Radicalization and Technology-Generated Environments: A Living Scoping Review Protocol

The intertwining of radicalization phenomena and technology has become unavoidable (e.g., the cases of Mohammed Zahir Khan and Maria Giulia Sergio). Unfortunately, terrorism risk assessment instruments rarely conceptualize radicalization using factors (i.e., radicalization causes) that reflect this entanglement. Drawing on findings from projects and studies (e.g., Horizon CounteR), radicalization unfolds across diverse real and digital environments. Based on these observations, this protocol presents a living scoping review focused on continuously mapping and exploring existing literature on radicalization and technology-generated environments (see, for example, the taxonomy of technology-generated environments developed by Milgram et al.). This review will consider peer-reviewed scientific research (including PhD dissertations) on radicalization and technology-generated environments. The review follows the JBI’s guidance on performing scoping reviews. Screening of new literature will be performed according to the timing criteria established by the Cochrane Collaboration’s guidance on living reviews, and the review will be regularly updated to reflect emerging evidence. The search strategy will comprehensively identify and map the published studies. The following databases and sources of information will be searched: Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar (for PhD dissertations). Studies in English, French, or Italian will be included regardless of the publication date. According to JBI’s guidance on performing scoping reviews, the review will present the characteristics of the included sources of evidence (e.g., number and type of included sources) and the main results obtained by data charting in relation to the review objective and research question. Review registration: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/95HVD.