Rapid qualitative analysis in implementation science: a protocol for a methodological scoping review and the development of reporting recommendations

Implementation science aims to translate evidence into practice and optimize interventions in real-world settings. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), as a typical complex intervention integrating biological, psychological, cognitive and behavioral, social, and environmental components, is subject to numerous contextual and implementation-related influences in real-world practice. Qualitative research is essential for understanding these, but traditional methods are time- and resource-intensive. Rapid qualitative analysis (RQA) can generate decision-relevant evidence within compressed timeframes and has emerged as an important methodological approach in implementation science. We will conduct a methodological scoping review of RQA in implementation science and develop tailored reporting recommendations.

This methodological scoping review will follow Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, the Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and PsycINFO will be searched from 2000 onward, supplemented by relevant government reports and implementation science websites. Eligible studies will be situated in implementation science and explicit report using RQA. Two reviewers will independently screen, extract, and appraise studies to map methodological characteristics of RQA. Reporting recommendations will be developed and refined through a modified Delphi consensus involving experts in qualitative methodology and implementation science.

To our knowledge, this will be the first methodological scoping review to systematically examine RQA in implementation science, which will also take full account of the characteristics of TCM as a complex intervention and explore the capacity of RQA to capture implementation-relevant dimensions. Findings will inform reporting recommendations for RQA, strengthen methodological transparency, consistency, and rigor in healthcare implementation research, and enhance the comparability, interpretability, and practical utility of RQA for implementation-related decision-making.

This protocol was registered with the International Platform of Registered Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols in May 2026 (https://inplasy.com/, INPLASY202650116).