Mapping evidence of postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa: A scoping review protocol

Mapping evidence of postgraduate research... | F1000Research "use strict";function _typeof(t){return(_typeof="function"==typeof Symbol&&"symbol"==typeof Symbol.iterator?function(t){return typeof t}:function(t){return t&&"function"==typeof Symbol&&t.constructor===Symbol&&t!==Symbol.prototype?"symbol":typeof t})(t)}!function(){var t=function(){var t,e,o=[],n=window,r=n;for(;r;){try{if(r.frames.__tcfapiLocator){t=r;break}}catch(t){}if(r===n.top)break;r=r.parent}t||(!function t(){var e=n.document,o=!!n.frames.__tcfapiLocator;if(!o)if(e.body){var r=e.createElement("iframe");r.style.cssText="display:none",r.name="__tcfapiLocator",e.body.appendChild(r)}else setTimeout(t,5);return!o}(),n.__tcfapi=function(){for(var t=arguments.length,n=new Array(t),r=0;r 3&&2===parseInt(n[1],10)&&"boolean"==typeof n[3]&&(e=n[3],"function"==typeof n[2]&&n[2]("set",!0)):"ping"===n[0]?"function"==typeof n[2]&&n[2]({gdprApplies:e,cmpLoaded:!1,cmpStatus:"stub"}):o.push(n)},n.addEventListener("message",(function(t){var e="string"==typeof t.data,o={};if(e)try{o=JSON.parse(t.data)}catch(t){}else o=t.data;var n="object"===_typeof(o)&&null!==o?o.__tcfapiCall:null;n&&window.__tcfapi(n.command,n.version,(function(o,r){var a={__tcfapiReturn:{returnValue:o,success:r,callId:n.callId}};t&&t.source&&t.source.postMessage&&t.source.postMessage(e?JSON.stringify(a):a,"*")}),n.parameter)}),!1))};"undefined"!=typeof module?module.exports=t:t()}(); dataLayer = dataLayer || []; // Standard GTM initialization - Google Consent Mode handles consent automatically (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start': new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl+ '>m_auth=hzk0Vc3qFsQYhCrIoHz68A>m_preview=env-1>m_cookies_win=x';f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f); })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-MWFK8L5J'); ;window.NREUM||(NREUM={});NREUM.init={distributed_tracing:{enabled:true},privacy:{cookies_enabled:true},ajax:{deny_list:["bam.nr-data.net"]}}; ;NREUM.loader_config={accountID:"438030",trustKey:"438030",agentID:"772317073",licenseKey:"97f8f67f26",applicationID:"772317073"} ;NREUM.info={beacon:"bam.nr-data.net",errorBeacon:"bam.nr-data.net",licenseKey:"97f8f67f26",applicationID:"772317073",sa:1} ;/*! For license information please see nr-loader-spa-1.236.0.min.js.LICENSE.txt */ (()=>{"use strict";var e,t,r={5763:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{P_:()=>l,Mt:()=>g,C5:()=>s,DL:()=>v,OP:()=>T,lF:()=>D,Yu:()=>y,Dg:()=>h,CX:()=>c,GE:()=>b,sU:()=>_});var n=r(8632),i=r(9567);const o={beacon:n.ce.beacon,errorBeacon:n.ce.errorBeacon,licenseKey:void 0,applicationID:void 0,sa:void 0,queueTime:void 0,applicationTime:void 0,ttGuid:void 0,user:void 0,account:void 0,product:void 0,extra:void 0,jsAttributes:{},userAttributes:void 0,atts:void 0,transactionName:void 0,tNamePlain:void 0},a={};function s(e){if(!e)throw new Error("All info objects require an agent identifier!");if(!a[e])throw new Error("Info for ".concat(e," was never set"));return a[e]}function c(e,t){if(!e)throw new Error("All info objects require an agent identifier!");a[e]=(0,i.D)(t,o),(0,n.Qy)(e,a[e],"info")}var u=r(7056);const d=()=>{const e={blockSelector:"[data-nr-block]",maskInputOptions:{password:!0}};return{allow_bfcache:!0,privacy:{cookies_enabled:!0},ajax:{deny_list:void 0,enabled:!0,harvestTimeSeconds:10},distributed_tracing:{enabled:void 0,exclude_newrelic_header:void 0,cors_use_newrelic_header:void 0,cors_use_tracecontext_headers:void 0,allowed_origins:void 0},session:{domain:void 0,expiresMs:u.oD,inactiveMs:u.Hb},ssl:void 0,obfuscate:void 0,jserrors:{enabled:!0,harvestTimeSeconds:10},metrics:{enabled:!0},page_action:{enabled:!0,harvestTimeSeconds:30},page_view_event:{enabled:!0},page_view_timing:{enabled:!0,harvestTimeSeconds:30,long_task:!1},session_trace:{enabled:!0,harvestTimeSeconds:10},harvest:{tooManyRequestsDelay:60},session_replay:{enabled:!1,harvestTimeSeconds:60,sampleRate:.1,errorSampleRate:.1,maskTextSelector:"*",maskAllInputs:!0,get blockClass(){return"nr-block"},get ignoreClass(){return"nr-ignore"},get maskTextClass(){return"nr-mask"},get blockSelector(){return e.blockSelector},set blockSelector(t){e.blockSelector+=",".concat(t)},get maskInputOptions(){return e.maskInputOptions},set maskInputOptions(t){e.maskInputOptions={...t,password:!0}}},spa:{enabled:!0,harvestTimeSeconds:10}}},f={};function l(e){if(!e)throw new Error("All configuration objects require an agent identifier!");if(!f[e])throw new Error("Configuration for ".concat(e," was never set"));return f[e]}function h(e,t){if(!e)throw new Error("All configuration objects require an agent identifier!");f[e]=(0,i.D)(t,d()),(0,n.Qy)(e,f[e],"config")}function g(e,t){if(!e)throw new Error("All configuration objects require an agent identifier!");var r=l(e);if(r){for(var n=t.split("."),i=0;i {r.d(t,{D:()=>i});var n=r(50);function i(e,t){try{if(!e||"object"!=typeof e)return(0,n.Z)("Setting a Configurable requires an object as input");if(!t||"object"!=typeof t)return(0,n.Z)("Setting a Configurable requires a model to set its initial properties");const r=Object.create(Object.getPrototypeOf(t),Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptors(t)),o=0===Object.keys(r).length?e:r;for(let a in o)if(void 0!==e[a])try{"object"==typeof e[a]&&"object"==typeof t[a]?r[a]=i(e[a],t[a]):r[a]=e[a]}catch(e){(0,n.Z)("An error occurred while setting a property of a Configurable",e)}return r}catch(e){(0,n.Z)("An error occured while setting a Configurable",e)}}},6818:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{Re:()=>i,gF:()=>o,q4:()=>n});const n="1.236.0",i="PROD",o="CDN"},385:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{FN:()=>a,IF:()=>u,Nk:()=>f,Tt:()=>s,_A:()=>o,il:()=>n,pL:()=>c,v6:()=>i,w1:()=>d});const n="undefined"!=typeof window&&!!window.document,i="undefined"!=typeof WorkerGlobalScope&&("undefined"!=typeof self&&self instanceof WorkerGlobalScope&&self.navigator instanceof WorkerNavigator||"undefined"!=typeof globalThis&&globalThis instanceof WorkerGlobalScope&&globalThis.navigator instanceof WorkerNavigator),o=n?window:"undefined"!=typeof WorkerGlobalScope&&("undefined"!=typeof self&&self instanceof WorkerGlobalScope&&self||"undefined"!=typeof globalThis&&globalThis instanceof WorkerGlobalScope&&globalThis),a=""+o?.location,s=/iPad|iPhone|iPod/.test(navigator.userAgent),c=s&&"undefined"==typeof SharedWorker,u=(()=>{const e=navigator.userAgent.match(/Firefox[/\s](\d+\.\d+)/);return Array.isArray(e)&&e.length>=2?+e[1]:0})(),d=Boolean(n&&window.document.documentMode),f=!!navigator.sendBeacon},1117:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{w:()=>o});var n=r(50);const i={agentIdentifier:"",ee:void 0};class o{constructor(e){try{if("object"!=typeof e)return(0,n.Z)("shared context requires an object as input");this.sharedContext={},Object.assign(this.sharedContext,i),Object.entries(e).forEach((e=>{let[t,r]=e;Object.keys(i).includes(t)&&(this.sharedContext[t]=r)}))}catch(e){(0,n.Z)("An error occured while setting SharedContext",e)}}}},8e3:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{L:()=>d,R:()=>c});var n=r(2177),i=r(1284),o=r(4322),a=r(3325);const s={};function c(e,t){const r={staged:!1,priority:a.p[t]||0};u(e),s[e].get(t)||s[e].set(t,r)}function u(e){e&&(s[e]||(s[e]=new Map))}function d(){let e=arguments.length>0&&void 0!