Developing a preliminary synthesis	Description of tool	Included in study	Detail of inclusion
Textual description	Descriptive paragraph of study/intervention	Yes	Detailed description of each EPSs will be presented
Groupings and clusterings	Organising studies into manageable groups	Yes	Studies will be organised by EPS type as a means of synthesising the EPS results
Tabulation	Visual presentation of qualitative and quantitative data	Yes	Study results and characteristics will be tabulated
Transforming data into a common rubric	Data transformed into common rubric, for example, odds ratio for a meta-analysis	No	This is not possible as outcome and EPS types are too heterogeneous to include in a meta-analysis
Vote counting as a descriptive tool	Calculating frequencies of different results across different studies	Yes	Statistically significant results will be counted for an overview of effect. Quality of studies will be considered. This will be completed as a tool for exploring relationships (see below)
Translating data: thematic analysis	Translating the data into common themes across studies	No	More appropriate for qualitative data
Translating data: content analysis	Translating data into frequencies based on coding rules	No	More appropriate for qualitative data
Graphs, frequency distributions, funnel plots, forest plots and L’Abbe plots	Graphically present relationships within and between studies	No	Quantitative data not being used
Moderator variables and sub-group analyses	Examining characteristics between and within studies to explain variability in primary results	Yes	Variations between the EPS features will be examined. Populations, motivations to quit/reduce will be discussed. A table showing the EPS components of the evaluated interventions will be included
Idea webbing and concept mapping	Create visual models to conceptualise and explore connections across studies	No	Connections across studies will be explored with textual descriptions
Translation as an approach to exploring relationships85	Using qualitative research techniques to synthesise findings from multiple studies	No	More appropriate for qualitative data
Qualitative case description86	Use of descriptive data to explain differences in statistical findings	Yes	Will be used in conjunction with textual descriptions to explore the data
Investigator and methodological triangulation87	Analysing data in relation to the context in which it was produced, for example, the disciplinary perspectives and expertise of the researchers	No	More appropriate for qualitative data