1.3 The review protocol

Preparation of review protocol is an essential step in the conduct of any JBI systematic or scoping review. Publication of a review protocol in a peer reviewed journal is not essential however, a protocol must be completed and made publicly available, prior to the conduct and publication of the systematic or scoping review.  

It is important to acknowledge and justify all deviations from the protocol in the review manuscript.​ The reporting guidelines in the PRISMA-P statement​ are a useful resource for authors to ensure required details are being reported in their protocol, as are the templates available in the JBI SUMARI software. While preparing the review protocol authors should commence the process to register their work (see section 1.4).