==arguments[0]?arguments[0]:"",t=arguments.length>1&&void 0!==arguments[1]?arguments[1]:"feature";if(u(e),!e||!s[e].get(t))return a(t);s[e].get(t).staged=!0;const r=[...s[e]];function a(t){const r=e?n.ee.get(e):n.ee,a=o.X.handlers;if(r.backlog&&a){var s=r.backlog[t],c=a[t];if(c){for(var u=0;s&&u {let[t,r]=e;return r.staged}))&&(r.sort(((e,t)=>e[1].priority-t[1].priority)),r.forEach((e=>{let[t]=e;a(t)})))}function f(e,t){var r=e[1];(0,i.D)(t[r],(function(t,r){var n=e[0];if(r[0]===n){var i=r[1],o=e[3],a=e[2];i.apply(o,a)}}))}},2177:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{c:()=>f,ee:()=>u});var n=r(8632),i=r(2210),o=r(1284),a=r(5763),s="nr@context";let c=(0,n.fP)();var u;function d(){}function f(e){return(0,i.X)(e,s,l)}function l(){return new d}function h(){u.aborted=!0,u.backlog={}}c.ee?u=c.ee:(u=function e(t,r){var n={},c={},f={},g=!1;try{g=16===r.length&&(0,a.OP)(r).isolatedBacklog}catch(e){}var p={on:b,addEventListener:b,removeEventListener:y,emit:v,get:x,listeners:w,context:m,buffer:A,abort:h,aborted:!1,isBuffering:E,debugId:r,backlog:g?{}:t&&"object"==typeof t.backlog?t.backlog:{}};return p;function m(e){return e&&e instanceof d?e:e?(0,i.X)(e,s,l):l()}function v(e,r,n,i,o){if(!1!==o&&(o=!0),!u.aborted||i){t&&o&&t.emit(e,r,n);for(var a=m(n),s=w(e),d=s.length,f=0;fn,p:()=>i});var n=r(2177).ee.get("handle");function i(e,t,r,i,o){o?(o.buffer([e],i),o.emit(e,t,r)):(n.buffer([e],i),n.emit(e,t,r))}},4322:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{X:()=>o});var n=r(5546);o.on=a;var i=o.handlers={};function o(e,t,r,o){a(o||n.E,i,e,t,r)}function a(e,t,r,i,o){o||(o="feature"),e||(e=n.E);var a=t[o]=t[o]||{};(a[r]=a[r]||[]).push([e,i])}},3239:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{bP:()=>s,iz:()=>c,m$:()=>a});var n=r(385);let i=!1,o=!1;try{const e={get passive(){return i=!0,!1},get signal(){return o=!0,!1}};n._A.addEventListener("test",null,e),n._A.removeEventListener("test",null,e)}catch(e){}function a(e,t){return i||o?{capture:!!e,passive:i,signal:t}:!!e}function s(e,t){let r=arguments.length>2&&void 0!==arguments[2]&&arguments[2],n=arguments.length>3?arguments[3]:void 0;window.addEventListener(e,t,a(r,n))}function c(e,t){let r=arguments.length>2&&void 0!==arguments[2]&&arguments[2],n=arguments.length>3?arguments[3]:void 0;document.addEventListener(e,t,a(r,n))}},4402:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{Ht:()=>u,M:()=>c,Rl:()=>a,ky:()=>s});var n=r(385);const i="xxxxxxxx-xxxx-4xxx-yxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx";function o(e,t){return e?15&e[t]:16*Math.random()|0}function a(){const e=n._A?.crypto||n._A?.msCrypto;let t,r=0;return e&&e.getRandomValues&&(t=e.getRandomValues(new Uint8Array(31))),i.split("").map((e=>"x"===e?o(t,++r).toString(16):"y"===e?(3&o()|8).toString(16):e)).join("")}function s(e){const t=n._A?.crypto||n._A?.msCrypto;let r,i=0;t&&t.getRandomValues&&(r=t.getRandomValues(new Uint8Array(31)));const a=[];for(var s=0;s {r.d(t,{Bq:()=>n,Hb:()=>o,oD:()=>i});const n="NRBA",i=144e5,o=18e5},7894:(e,t,r)=>{function n(){return Math.round(performance.now())}r.d(t,{z:()=>n})},7243:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{e:()=>o});var n=r(385),i={};function o(e){if(e in i)return i[e];if(0===(e||"").indexOf("data:"))return{protocol:"data"};let t;var r=n._A?.location,o={};if(n.il)t=document.createElement("a"),t.href=e;else try{t=new URL(e,r.href)}catch(e){return o}o.port=t.port;var a=t.href.split("://");!o.port&&a[1]&&(o.port=a[1].split("/")[0].split("@").pop().split(":")[1]),o.port&&"0"!==o.port||(o.port="https"===a[0]?"443":"80"),o.hostname=t.hostname||r.hostname,o.pathname=t.pathname,o.protocol=a[0],"/"!==o.pathname.charAt(0)&&(o.pathname="/"+o.pathname);var s=!t.protocol||":"===t.protocol||t.protocol===r.protocol,c=t.hostname===r.hostname&&t.port===r.port;return o.sameOrigin=s&&(!t.hostname||c),"/"===o.pathname&&(i[e]=o),o}},50:(e,t,r)=>{function n(e,t){"function"==typeof console.warn&&(console.warn("New Relic: ".concat(e)),t&&console.warn(t))}r.d(t,{Z:()=>n})},2587:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{N:()=>c,T:()=>u});var n=r(2177),i=r(5546),o=r(8e3),a=r(3325);const s={stn:[a.D.sessionTrace],err:[a.D.jserrors,a.D.metrics],ins:[a.D.pageAction],spa:[a.D.spa],sr:[a.D.sessionReplay,a.D.sessionTrace]};function c(e,t){const r=n.ee.get(t);e&&"object"==typeof e&&(Object.entries(e).forEach((e=>{let[t,n]=e;void 0===u[t]&&(s[t]?s[t].forEach((e=>{n?(0,i.p)("feat-"+t,[],void 0,e,r):(0,i.p)("block-"+t,[],void 0,e,r),(0,i.p)("rumresp-"+t,[Boolean(n)],void 0,e,r)})):n&&(0,i.p)("feat-"+t,[],void 0,void 0,r),u[t]=Boolean(n))})),Object.keys(s).forEach((e=>{void 0===u[e]&&(s[e]?.forEach((t=>(0,i.p)("rumresp-"+e,[!1],void 0,t,r))),u[e]=!1)})),(0,o.L)(t,a.D.pageViewEvent))}const u={}},2210:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{X:()=>i});var n=Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty;function i(e,t,r){if(n.call(e,t))return e[t];var i=r();if(Object.defineProperty&&Object.keys)try{return Object.defineProperty(e,t,{value:i,writable:!0,enumerable:!1}),i}catch(e){}return e[t]=i,i}},1284:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{D:()=>n});const n=(e,t)=>Object.entries(e||{}).map((e=>{let[r,n]=e;return t(r,n)}))},4351:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{P:()=>o});var n=r(2177);const i=()=>{const e=new WeakSet;return(t,r)=>{if("object"==typeof r&&null!==r){if(e.has(r))return;e.add(r)}return r}};function o(e){try{return JSON.stringify(e,i())}catch(e){try{n.ee.emit("internal-error",[e])}catch(e){}}}},3960:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{K:()=>a,b:()=>o});var n=r(3239);function i(){return"undefined"==typeof document||"complete"===document.readyState}function o(e,t){if(i())return e();(0,n.bP)("load",e,t)}function a(e){if(i())return e();(0,n.iz)("DOMContentLoaded",e)}},8632:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{EZ:()=>u,Qy:()=>c,ce:()=>o,fP:()=>a,gG:()=>d,mF:()=>s});var n=r(7894),i=r(385);const o={beacon:"bam.nr-data.net",errorBeacon:"bam.nr-data.net"};function a(){return i._A.NREUM||(i._A.NREUM={}),void 0===i._A.newrelic&&(i._A.newrelic=i._A.NREUM),i._A.NREUM}function s(){let e=a();return e.o||(e.o={ST:i._A.setTimeout,SI:i._A.setImmediate,CT:i._A.clearTimeout,XHR:i._A.XMLHttpRequest,REQ:i._A.Request,EV:i._A.Event,PR:i._A.Promise,MO:i._A.MutationObserver,FETCH:i._A.fetch}),e}function c(e,t,r){let i=a();const o=i.initializedAgents||{},s=o[e]||{};return Object.keys(s).length||(s.initializedAt={ms:(0,n.z)(),date:new Date}),i.initializedAgents={...o,[e]:{...s,[r]:t}},i}function u(e,t){a()[e]=t}function d(){return function(){let e=a();const t=e.info||{};e.info={beacon:o.beacon,errorBeacon:o.errorBeacon,...t}}(),function(){let e=a();const t=e.init||{};e.init={...t}}(),s(),function(){let e=a();const t=e.loader_config||{};e.loader_config={...t}}(),a()}},7956:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{N:()=>i});var n=r(3239);function i(e){let t=arguments.length>1&&void 0!