Data selection and collection

All records identified through various searches will be uploaded through the referencing systems Zotero and EndNote and managed in Covidence. Given the large body of evidence screened, the title and abstract screening of each study will be done independently by one reviewer, after implementing several strategies to ensure decision-making consistency across reviewers. These strategies include clear guidance regarding inclusion/exclusion criteria, abstract screening training, pilot testing the screening process several times to ensure that all reviewers have the same understanding of the inclusion/exclusion criteria used to guide the selection of studies, and bi-weekly meetings to address questions. As part of the pilot testing, initially, reviewers will screen the same subsets of records individually and then compare decisions. Once the inclusion/exclusion decisions among the reviewers are consistent, reviewers will proceed to screen the remaining titles and abstracts independently. In addition, any record that a reviewer will be unsure about will be marked as a “maybe” and will be screened subsequently by at least two other reviewers to determine whether it should be selected for full-text review.

A data extraction template was created to facilitate the capturing of specific data, including study name and author(s), study design, dimension of precarious employment addressed, purpose and description of initiative, target population(s), outcome(s), evaluation results, country, industry/occupation, the source(s) of funding, and other potential conflicts of interest. The data extraction template is currently being piloted by the reviewers involved in the title and abstract screening and will be adjusted as needed. All studies recommended for full-text review will be divided up among pairs of reviewers, who will complete the data extraction for the included studies independently. For studies excluded at the full-text review stage, only a few sections of the form will be completed, capturing enough information to document reason(s) for exclusion. A third reviewer will read through the extracted data for each study to determine whether to confirm the decision. Any disagreements will be discussed with the other reviewers, until consensus is reached. A flow diagram of the papers identified for inclusion will be created using the PRISMA 2020 statement [126].