Twenty-five years of social work research in Rwanda: The need for a review

Over the past 25 years, social work research in Rwanda has steadily increased, predicting significant contributions to the socioeconomic well-being of the population. It is now worth assessing the scope of what has been done and what else could be further undertaken. This scoping review aims to analyse and evaluate the articles and research outputs produced by social work scholars in Rwanda from 1999 to 2024 to identify areas requiring further exploration. A comprehensive search strategy is developed to identify relevant research articles published by social work scholars in Rwanda. Peer-reviewed literature will be searched. Original articles published in English, French, and Kinyarwanda will be included. Additionally, a manual search of reference lists will be conducted. The screening process will consist of two stages: title and abstract screening, followed by thoroughly scrutinising the included full-text papers. Relevant information will be extracted, such as areas of focus, target populations, research methods, and study limitations, followed by thematic analysis and discussion of key findings. This review will synthesise research across multiple themes to better inform educators, policymakers, and practitioners in Rwanda and the wider region of East Africa on where the field stands and where it needs to go.