==arguments[1]&&arguments[1],r=arguments.length>2?arguments[2]:void 0,i=arguments.length>3?arguments[3]:void 0;return void(0,n.iz)("visibilitychange",(function(){if(t)return void("hidden"==document.visibilityState&&e());e(document.visibilityState)}),r,i)}},1214:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{em:()=>v,u5:()=>N,QU:()=>S,_L:()=>I,Gm:()=>L,Lg:()=>M,gy:()=>U,BV:()=>Q,Kf:()=>ee});var n=r(2177);const i="nr@original";var o=Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty,a=!1;function s(e,t){return e||(e=n.ee),r.inPlace=function(e,t,n,i,o){n||(n="");var a,s,c,u="-"===n.charAt(0);for(c=0;c 2?n-2:0),o=2;o {r(A[T],e,w),r(E[T],e,w)})),r(l._A,"fetch",y),t.on(y+"end",(function(e,r){var n=this;if(r){var i=r.headers.get("content-length");null!==i&&(n.rxSize=i),t.emit(y+"done",[null,r],n)}else t.emit(y+"done",[e],n)})),t}const O={},j=["pushState","replaceState"];function S(e){const t=function(e){return(e||n.ee).get("history")}(e);return!l.il||O[t.debugId]++||(O[t.debugId]=1,s(t).inPlace(window.history,j,"-")),t}var P=r(3239);const C={},R=["appendChild","insertBefore","replaceChild"];function I(e){const t=function(e){return(e||n.ee).get("jsonp")}(e);if(!l.il||C[t.debugId])return t;C[t.debugId]=!0;var r=s(t),i=/[?&](?:callback|cb)=([^&#]+)/,o=/(.*)\.([^.]+)/,a=/^(\w+)(\.|$)(.*)$/;function c(e,t){var r=e.match(a),n=r[1],i=r[3];return i?c(i,t[n]):t[n]}return r.inPlace(Node.prototype,R,"dom-"),t.on("dom-start",(function(e){!function(e){if(!e||"string"!=typeof e.nodeName||"script"!==e.nodeName.toLowerCase())return;if("function"!=typeof e.addEventListener)return;var n=(a=e.src,s=a.match(i),s?s[1]:null);var a,s;if(!n)return;var u=function(e){var t=e.match(o);if(t&&t.length>=3)return{key:t[2],parent:c(t[1],window)};return{key:e,parent:window}}(n);if("function"!=typeof u.parent[u.key])return;var d={};function f(){t.emit("jsonp-end",[],d),e.removeEventListener("load",f,(0,P.m$)(!1)),e.removeEventListener("error",l,(0,P.m$)(!1))}function l(){t.emit("jsonp-error",[],d),t.emit("jsonp-end",[],d),e.removeEventListener("load",f,(0,P.m$)(!1)),e.removeEventListener("error",l,(0,P.m$)(!1))}r.inPlace(u.parent,[u.key],"cb-",d),e.addEventListener("load",f,(0,P.m$)(!1)),e.addEventListener("error",l,(0,P.m$)(!1)),t.emit("new-jsonp",[e.src],d)}(e[0])})),t}var k=r(5763);const H={};function L(e){const t=function(e){return(e||n.ee).get("mutation")}(e);if(!l.il||H[t.debugId])return t;H[t.debugId]=!0;var r=s(t),i=k.Yu.MO;return i&&(window.MutationObserver=function(e){return this instanceof i?new i(r(e,"fn-")):i.apply(this,arguments)},MutationObserver.prototype=i.prototype),t}const z={};function M(e){const t=function(e){return(e||n.ee).get("promise")}(e);if(z[t.debugId])return t;z[t.debugId]=!0;var r=n.c,o=s(t),a=k.Yu.PR;return a&&function(){function e(r){var n=t.context(),i=o(r,"executor-",n,null,!1);const s=Reflect.construct(a,[i],e);return t.context(s).getCtx=function(){return n},s}l._A.Promise=e,Object.defineProperty(e,"name",{value:"Promise"}),e.toString=function(){return a.toString()},Object.setPrototypeOf(e,a),["all","race"].forEach((function(r){const n=a[r];e[r]=function(e){let i=!1;[...e||[]].forEach((e=>{this.resolve(e).then(a("all"===r),a(!1))}));const o=n.apply(this,arguments);return o;function a(e){return function(){t.emit("propagate",[null,!i],o,!1,!1),i=i||!e}}}})),["resolve","reject"].forEach((function(r){const n=a[r];e[r]=function(e){const r=n.apply(this,arguments);return e!==r&&t.emit("propagate",[e,!0],r,!1,!1),r}})),e.prototype=a.prototype;const n=a.prototype.then;a.prototype.then=function(){var e=this,i=r(e);i.promise=e;for(var a=arguments.length,s=new Array(a),c=0;c e())),t};function m(e,t){i.inPlace(t,["onreadystatechange"],"fn-",E)}function b(){var e=this,t=r.context(e);e.readyState>3&&!t.resolved&&(t.resolved=!0,r.emit("xhr-resolved",[],e)),i.inPlace(e,f,"fn-",E)}if(function(e,t){for(var r in e)t[r]=e[r]}(o,p),p.prototype=o.prototype,i.inPlace(p.prototype,J,"-xhr-",E),r.on("send-xhr-start",(function(e,t){m(e,t),function(e){h.push(e),a&&(y?y.then(A):u?u(A):(w=-w,x.data=w))}(t)})),r.on("open-xhr-start",m),a){var y=c&&c.resolve();if(!u&&!c){var w=1,x=document.createTextNode(w);new a(A).observe(x,{characterData:!0})}}else t.on("fn-end",(function(e){e[0]&&e[0].type===d||A()}));function A(){for(var e=0;e {r.d(t,{t:()=>n});const n=r(3325).D.ajax},6660:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{A:()=>i,t:()=>n});const n=r(3325).D.jserrors,i="nr@seenError"},3081:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{gF:()=>o,mY:()=>i,t9:()=>n,vz:()=>s,xS:()=>a});const n=r(3325).D.metrics,i="sm",o="cm",a="storeSupportabilityMetrics",s="storeEventMetrics"},4649:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{t:()=>n});const n=r(3325).D.pageAction},7633:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{Dz:()=>i,OJ:()=>a,qw:()=>o,t9:()=>n});const n=r(3325).D.pageViewEvent,i="firstbyte",o="domcontent",a="windowload"},9251:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{t:()=>n});const n=r(3325).D.pageViewTiming},3614:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{BST_RESOURCE:()=>i,END:()=>s,FEATURE_NAME:()=>n,FN_END:()=>u,FN_START:()=>c,PUSH_STATE:()=>d,RESOURCE:()=>o,START:()=>a});const n=r(3325).D.sessionTrace,i="bstResource",o="resource",a="-start",s="-end",c="fn"+a,u="fn"+s,d="pushState"},7836:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{BODY:()=>A,CB_END:()=>E,CB_START:()=>u,END:()=>x,FEATURE_NAME:()=>i,FETCH:()=>_,FETCH_BODY:()=>v,FETCH_DONE:()=>m,FETCH_START:()=>p,FN_END:()=>c,FN_START:()=>s,INTERACTION:()=>l,INTERACTION_API:()=>d,INTERACTION_EVENTS:()=>o,JSONP_END:()=>b,JSONP_NODE:()=>g,JS_TIME:()=>T,MAX_TIMER_BUDGET:()=>a,REMAINING:()=>f,SPA_NODE:()=>h,START:()=>w,originalSetTimeout:()=>y});var n=r(5763);const i=r(3325).D.spa,o=["click","submit","keypress","keydown","keyup","change"],a=999,s="fn-start",c="fn-end",u="cb-start",d="api-ixn-",f="remaining",l="interaction",h="spaNode",g="jsonpNode",p="fetch-start",m="fetch-done",v="fetch-body-",b="jsonp-end",y=n.Yu.ST,w="-start",x="-end",A="-body",E="cb"+x,T="jsTime",_="fetch"},5938:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{W:()=>o});var n=r(5763),i=r(2177);class o{constructor(e,t,r){this.agentIdentifier=e,this.aggregator=t,this.ee=i.ee.get(e,(0,n.OP)(this.agentIdentifier).isolatedBacklog),this.featureName=r,this.blocked=!1}}},9144:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{j:()=>m});var n=r(3325),i=r(5763),o=r(5546),a=r(2177),s=r(7894),c=r(8e3),u=r(3960),d=r(385),f=r(50),l=r(3081),h=r(8632);function g(){const e=(0,h.gG)();["setErrorHandler","finished","addToTrace","inlineHit","addRelease","addPageAction","setCurrentRouteName","setPageViewName","setCustomAttribute","interaction","noticeError","setUserId"].forEach((t=>{e[t]=function(){for(var r=arguments.length,n=new Array(r),i=0;i 1?r-1:0),i=1;i {e.exposed&&e.api[t]&&o.push(e.api[t](...n))})),o.length>1?o:o[0]}(t,...n)}}))}var p=r(2587);function m(e){let t=arguments.length>1&&void 0!==arguments[1]?arguments[1]:{},m=arguments.length>2?arguments[2]:void 0,v=arguments.length>3?arguments[3]:void 0,{init:b,info:y,loader_config:w,runtime:x={loaderType:m},exposed:A=!0}=t;const E=(0,h.gG)();y||(b=E.init,y=E.info,w=E.loader_config),(0,i.Dg)(e,b||{}),(0,i.GE)(e,w||{}),(0,i.sU)(e,x),y.jsAttributes??