Journalistic Coverage of Electronic Cigarettes: A Scoping Review Protocol

Electronic cigarettes have expanded rapidly worldwide, yet scientific understanding of how the media frames and portrays these products remains limited. This scoping review protocol aims to map the scientific literature that analyzes journalistic coverage of electronic cigarettes across different media outlets. The review question is structured using the Population-Concept-Context (PCC) framework as follows: Population refers to communication outlets and media channels (print, digital, television, and radio); Concept refers to journalistic coverage of electronic cigarettes, including vaping, e-cigarettes, and electronic nicotine delivery systems; and Context refers to any country, with no time restrictions. Accordingly, the review question is: What are the characteristics and framings of journalistic coverage of electronic cigarettes across different media outlets in the world literature? The review will be conducted according to the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines and the PRISMA-ScR checklist, with the protocol registered in the Open Science Framework (OSF). Searches will be carried out in the following databases: Redalyc, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Oasisbr, CAPES Journals Portal, and BVS/Lilacs. Study selection will be performed using the Rayyan software. Full-text scientific articles available online, written in Portuguese, English, or Spanish, with no time restrictions, that analyze journalistic coverage of electronic cigarettes will be included. Data will be extracted using a standardized form and results will be presented in a descriptive and narrative format.