Skip to Main Content
XClose

Library Services

Home

UCL LIBRARY SERVICES

Library Skills@UCL for NHS

A guide to information literacy and library skills for NHS staff from Trusts supported by UCL Library Services, to inform clinical practice, study and research.

Publishing a protocol

If you are planning to write a systematic review, scoping review, or similar type of review, you may wish to register a review protocol towards the beginning of the process. Publishing a protocol is not mandatory if you are writing a review, but it is increasingly considered best practice.

Registering a protocol can help improve transparency and reduce bias in the conduct of reviews. It also allows researchers to discover which reviews are currently in progress, reducing the likelihood of duplication of effort.

Many journal publishers now require a protocol to be registered at the outset of a review.

Registration sites may provide guidance on what to include in a protocol. General guidance on what to include is also available in the PRISMA-P checklist.

Where to publish or register a protocol

You may wish to consider publishing or registering a protocol on one of the sites below.

Journals

Systematic review registration sites

The JBI recommends that protocols are published in PROSPERO. The JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis includes information about how to write protocols for scoping reviews, umbrella reviews, and various types of systematic review.

General registration sites