={},d.v6&&(y.jsAttributes.isWorker=!0),(0,i.CX)(e,y),g();const T=function(e,t){t||(0,c.R)(e,"api");const h={};var g=a.ee.get(e),p=g.get("tracer"),m="api-",v=m+"ixn-";function b(t,r,n,o){const a=(0,i.C5)(e);return null===r?delete a.jsAttributes[t]:(0,i.CX)(e,{...a,jsAttributes:{...a.jsAttributes,[t]:r}}),x(m,n,!0,o||null===r?"session":void 0)(t,r)}function y(){}["setErrorHandler","finished","addToTrace","inlineHit","addRelease"].forEach((e=>h[e]=x(m,e,!0,"api"))),h.addPageAction=x(m,"addPageAction",!0,n.D.pageAction),h.setCurrentRouteName=x(m,"routeName",!0,n.D.spa),h.setPageViewName=function(t,r){if("string"==typeof t)return"/"!==t.charAt(0)&&(t="/"+t),(0,i.OP)(e).customTransaction=(r||"http://custom.transaction")+t,x(m,"setPageViewName",!0)()},h.setCustomAttribute=function(e,t){let r=arguments.length>2&&void 0!==arguments[2]&&arguments[2];if("string"==typeof e){if(["string","number"].includes(typeof t)||null===t)return b(e,t,"setCustomAttribute",r);(0,f.Z)("Failed to execute setCustomAttribute.\nNon-null value must be a string or number type, but a type of was provided."))}else(0,f.Z)("Failed to execute setCustomAttribute.\nName must be a string type, but a type of was provided."))},h.setUserId=function(e){if("string"==typeof e||null===e)return b("enduser.id",e,"setUserId",!0);(0,f.Z)("Failed to execute setUserId.\nNon-null value must be a string type, but a type of was provided."))},h.interaction=function(){return(new y).get()};var w=y.prototype={createTracer:function(e,t){var r={},i=this,a="function"==typeof t;return(0,o.p)(v+"tracer",[(0,s.z)(),e,r],i,n.D.spa,g),function(){if(p.emit((a?"":"no-")+"fn-start",[(0,s.z)(),i,a],r),a)try{return t.apply(this,arguments)}catch(e){throw p.emit("fn-err",[arguments,this,"string"==typeof e?new Error(e):e],r),e}finally{p.emit("fn-end",[(0,s.z)()],r)}}}};function x(e,t,r,i){return function(){return(0,o.p)(l.xS,["API/"+t+"/called"],void 0,n.D.metrics,g),i&&(0,o.p)(e+t,[(0,s.z)(),...arguments],r?null:this,i,g),r?void 0:this}}function A(){r.e(439).then(r.bind(r,7438)).then((t=>{let{setAPI:r}=t;r(e),(0,c.L)(e,"api")})).catch((()=>(0,f.Z)("Downloading runtime APIs failed...")))}return["actionText","setName","setAttribute","save","ignore","onEnd","getContext","end","get"].forEach((e=>{w[e]=x(v,e,void 0,n.D.spa)})),h.noticeError=function(e,t){"string"==typeof e&&(e=new Error(e)),(0,o.p)(l.xS,["API/noticeError/called"],void 0,n.D.metrics,g),(0,o.p)("err",[e,(0,s.z)(),!1,t],void 0,n.D.jserrors,g)},d.il?(0,u.b)((()=>A()),!0):A(),h}(e,v);return(0,h.Qy)(e,T,"api"),(0,h.Qy)(e,A,"exposed"),(0,h.EZ)("activatedFeatures",p.T),T}},3325:(e,t,r)=>{r.d(t,{D:()=>n,p:()=>i});const n={ajax:"ajax",jserrors:"jserrors",metrics:"metrics",pageAction:"page_action",pageViewEvent:"page_view_event",pageViewTiming:"page_view_timing",sessionReplay:"session_replay",sessionTrace:"session_trace",spa:"spa"},i={[n.pageViewEvent]:1,[n.pageViewTiming]:2,[n.metrics]:3,[n.jserrors]:4,[n.ajax]:5,[n.sessionTrace]:6,[n.pageAction]:7,[n.spa]:8,[n.sessionReplay]:9}}},n={};function i(e){var t=n[e];if(void 0!==t)return t.exports;var o=n[e]={exports:{}};return r[e](o,o.exports,i),o.exports}i.m=r,i.d=(e,t)=>{for(var r in t)i.o(t,r)&&!i.o(e,r)&&Object.defineProperty(e,r,{enumerable:!0,get:t[r]})},i.f={},i.e=e=>Promise.all(Object.keys(i.f).reduce(((t,r)=>(i.f[r](e,t),t)),[])),i.u=e=>(({78:"page_action-aggregate",147:"metrics-aggregate",242:"session-manager",317:"jserrors-aggregate",348:"page_view_timing-aggregate",412:"lazy-feature-loader",439:"async-api",538:"recorder",590:"session_replay-aggregate",675:"compressor",733:"session_trace-aggregate",786:"page_view_event-aggregate",873:"spa-aggregate",898:"ajax-aggregate"}[e]||e)+"."+{78:"ac76d497",147:"3dc53903",148:"1a20d5fe",242:"2a64278a",317:"49e41428",348:"bd6de33a",412:"2f55ce66",439:"30bd804e",538:"1b18459f",590:"cf0efb30",675:"ae9f91a8",733:"83105561",786:"06482edd",860:"03a8b7a5",873:"e6b09d52",898:"998ef92b"}[e]+"-1.236.0.min.js"),i.o=(e,t)=>Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(e,t),e={},t="NRBA:",i.l=(r,n,o,a)=>{if(e[r])e[r].push(n);else{var s,c;if(void 0!==o)for(var u=document.getElementsByTagName("script"),d=0;d {s.onerror=s.onload=null,clearTimeout(h);var i=e[r];if(delete e[r],s.parentNode&&s.parentNode.removeChild(s),i&&i.forEach((e=>e(n))),t)return t(n)},h=setTimeout(l.bind(null,void 0,{type:"timeout",target:s}),12e4);s.onerror=l.bind(null,s.onerror),s.onload=l.bind(null,s.onload),c&&document.head.appendChild(s)}},i.r=e=>{"undefined"!=typeof Symbol&&Symbol.toStringTag&&Object.defineProperty(e,Symbol.toStringTag,{value:"Module"}),Object.defineProperty(e,"__esModule",{value:!0})},i.j=364,i.p="https://js-agent.newrelic.com/",(()=>{var e={364:0,953:0};i.f.j=(t,r)=>{var n=i.o(e,t)?e[t]:void 0;if(0!==n)if(n)r.push(n[2]);else{var o=new Promise(((r,i)=>n=e[t]=[r,i]));r.push(n[2]=o);var a=i.p+i.u(t),s=new Error;i.l(a,(r=>{if(i.o(e,t)&&(0!==(n=e[t])&&(e[t]=void 0),n)){var o=r&&("load"===r.type?"missing":r.type),a=r&&r.target&&r.target.src;s.message="Loading chunk "+t+" failed.\n("+o+": "+a+")",s.name="ChunkLoadError",s.type=o,s.request=a,n[1](s)}}),"chunk-"+t,t)}};var t=(t,r)=>{var n,o,[a,s,c]=r,u=0;if(a.some((t=>0!==e[t]))){for(n in s)i.o(s,n)&&(i.m[n]=s[n]);if(c)c(i)}for(t&&t(r);u {i.r(o);var e=i(3325),t=i(5763);const r=Object.values(e.D);function n(e){const n={};return r.forEach((r=>{n[r]=function(e,r){return!1!==(0,t.Mt)(r,"".concat(e,".enabled"))}(r,e)})),n}var a=i(9144);var s=i(5546),c=i(385),u=i(8e3),d=i(5938),f=i(3960),l=i(50);class h extends d.W{constructor(e,t,r){let n=!(arguments.length>3&&void 0!==arguments[3])||arguments[3];super(e,t,r),this.auto=n,this.abortHandler,this.featAggregate,this.onAggregateImported,n&&(0,u.R)(e,r)}importAggregator(){let e=arguments.length>0&&void 0!==arguments[0]?arguments[0]:{};if(this.featAggregate||!this.auto)return;const r=c.il&&!0===(0,t.Mt)(this.agentIdentifier,"privacy.cookies_enabled");let n;this.onAggregateImported=new Promise((e=>{n=e}));const o=async()=>{let t;try{if(r){const{setupAgentSession:e}=await Promise.all([i.e(860),i.e(242)]).then(i.bind(i,3228));t=e(this.agentIdentifier)}}catch(e){(0,l.Z)("A problem occurred when starting up session manager. This page will not start or extend any session.",e)}try{if(!this.shouldImportAgg(this.featureName,t))return void(0,u.L)(this.agentIdentifier,this.featureName);const{lazyFeatureLoader:r}=await i.e(412).then(i.bind(i,8582)),{Aggregate:o}=await r(this.featureName,"aggregate");this.featAggregate=new o(this.agentIdentifier,this.aggregator,e),n(!0)}catch(e){(0,l.Z)("Downloading and initializing ".concat(this.featureName," failed..."),e),this.abortHandler?.(),n(!1)}};c.il?(0,f.b)((()=>o()),!0):o()}shouldImportAgg(r,n){return r!==e.D.sessionReplay||!1!==(0,t.Mt)(this.agentIdentifier,"session_trace.enabled")&&(!!n?.isNew||!!n?.state.sessionReplay)}}var g=i(7633),p=i(7894);class m extends h{static featureName=g.t9;constructor(r,n){let i=!(arguments.length>2&&void 0!==arguments[2])||arguments[2];if(super(r,n,g.t9,i),("undefined"==typeof PerformanceNavigationTiming||c.Tt)&&"undefined"!=typeof PerformanceTiming){const n=(0,t.OP)(r);n[g.Dz]=Math.max(Date.now()-n.offset,0),(0,f.K)((()=>n[g.qw]=Math.max((0,p.z)()-n[g.Dz],0))),(0,f.b)((()=>{const t=(0,p.z)();n[g.OJ]=Math.max(t-n[g.Dz],0),(0,s.p)("timing",["load",t],void 0,e.D.pageViewTiming,this.ee)}))}this.importAggregator()}}var v=i(1117),b=i(1284);class y extends v.w{constructor(e){super(e),this.aggregatedData={}}store(e,t,r,n,i){var o=this.getBucket(e,t,r,i);return o.metrics=function(e,t){t||(t={count:0});return t.count+=1,(0,b.D)(e,(function(e,r){t[e]=w(r,t[e])})),t}(n,o.metrics),o}merge(e,t,r,n,i){var o=this.getBucket(e,t,n,i);if(o.metrics){var a=o.metrics;a.count+=r.count,(0,b.D)(r,(function(e,t){if("count"!