LibGuides: Developing a Protocol for Systematic and Scoping Reviews: Making Your Protocol Available

Making Your Protocol Publicly Available

Sharing SR Protocols
Sharing ScR Protocols

Sharing Systematic Review Protocols

The following resources are locations where systematic review protocols can be registered or made publicly available once developed. Note: some of these locations require pre-registration prior to approval for conducting a review (e.g. Cochrane and Campbell).

Campbell Collaboration
Similarly to Cochrane, the Campbell Collaboration requires step-by-step registration during the systematic review process. Authors will first need to register the title and scope of their prospective review. Once this is approved, additional steps for registering the protocol and completed review will follow through communication with Campbell. See Campbell's Author Guidelines for more information.
Cochrane Library
As previously mentioned in this guide, conducting and registering a Cochrane review requires additional steps and pre-registration with Cochrane. Prior to conducting your review, authors need to contact Cochrane and work closely with the Cochrane Review Group (CRG) for the entirety of your review process.
figshare
Figshare is an open access database for researchers to share their work. There are not strict requirements for what can and cannot be uploaded to Figshare, so it is an option for making both scoping and systematic review protocols available to the public. Figshare frequently works with institutions, so reviewing their section on current contracted organizations can help save time for authors. There are many helpful FAQs on Figshare of how to make work publicly available.
Open Science Framework (OSF)
Open Science Framework is an open access journal where protocols as well as completed systematic reviews can be submitted. Submission to OSF requires pre-registration, and forms to submit can be found linked above.
PROSPERO
PROSPERO (International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews) is a registration space for systematic review protocols specifically dealing with health outcomes. Reviews looking to be submitted to PROSPERO must follow a set of requirements: most notably, registration should occur once protocol is finalized prior to data collection.

Making Scoping Review Protocols Publicly Available

The following locations are where authors can make scoping review protocols publicly available once completed (Aromataris & Munn, 2020).

figshare
Figshare is an open access database for researchers to share their work. There are not strict requirements for what can and cannot be uploaded to Figshare, so it is an option for making both scoping and systematic review protocols available to the public. Figshare frequently works with institutions, so reviewing their section on current contracted organizations can help save time for authors. There are many helpful FAQs on Figshare of how to make work publicly available.
JBI Evidence Synthesis
Some scoping review protocols can be submitted to the Joanna Briggs Institute's journal, JBI Evidence Synthesis, for publication.
Open Science Framework (OSF)
Open Science Framework is an open access journal where scoping review protocols (and completed scoping reviews) can be published. Submission to OSF requires pre-registration, and forms to submit can be found linked above.