Table 2 Categorisation of the citations from systematic reviews of ethical literature: definitions and examples

Mention

The citation is merely mentioned to point out the existence of publications developing a method or addressing a topic. The text does not use, explain, or detail the citation or its content further (perfunctory)

Patients and families carry similar misconceptions about palliative care, often perceiving PPC [Patient Priorities Care] as a type of EOL [End of Life] care implemented only when curative cancer treatments have been exhausted and children and families have no other hope [reference to SREL [26]]. Extracted from citing publication [27]

Support

The citation is linked to concrete content regarding the method or the topic, but its content is neither discussed nor transformed. It is only used as a reference to support, substantiate or justify a specific statement

All research involving living beings calls for deliberate ethical considerations. When conducting research with children, the ethical stakes are viewed as higher, due to their need of protection [reference to SREL [28]]. Extracted from citing publication [29]

SREL as research object

The review is taken as a research object by the citing publication. The cited SREL constitutes part of the evaluated data of the citing publication e.g., in an overview of the SR methods or in an overview of the issues related to a topic

As shown in Fig. 3, initial database extractions resulted in 235 citations, which were narrowed down to n = 88 articles retrieved directly from databases (and n = 12 retrieved from additional hand searches resulting in N = 100 total articles) meeting inclusion/exclusion criteria after deduplication, title/abstract, and full-text review [final sample included SREL [30]]. Extracted from citing publication [31]

Analysis /Transformation

The citing publication works with detailed content-related statements or methodological arguments from the SREL to formulate its own statements or arguments. This generally includes content transformation such as comparison, appreciation, or criticism

I suspect that one of the primary reasons why the definition of moral distress is often confined to constraint-distress is because of moral concerns about the “additional” burden of distress that might be experienced by nurses [reference to SREL [32]]. Any health professional could suffer distress due to concerns about patient care, which can lead to the well-being of that professional being negatively impacted. In these kinds of cases, only the moral values of patient well-being and professional well-being are likely to be violated. Extracted from citing publication [33]

Recommendation

Recommendations or requirements are derived from or supported by statements or arguments originating from the quoted SREL. These recommendations or guidances go beyond the methodological or thematic content of the cited review

Technically, a sham operation is the most appropriate control and should be considered the gold-standard control for future studies, however the ethics of this need to be considered [reference to SREL [34]]. Extracted from citing publication [35]

Constitutive for citing publication

The citation is constitutive for the research question or the methodology of the citing publication, for example to distinguish one’s own research question from the quoted SREL

Although transcriptions differ among the various nations, a valid basis for international protocol acceptance has been set. Nevertheless, there are discrepancies among the diverse transcriptions. The whole area is still in a constant move and many of the regulations and guidelines still lack clarity or are difficult to access [reference to SREL [36]]. Therefore, selection of a suitable protocol template was one of the crucial points of this work. Extracted from citing publication [37]

Reading suggestion

The SREL is merely referenced as a bibliographical recommendation

In light of these criticisms, some ethicists have advanced alternatives to the best interests standard, such as Diekema’s (2004) “harm principle” (for an overview, refer to [reference to SREL [38]]. Extracted from citing publication [39]

CITATIONS WITH A METHODOLOGICAL SCOPE ONLY

Positive appropriation / Adoption

The citation of SREL methods is used by the citing publication for developing, justifying or modifying its own methods, or for comparing it to its own methods

Recognizing that ‘state-of-the-art’ reviews can be valuable in steering researchers towards more rigorous and useful research practice [reference to SREL [30]], we undertook a systematic, thematic literature review to characterize recent approaches to examining age-related differences in receipt of healthcare and public health interventions. Extracted from citing publication [40]

Negative appropriation / reutilisation

The citing publication uses the citation to demarcate its own method from the method mentioned in the cited SREL, or else to develop or justify a different method

More specific subthemes were identified within the subject Benefits and Risks (Table 3, in bold in columns 2 and 3); these were used to classify the benefits and risks and the labels were derived and modified from the classification outlined by Ayuso et al., 2013 [reference to SREL [41]]. Extracted from citing publication [42]