==e){var n=a[e],i=r[e];i&&!i.c?a[e]=w(i.t,n):a[e]=function(e,t){if(!t)return e;t.c||(t=x(t.t));return t.min=Math.min(e.min,t.min),t.max=Math.max(e.max,t.max),t.t+=e.t,t.sos+=e.sos,t.c+=e.c,t}(i,a[e])}}))}else o.metrics=r}storeMetric(e,t,r,n){var i=this.getBucket(e,t,r);return i.stats=w(n,i.stats),i}getBucket(e,t,r,n){this.aggregatedData[e]||(this.aggregatedData[e]={});var i=this.aggregatedData[e][t];return i||(i=this.aggregatedData[e][t]={params:r||{}},n&&(i.custom=n)),i}get(e,t){return t?this.aggregatedData[e]&&this.aggregatedData[e][t]:this.aggregatedData[e]}take(e){for(var t={},r="",n=!1,i=0;i t.max&&(t.max=e),e 2&&void 0!==arguments[2])||arguments[2];super(e,r,j.t,n),c.il&&((0,t.OP)(e).initHidden=Boolean("hidden"===document.visibilityState),(0,N.N)((()=>(0,s.p)("docHidden",[(0,p.z)()],void 0,j.t,this.ee)),!0),(0,O.bP)("pagehide",(()=>(0,s.p)("winPagehide",[(0,p.z)()],void 0,j.t,this.ee))),this.importAggregator())}}var P=i(3081);class C extends h{static featureName=P.t9;constructor(e,t){let r=!(arguments.length>2&&void 0!==arguments[2])||arguments[2];super(e,t,P.t9,r),this.importAggregator()}}var R,I=i(2210),k=i(1214),H=i(2177),L={};try{R=localStorage.getItem("__nr_flags").split(","),console&&"function"==typeof console.log&&(L.console=!0,-1!==R.indexOf("dev")&&(L.dev=!0),-1!==R.indexOf("nr_dev")&&(L.nrDev=!0))}catch(e){}function z(e){try{L.console&&z(e)}catch(e){}}L.nrDev&&H.ee.on("internal-error",(function(e){z(e.stack)})),L.dev&&H.ee.on("fn-err",(function(e,t,r){z(r.stack)})),L.dev&&(z("NR AGENT IN DEVELOPMENT MODE"),z("flags: "+(0,b.D)(L,(function(e,t){return e})).join(", ")));var M=i(6660);class B extends h{static featureName=M.t;constructor(r,n){let i=!(arguments.length>2&&void 0!==arguments[2])||arguments[2];super(r,n,M.t,i),this.skipNext=0;try{this.removeOnAbort=new AbortController}catch(e){}const o=this;o.ee.on("fn-start",(function(e,t,r){o.abortHandler&&(o.skipNext+=1)})),o.ee.on("fn-err",(function(t,r,n){o.abortHandler&&!n[M.A]&&((0,I.X)(n,M.A,(function(){return!0})),this.thrown=!0,(0,s.p)("err",[n,(0,p.z)()],void 0,e.D.jserrors,o.ee))})),o.ee.on("fn-end",(function(){o.abortHandler&&!this.thrown&&o.skipNext>0&&(o.skipNext-=1)})),o.ee.on("internal-error",(function(t){(0,s.p)("ierr",[t,(0,p.z)(),!0],void 0,e.D.jserrors,o.ee)})),this.origOnerror=c._A.onerror,c._A.onerror=this.onerrorHandler.bind(this),c._A.addEventListener("unhandledrejection",(t=>{const r=function(e){let t="Unhandled Promise Rejection: ";if(e instanceof Error)try{return e.message=t+e.message,e}catch(t){return e}if(void 0===e)return new Error(t);try{return new Error(t+(0,D.P)(e))}catch(e){return new Error(t)}}(t.reason);(0,s.p)("err",[r,(0,p.z)(),!1,{unhandledPromiseRejection:1}],void 0,e.D.jserrors,this.ee)}),(0,O.m$)(!1,this.removeOnAbort?.signal)),(0,k.gy)(this.ee),(0,k.BV)(this.ee),(0,k.em)(this.ee),(0,t.OP)(r).xhrWrappable&&(0,k.Kf)(this.ee),this.abortHandler=this.#e,this.importAggregator()}#e(){this.removeOnAbort?.abort(),this.abortHandler=void 0}onerrorHandler(t,r,n,i,o){"function"==typeof this.origOnerror&&this.origOnerror(...arguments);try{this.skipNext?this.skipNext-=1:(0,s.p)("err",[o||new F(t,r,n),(0,p.z)()],void 0,e.D.jserrors,this.ee)}catch(t){try{(0,s.p)("ierr",[t,(0,p.z)(),!0],void 0,e.D.jserrors,this.ee)}catch(e){}}return!1}}function F(e,t,r){this.message=e||"Uncaught error with no additional information",this.sourceURL=t,this.line=r}let U=1;const q="nr@id";function G(e){const t=typeof e;return!e||"object"!==t&&"function"!==t?-1:e===c._A?0:(0,I.X)(e,q,(function(){return U++}))}function V(e){if("string"==typeof e&&e.length)return e.length;if("object"==typeof e){if("undefined"!=typeof ArrayBuffer&&e instanceof ArrayBuffer&&e.byteLength)return e.byteLength;if("undefined"!=typeof Blob&&e instanceof Blob&&e.size)return e.size;if(!("undefined"!=typeof FormData&&e instanceof FormData))try{return(0,D.P)(e).length}catch(e){return}}}var X=i(7243);class W{constructor(e){this.agentIdentifier=e,this.generateTracePayload=this.generateTracePayload.bind(this),this.shouldGenerateTrace=this.shouldGenerateTrace.bind(this)}generateTracePayload(e){if(!this.shouldGenerateTrace(e))return null;var r=(0,t.DL)(this.agentIdentifier);if(!r)return null;var n=(r.accountID||"").toString()||null,i=(r.agentID||"").toString()||null,o=(r.trustKey||"").toString()||null;if(!n||!i)return null;var a=(0,_.M)(),s=(0,_.Ht)(),c=Date.now(),u={spanId:a,traceId:s,timestamp:c};return(e.sameOrigin||this.isAllowedOrigin(e)&&this.useTraceContextHeadersForCors())&&(u.traceContextParentHeader=this.generateTraceContextParentHeader(a,s),u.traceContextStateHeader=this.generateTraceContextStateHeader(a,c,n,i,o)),(e.sameOrigin&&!this.excludeNewrelicHeader()||!e.sameOrigin&&this.isAllowedOrigin(e)&&this.useNewrelicHeaderForCors())&&(u.newrelicHeader=this.generateTraceHeader(a,s,c,n,i,o)),u}generateTraceContextParentHeader(e,t){return"00-"+t+"-"+e+"-01"}generateTraceContextStateHeader(e,t,r,n,i){return i+"@nr=0-1-"+r+"-"+n+"-"+e+"----"+t}generateTraceHeader(e,t,r,n,i,o){if(!("function"==typeof c._A?.btoa))return null;var a={v:[0,1],d:{ty:"Browser",ac:n,ap:i,id:e,tr:t,ti:r}};return o&&n!==o&&(a.d.tk=o),btoa((0,D.P)(a))}shouldGenerateTrace(e){return this.isDtEnabled()&&this.isAllowedOrigin(e)}isAllowedOrigin(e){var r=!1,n={};if((0,t.Mt)(this.agentIdentifier,"distributed_tracing")&&(n=(0,t.P_)(this.agentIdentifier).distributed_tracing),e.sameOrigin)r=!0;else if(n.allowed_origins instanceof Array)for(var i=0;i 2&&void 0!==arguments[2])||arguments[2];super(r,n,Z.t,i),(0,t.OP)(r).xhrWrappable&&(this.dt=new W(r),this.handler=(e,t,r,n)=>(0,s.p)(e,t,r,n,this.ee),(0,k.u5)(this.ee),(0,k.Kf)(this.ee),function(r,n,i,o){function a(e){var t=this;t.totalCbs=0,t.called=0,t.cbTime=0,t.end=E,t.ended=!1,t.xhrGuids={},t.lastSize=null,t.loadCaptureCalled=!1,t.params=this.params||{},t.metrics=this.metrics||{},e.addEventListener("load",(function(r){_(t,e)}),(0,O.m$)(!1)),c.IF||e.addEventListener("progress",(function(e){t.lastSize=e.loaded}),(0,O.m$)(!1))}function s(e){this.params={method:e[0]},T(this,e[1]),this.metrics={}}function u(e,n){var i=(0,t.DL)(r);i.xpid&&this.sameOrigin&&n.setRequestHeader("X-NewRelic-ID",i.xpid);var a=o.generateTracePayload(this.parsedOrigin);if(a){var s=!1;a.newrelicHeader&&(n.setRequestHeader("newrelic",a.newrelicHeader),s=!0),a.traceContextParentHeader&&(n.setRequestHeader("traceparent",a.traceContextParentHeader),a.traceContextStateHeader&&n.setRequestHeader("tracestate",a.traceContextStateHeader),s=!0),s&&(this.dt=a)}}function d(e,t){var r=this.metrics,i=e[0],o=this;if(r&&i){var a=V(i);a&&(r.txSize=a)}this.startTime=(0,p.z)(),this.listener=function(e){try{"abort"!==e.type||o.loadCaptureCalled||(o.params.aborted=!0),("load"!==e.type||o.called===o.totalCbs&&(o.onloadCalled||"function"!