The Review Protocol

Terms of Use

Terms of use for The Review Protocol — educational content, CC BY-NC templates, and no-warranty disclaimer.

Last updated: 2026-04-14

Educational purpose

The Review Protocol is an educational resource on literature review and evidence synthesis methodology. Nothing on this site is a substitute for:

  • Your institution's research librarian, who is the right partner for database selection and search strategy development on a specific project.
  • Your graduate program's methodology requirements, supervisor guidance, or ethics review process.
  • Peer-reviewed methodology literature and official reporting guidance.

Always follow your institution's requirements and consult a librarian for search strategy support on a real project.

No affiliation with standards bodies

This site references PRISMA, the Cochrane Collaboration, JBI (Joanna Briggs Institute), PROSPERO, and related frameworks for educational purposes. The Review Protocol is an independent site produced by Angel Reyes / Subthesis and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of these organizations. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Copyright

All written content, diagrams, and code on this site are copyright © Angel Reyes / Subthesis, except where third-party sources are cited. You may quote short passages for academic purposes with attribution.

Templates license (CC BY-NC)

Downloadable templates — literature review matrices, PRISMA flow diagrams, data extraction forms, search documentation forms, inclusion/exclusion checklists, and critical appraisal worksheets — are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC 4.0).

You may:

  • Adapt the templates for your thesis, dissertation, systematic review, scoping review, or other academic work
  • Share adapted versions with collaborators and students
  • Include template-derived content in a published academic paper with attribution

You may not:

  • Sell or re-license the templates
  • Repackage them as part of a commercial product or service
  • Remove attribution to Subthesis

Suggested attribution: "Template adapted from The Review Protocol (Subthesis), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0."

No warranty

Content on this site is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, express or implied. We make no guarantee that the methodology guidance, templates, or external references are error-free, current with the latest standards revisions, or suitable for your specific project. Use of the site and its downloads is at your own risk. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Angel Reyes and Subthesis disclaim all liability for any loss or damage arising from use of this site.

External links

We link to other sites — including Subthesis, standards organizations, databases, and academic resources. We are not responsible for the content, accuracy, or practices of external sites.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms to reflect new site features, revised template licenses, or clarifications. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect the most recent change.

Contact

Questions about these terms or template use? Reach out through Subthesis.com.