Table 1.
General characteristics of included scoping reviews (n = 344)
| Characteristic | Number (n = 344) | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Publication year | ||
| <2000 | 1 | 0.3 |
| 2000–2004 | 19 | 5.5 |
| 2005–2009 | 87 | 25.3 |
| 2010–October 2012 | 237 | 68.9 |
| Publication type | ||
| Journal article | 223 | 64.8 |
| Conference proceeding | 25 | 7.3 |
| Thesis dissertation | 1 | 0.3 |
| Government or research station report | 95 | 27.6 |
| Sector | ||
| Health | 202 | 58.7 |
| Health and Social sciences | 53 | 15.4 |
| Social sciences | 14 | 4.1 |
| Business | 1 | 0.3 |
| Agriculture and agri-food | 4 | 1.2 |
| Education | 15 | 4.4 |
| Software engineering | 41 | 11.9 |
| Other | 14 | 4.1 |
| Scoping terminology | ||
| Scoping review | 212 | 61.6 |
| Scoping study | 42 | 12.2 |
| Systematic mapping | 42 | 12.2 |
| Evidence mapping | 9 | 2.6 |
| Literature mapping | 4 | 1.2 |
| Rapid review | 5 | 1.5 |
| Scoping exercise | 15 | 4.4 |
| Other | 15 | 4.4 |
| Scoping definition | ||
| Reported in article | 217 | 63.1 |
| Not provided, cited another source | 22 | 6.4 |
| Study length (mean; range) | 5.15 months | 2 weeks to 20 months |