=typeof t.onload)&&"function"==typeof o.end)&&o.end(t)}catch(e){try{n.emit("internal-error",[e])}catch(e){}}};for(var s=0;s 1?e[1]=i:e.push(i)}else e[0]&&e[0].headers&&s(e[0].headers,n)&&(this.dt=n);function s(e,t){var r=!1;return t.newrelicHeader&&(e.set("newrelic",t.newrelicHeader),r=!0),t.traceContextParentHeader&&(e.set("traceparent",t.traceContextParentHeader),t.traceContextStateHeader&&e.set("tracestate",t.traceContextStateHeader),r=!0),r}}function x(e,t){this.params={},this.metrics={},this.startTime=(0,p.z)(),this.dt=t,e.length>=1&&(this.target=e[0]),e.length>=2&&(this.opts=e[1]);var r,n=this.opts||{},i=this.target;"string"==typeof i?r=i:"object"==typeof i&&i instanceof Y?r=i.url:c._A?.URL&&"object"==typeof i&&i instanceof URL&&(r=i.href),T(this,r);var o=(""+(i&&i instanceof Y&&i.method||n.method||"GET")).toUpperCase();this.params.method=o,this.txSize=V(n.body)||0}function A(t,r){var n;this.endTime=(0,p.z)(),this.params||(this.params={}),this.params.status=r?r.status:0,"string"==typeof this.rxSize&&this.rxSize.length>0&&(n=+this.rxSize);var o={txSize:this.txSize,rxSize:n,duration:(0,p.z)()-this.startTime};i("xhr",[this.params,o,this.startTime,this.endTime,"fetch"],this,e.D.ajax)}function E(t){var r=this.params,n=this.metrics;if(!this.ended){this.ended=!0;for(var o=0;o 2&&void 0!==arguments[2])||arguments[2];super(e,t,we.t,r),this.importAggregator()}}new class{constructor(e){let t=arguments.length>1&&void 0!==arguments[1]?arguments[1]:(0,_.ky)(16);c._A?(this.agentIdentifier=t,this.sharedAggregator=new y({agentIdentifier:this.agentIdentifier}),this.features={},this.desiredFeatures=new Set(e.features||[]),this.desiredFeatures.add(m),Object.assign(this,(0,a.j)(this.agentIdentifier,e,e.loaderType||"agent")),this.start()):(0,l.Z)("Failed to initial the agent. Could not determine the runtime environment.")}get config(){return{info:(0,t.C5)(this.agentIdentifier),init:(0,t.P_)(this.agentIdentifier),loader_config:(0,t.DL)(this.agentIdentifier),runtime:(0,t.OP)(this.agentIdentifier)}}start(){const t="features";try{const r=n(this.agentIdentifier),i=[...this.desiredFeatures];i.sort(((t,r)=>e.p[t.featureName]-e.p[r.featureName])),i.forEach((t=>{if(r[t.featureName]||t.featureName===e.D.pageViewEvent){const n=function(t){switch(t){case e.D.ajax:return[e.D.jserrors];case e.D.sessionTrace:return[e.D.ajax,e.D.pageViewEvent];case e.D.sessionReplay:return[e.D.sessionTrace];case e.D.pageViewTiming:return[e.D.pageViewEvent];default:return[]}}(t.featureName);n.every((e=>r[e]))||(0,l.Z)("".concat(t.featureName," is enabled but one or more dependent features has been disabled (").concat((0,D.P)(n),"). This may cause unintended consequences or missing data...")),this.features[t.featureName]=new t(this.agentIdentifier,this.sharedAggregator)}})),(0,T.Qy)(this.agentIdentifier,this.features,t)}catch(e){(0,l.Z)("Failed to initialize all enabled instrument classes (agent aborted) -",e);for(const e in this.features)this.features[e].abortHandler?.();const r=(0,T.fP)();return delete r.initializedAgents[this.agentIdentifier]?.api,delete r.initializedAgents[this.agentIdentifier]?.[t],delete this.sharedAggregator,r.ee?.abort(),delete r.ee?.get(this.agentIdentifier),!1}}}({features:[J,m,S,class extends h{static featureName=oe;constructor(t,r){if(super(t,r,oe,!(arguments.length>2&&void 0!==arguments[2])||arguments[2]),!c.il)return;const n=this.ee;let i;(0,k.QU)(n),this.eventsEE=(0,k.em)(n),this.eventsEE.on(se,(function(e,t){this.bstStart=(0,p.z)()})),this.eventsEE.on(ae,(function(t,r){(0,s.p)("bst",[t[0],r,this.bstStart,(0,p.z)()],void 0,e.D.sessionTrace,n)})),n.on(ce+ne,(function(e){this.time=(0,p.z)(),this.startPath=location.pathname+location.hash})),n.on(ce+ie,(function(t){(0,s.p)("bstHist",[location.pathname+location.hash,this.startPath,this.time],void 0,e.D.sessionTrace,n)}));try{i=new PerformanceObserver((t=>{const r=t.getEntries();(0,s.p)(te,[r],void 0,e.D.sessionTrace,n)})),i.observe({type:re,buffered:!0})}catch(e){}this.importAggregator({resourceObserver:i})}},C,xe,B,class extends h{static featureName=de;constructor(e,r){if(super(e,r,de,!(arguments.length>2&&void 0!==arguments[2])||arguments[2]),!c.il)return;if(!(0,t.OP)(e).xhrWrappable)return;try{this.removeOnAbort=new AbortController}catch(e){}let n,i=0;const o=this.ee.get("tracer"),a=(0,k._L)(this.ee),s=(0,k.Lg)(this.ee),u=(0,k.BV)(this.ee),d=(0,k.Kf)(this.ee),f=this.ee.get("events"),l=(0,k.u5)(this.ee),h=(0,k.QU)(this.ee),g=(0,k.Gm)(this.ee);function m(e,t){h.emit("newURL",[""+window.location,t])}function v(){i++,n=window.location.hash,this[ve]=(0,p.z)()}function b(){i--,window.location.hash!==n&&m(0,!0);var e=(0,p.z)();this[pe]=~~this[pe]+e-this[ve],this[ye]=e}function y(e,t){e.on(t,(function(){this[t]=(0,p.z)()}))}this.ee.on(ve,v),s.on(be,v),a.on(be,v),this.ee.on(ye,b),s.on(ge,b),a.on(ge,b),this.ee.buffer([ve,ye,"xhr-resolved"],this.featureName),f.buffer([ve],this.featureName),u.buffer(["setTimeout"+le,"clearTimeout"+fe,ve],this.featureName),d.buffer([ve,"new-xhr","send-xhr"+fe],this.featureName),l.buffer([me+fe,me+"-done",me+he+fe,me+he+le],this.featureName),h.buffer(["newURL"],this.featureName),g.buffer([ve],this.featureName),s.buffer(["propagate",be,ge,"executor-err","resolve"+fe],this.featureName),o.buffer([ve,"no-"+ve],this.featureName),a.buffer(["new-jsonp","cb-start","jsonp-error","jsonp-end"],this.featureName),y(l,me+fe),y(l,me+"-done"),y(a,"new-jsonp"),y(a,"jsonp-end"),y(a,"cb-start"),h.on("pushState-end",m),h.on("replaceState-end",m),window.addEventListener("hashchange",m,(0,O.m$)(!0,this.removeOnAbort?.signal)),window.addEventListener("load",m,(0,O.m$)(!0,this.removeOnAbort?.signal)),window.addEventListener("popstate",(function(){m(0,i>1)}),(0,O.m$)(!0,this.removeOnAbort?.signal)),this.abortHandler=this.#e,this.importAggregator()}#e(){this.removeOnAbort?.abort(),this.abortHandler=void 0}}],loaderType:"spa"})})(),window.NRBA=o})(); window.jQuery || document.write(' ') CKEDITOR_BASEPATH='https://f1000research.com/js/vendor/ckeditor/' window.reactTheme = 'research'; window.MathJax = { CommonHTML: { linebreaks: { automatic: true } }, 'HTML-CSS': { linebreaks: { automatic: true } }, SVG: { linebreaks: { automatic: true } }, AuthorInit: function() { MathJax.Hub.Register.MessageHook('End Process', function () { let timeout = false; // holder for timeout id const delay = 250; // delay after event is "complete" to run callback const reflowMath = function() { const dispFormulas = document.querySelectorAll('.disp-formula.panel'); if (!dispFormulas) { return; } for (const dispFormula of dispFormulas) { const child = dispFormula.querySelector('.MathJax_Preview').nextSibling.firstChild; const isMultiline = MathJax.Hub.getAllJax(dispFormula)[0].root.isMultiline; if (dispFormula.offsetWidth < child.offsetWidth || isMultiline) { MathJax.Hub.Queue(['Rerender', MathJax.Hub, dispFormula]); } } }; window.addEventListener('resize', function() { clearTimeout(timeout); // clear the timeout timeout = setTimeout(reflowMath, delay); // start timing for event "completion" }); }); }, }; if (window.location.hash == '#_=_'){ window.location = window.location.href.split('#')[0] } !