Mapping the landscape of concept analysis in nursing and auditing reporting completeness: a scoping review protocol

Concept analysis is widely used in nursing to clarify key concepts, support theory development and improve conceptual consistency in research and practice. Although concept analysis studies have increased substantially, concerns remain regarding methodological heterogeneity and incomplete reporting. Based on preliminary scoping of the literature, no dedicated scoping review has yet mapped the broad landscape of concept analysis studies in nursing while also examining reporting completeness. This protocol describes a scoping review that will characterise methodological trends, identify recurrent reporting omissions and generate an evidence map to support future methodological work in this field.

This scoping review will follow established scoping review guidance and will be reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. Guided by the Population-Concept-Context framework, we will search major English-language and Chinese-language databases for nursing-related concept analysis studies. All concept analysis approaches will be considered eligible, provided the study explicitly reports analysing a nursing-related phenomenon. Two reviewers will independently screen records, assess full texts and chart data using a standardised extraction form. In parallel, reporting completeness will be examined using an author-developed, evidence-informed audit checklist. Findings will be synthesised using descriptive statistics and qualitative thematic analysis.

Ethical approval is not required because this review will synthesise data from publicly available sources. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publication and conference presentation. The review is expected to provide a structured overview of current concept analysis practices in nursing and to identify priority areas for improving reporting transparency in future methodological work.