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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Fiona Campbell
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© The Author(s), 2025. Mapping reviews (MRs) are crucial for identifying research gaps and enhancing evidence utilization. Despite their increasing use in health and social sciences, inconsistencies persist in both their conceptualization and reporting. This study aims to clarify the conceptual framework and gather reporting items from existing guidance and methodological studies. A comprehensive search was conducted across nine databases and 11 institutional websites, including documents up to January 2024. A total of 68 documents were included, addressing 24 MR terms and 55 definitions, with 39 documents discussing distinctions and overlaps among these terms. From the documents included, 28 reporting items were identified, covering all the steps of the process. Seven documents mentioned reporting on the title, four on the abstract, and 14 on the background. Ten methods-related items appeared in 56 documents, with the median number of documents supporting each item being 34 (interquartile range [IQR]: 27, 39). Four results-related items were mentioned in 18 documents (median: 14.5, IQR: 11.5, 16), and four discussion-related items appeared in 25 documents (median: 5.5, IQR: 3, 13). There was very little guidance about reporting conclusions, acknowledgments, author contributions, declarations of interest, and funding sources. This study proposes a draft 28-item reporting checklist for MRs and has identified terminologies and concepts used to describe MRs. These findings will first be used to inform a Delphi consensus process to develop reporting guidelines for MRs. Additionally, the checklist and definitions could be used to guide researchers in reporting high-quality MRs.
Author(s): Li Y, Ghogomu E, Hui X, Fenfen E, Campbell F, Khalil H, Li X, Gaarder M, Nduku PM, White H, Hou L, Chen N, Xu S, Ma N, Hu X, Liu X, Welch V, Yang K
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Research Synthesis Methods
Year: 2025
Volume: 16
Issue: 1
Pages: 157-174
Online publication date: 01/04/2025
Acceptance date: 05/11/2024
Date deposited: 10/12/2025
ISSN (print): 1759-2879
ISSN (electronic): 1759-2887
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.1017/rsm.2024.9
DOI: 10.1017/rsm.2024.9
Data Access Statement: The data analyzed in this study is contained in the manuscript and its supporting information.
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