This methodological paper builds on Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) five-stage framework, combined with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMAScR) (Tricco et al., 2018), applied to conduct a thematic synthesis (Gough et al., 2017). Drawing on experience from preforming and publishing a systematic scoping review (Rundquist et al., 2024), as well as, comparing different methods used in systematic reviews. This study explores options and may provide insight regarding scoping reviews and systematic reviews within education. The aim is to provide a step-by-step guide for doctoral students and junior researchers on how to go from a scoping review to a systematic review.

This paper suggests 10 steps on how to perform a systematic review according to Arksey and O’Malley (2005) following the flow of PRISMAScR (Tricco et al., 2018), clarifying the amount of work needed for a systematic review and how to perform a systematic review efficiently. The Ten Steps, organised according to PRISMAScR, include identification (step 1), screening (step 2–5) eligibility (step 6–8) and inclusion (step 9–10), and are as follows:

1. Identifying and defining key elements; 2. initial screening by exclusion searches; 3. Develop screening instrument and protocol; 4. Second screening; 5. Full screening and relevance coding; 6. Full-text records assessed for eligibility; 7. Appraisal of source evidence; 8. Inter-rater reliability; 9. Inclusion through data and discussion; 10. Data presentation.

The method accounts for data preparation for synthesising mixed method and qualitative findings, complete with inter-rater reliability measurements and efficient use of eligibility criteria, relevance coding and data extraction.

Reviews in education has increased, both as research reviews but also from different institutions interested in collecting evidence regarding specific phenomenon (though not necessarily on a scientific foundation). Therefore, reliable methods for systematic reviews in education are an important task, both for the field of education as well as for doctoral students as they often conduct reviews.