randomized controlled trials or they may include cohort studies in addition to RCTs.

Scoping Reviews

Scoping reviews typically focus on a broader research question (compared to systematic reviews) and may include quantitative and qualitative studies in the analysis.

PRISMA

PRISMA = Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses.

Systematic and scoping reviews should be reproducible, so it is important that your written manuscript be clear about your research question, what you chose to include and exclude, and how you went about searching for articles. The PRISMA checklist and flow diagram provide a model to step you through the process and assist you in writing your manuscript.

New PRISMA guidelines for 2020!

  • Last Updated: Apr 18, 2025 7:33 AM
  • URL: https://libguides.gvsu.edu/reviews_grad_level