Systematic reviews and scoping reviews should have a protocol which helps to plan and outline the study methodology. The protocol should include:
Why should complete a protocol?
Protocol templates:
Resources to help authors prepare a protocol for a systematic or scoping review:
After you write the protocol, you should register it with a review registry. There are numerous review registries available, such as PROSPERO or OSF. Registration is free and open to anyone undertaking systematic reviews. Some journals also publish systematic review protocols.
OSF can be used to pre-register a systematic or scoping review protocol and to share documents such as a citation management library, search strategies, and data extraction forms. Unlike other registries, evidence synthesis author teams do not submit their protocols for review by an editorial board before they are accepted and pre-registered on OSF. Instead, create your own pre-registration.
Scoping reviews may not be registered with PROSPERO. Currently, they can be registered with the Open Science Framework or Figshare.