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function() {n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)} ;if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n; n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '1641728616063202'); fbq('track', "PixelInitialized", {}); (function(h,o,t,j,a,r){ h.hj=h.hj||function(){(h.hj.q=h.hj.q||[]).push(arguments)}; h._hjSettings={hjid:2318163,hjsv:6}; a=o.getElementsByTagName('head')[0]; r=o.createElement('script');r.async=1; r.src=t+h._hjSettings.hjid+j+h._hjSettings.hjsv; a.appendChild(r); })(window,document,'https://static.hotjar.com/c/hotjar-','.js?sv='); search file_upload Submit your research search menu close search Browse Gateways & Collections How to Publish Submit your Research My Submissions Article Guidelines Article Guidelines (New Versions) Open Data, Software and Code Guidelines Open Data and Accessible Source Materials Guidelines (HSS) Open Data, Software and Code Guidelines (PSE) Prepublication Checks Production Process Posters and Slides Guidelines Document Guidelines Article Processing Charges Peer Review Finding Article Reviewers About How it Works For Reviewers Our Advisors Policies Glossary FAQs For Developers Newsroom Contact My Research Submissions Content and Tracking Alerts My Details Sign In file_upload Submit your research { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://f1000research.com/articles/13-1509" }, "headline": "Mapping evidence of postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in...", "datePublished": "2024-12-09T10:05:05", "dateModified": "2025-08-04T09:52:56", "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Celenkosini Thembelenkosini Nxumalo" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tina Roberts" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Abdel-Hakeem Mohamed" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Janene Marais" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Noluthando Mayedwa" } ], "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "F1000Research", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://f1000research.com/img/AMP/F1000Research_image.png", "height": 480, "width": 60 } }, "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://f1000research.com/img/AMP/F1000Research_image.png", "height": 1200, "width": 150 }, "description": " Background The evolving landscape of the African higher education sector necessitated by global higher education reforms and the need for research informed responses to address contextual challenges is partly dependent on effective postgraduate research supervision. A wide range of postgraduate research supervision models and practices are documented globally. In the African context, the experiences of postgraduate research supervision are not clearly understood from the experiences of all stakeholders. Aim The proposed scoping review aims to map evidence on the range of postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa. Methods The methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley will be used to conduct the review. Relevant articles will be sourced from different electronic data bases namely; ERIC, Web of Science, EbscoHost and Scopus. A combination of search terms and Boolean operators will be used to obtain the relevant articles based on the inclusion criteria stipulated within the Population, Context and Concept (PCC) framework of study identification for this review. Results Studies reporting on postgraduate research supervision experiences from the perspective of academics, students and support staff in the African higher education context will be included. The results may also provide insights postgraduate supervision experiences from varying postgraduate research disciplines. Conclusion The findings will provide consolidated empirical evidence on experiences of postgraduate supervision in the African higher education context, thereby providing holistic insight on postgraduate research supervision practices, models currently used, implementation challenges and highlight research gaps. This may inform recommendations that advance knowledge within this field, particularly in the African higher education context. " } { "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": "1", "item": { "@id": "https://f1000research.com/", "name": "Home" } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": "2", "item": { "@id": "https://f1000research.com/browse/articles", "name": "Browse" } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": "3", "item": { "@id": "https://f1000research.com/articles/13-1509", "name": "Mapping evidence of postgraduate research supervision experiences..." } } ] } Home Browse Mapping evidence of postgraduate research supervision experiences... ALL Metrics - Views Downloads Get PDF Get XML Cite How to cite this article Thembelenkosini Nxumalo C, Roberts T, Mohamed AH et al. Mapping evidence of postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa: A scoping review protocol [version 2; peer review: 2 approved with reservations] . F1000Research 2025, 13 :1509 ( https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.158939.2 ) NOTE: If applicable, it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in all citations of this article. Close Copy Citation Details Export Export Citation Sciwheel EndNote Ref. Manager Bibtex ProCite Sente EXPORT Select a format first Track Share ▬ ✚ Study Protocol Revised Mapping evidence of postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa: A scoping review protocol [version 2; peer review: 2 approved with reservations] Celenkosini Thembelenkosini Nxumalo https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2453-7948 1 , Tina Roberts 2 , Abdel-Hakeem Mohamed https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2884-6461 1 , Janene Marais https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2145-6889 1 , Noluthando Mayedwa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2534-6599 1 Celenkosini Thembelenkosini Nxumalo https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2453-7948 1 , Tina Roberts 2 , [...] Abdel-Hakeem Mohamed https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2884-6461 1 , Janene Marais https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2145-6889 1 , Noluthando Mayedwa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2534-6599 1 PUBLISHED 04 Aug 2025 Author details Author details 1 Research Development and Postgraduate Support, Office of the DVC Research & Innovation, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Western Cape, South Africa 2 Department of Craniofacial Biology, Pathology and Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Western Cape, South Africa Celenkosini Thembelenkosini Nxumalo Roles: Conceptualization, Project Administration, Resources, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing Tina Roberts Roles: Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing Abdel-Hakeem Mohamed Roles: Project Administration, Writing – Review & Editing Janene Marais Roles: Writing – Review & Editing Noluthando Mayedwa Roles: Resources, Validation, Writing – Review & Editing OPEN PEER REVIEW DETAILS REVIEWER STATUS Abstract Background The evolving landscape of the African higher education sector necessitated by global higher education reforms and the need for research informed responses to address contextual challenges is partly dependent on effective postgraduate research supervision. A wide range of postgraduate research supervision models and practices are documented globally. In the African context, the experiences of postgraduate research supervision are not clearly understood from the experiences of all stakeholders. Aim The proposed scoping review aims to map evidence on the range of postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa. Methods The methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley will be used to conduct the review. Relevant articles will be sourced from different electronic data bases namely; ERIC, Web of Science, EbscoHost and Scopus. A combination of search terms and Boolean operators will be used to obtain the relevant articles based on the inclusion criteria stipulated within the Population, Context and Concept (PCC) framework of study identification for this review. Results Studies reporting on postgraduate research supervision experiences from the perspective of academics, students and support staff in the African higher education context will be included. The results may also provide insights postgraduate supervision experiences from varying postgraduate research disciplines. Conclusion The findings will provide consolidated empirical evidence on experiences of postgraduate supervision in the African higher education context, thereby providing holistic insight on postgraduate research supervision practices, models currently used, implementation challenges and highlight research gaps. This may inform recommendations that advance knowledge within this field, particularly in the African higher education context. READ ALL READ LESS Keywords Higher education, Postgraduate supervision, Research pedagogy, Research supervision experiences Corresponding Author(s) Celenkosini Thembelenkosini Nxumalo ( [email protected] ) Close Corresponding author: Celenkosini Thembelenkosini Nxumalo Competing interests: No competing interests were disclosed. Grant information: The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work. Copyright: © 2025 Thembelenkosini Nxumalo C et al . This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. How to cite: Thembelenkosini Nxumalo C, Roberts T, Mohamed AH et al. Mapping evidence of postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa: A scoping review protocol [version 2; peer review: 2 approved with reservations] . F1000Research 2025, 13 :1509 ( https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.158939.2 ) First published: 09 Dec 2024, 13 :1509 ( https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.158939.1 ) Latest published: 04 Aug 2025, 13 :1509 ( https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.158939.2 ) Revised Amendments from Version 1 This revised version contains track changes made in response to queries and recommendations proposed by the reviewers. The new version is revised to include clarity on certain conceptual terms used. Improvements to the methodology and overall structure of the paper have been made in response to the individual comments made by both reviewers. This revised version contains track changes made in response to queries and recommendations proposed by the reviewers. The new version is revised to include clarity on certain conceptual terms used. Improvements to the methodology and overall structure of the paper have been made in response to the individual comments made by both reviewers. See the authors' detailed response to the review by Kathy Luckett See the authors' detailed response to the review by FX. Risang Baskara READ REVIEWER RESPONSES Background Postgraduate research supervision is a formal process of academic development and support that is an integral component of successful postgraduate studies and professional development in higher education Holtman and Mukwada. 1 Early definitions of postgraduate supervision described it as an active process of teaching, support and mentorship of students pursuing postgraduate studies towards recognised qualifications at honours, masters and doctoral levels. 2 , 3 Pearson and Brew 4 state that the research supervision process helps students evolve into independent researchers and scholars, equipped to work in various settings, whether in academia, research or industry. The postgraduate supervision process thus requires a blend of academic and interpersonal skills. This includes guiding students through the research process by providing insights on proposal preparation, methodological choices and publication of research findings. Nulty, Kiley 5 state that research supervisors are responsible for providing the academic guidance to ensure the scientific merit of research studies. Moreover, they should also create an environment of holistic support that encourages successful completion of the research. 6 Approaches to postgraduate supervision vary widely and include traditional one-on-one mentorship, group supervision, cohort supervision, and more recently, digital or distance supervision. 7 These models reflect an adaptation to the evolving needs of the global student body and the increasing demand for flexibility in higher education. The traditional model of supervision encompasses the provision of structured guidance and mentorship by a single supervisor who provides one-on-one advice, feedback, and support throughout the research process. 8 This model emphasizes a personal and directive relationship, focusing on developing the student’s skills and knowledge in a specific field. While this approach can be beneficial, it may lead to students becoming overly dependent on their supervisors for guidance throughout the research process. Team supervision involves multiple supervisors contributing diverse expertise and perspectives to the postgraduate research process. 9 , 10 This model benefits students by offering a broader base of knowledge and support, encouraging interdisciplinary thinking and potentially leading to more innovative research outcomes. Team supervision is useful in programs where students are working on related topics, as it allows for peer mentoring and support. 11 This subsequently instills a culture of collaboration and peer-led critical engagement. Similarly, the participatory or co-supervision approach involves students more actively in the supervision process, emphasizing their role in setting goals, decision-making, and managing their research projects. 12 This approach aims to develop students’ independence and self-regulation skills, preparing them for future academic or professional roles. 13 Each of these models can be adapted to the specific needs of the student and the requirements of the program, ensuring that the supervision process is supportive, effective, and conducive to producing high-quality academic work. Likewise, distance supervision is becoming increasingly prevalent with the rise of digital learning platforms and the advancement of technology as it allows for supervision via online platforms. 14 This method is beneficial for students who are remote or part-time, providing flexibility while maintaining rigorous academic oversight through regular virtual meetings and the use of digital communication tools. The role of postgraduate supervisors in ensuring quality research and successful postgraduate outcomes cannot be overemphasized. 15 In recent years, postgraduate research supervision has become a topical matter of discussion in the global higher education landscape. 14 In regions like Europe and Australia, improved training and monitoring of supervisors has been initiated. 16 – 18 Moreover, significant policy changes have been made to regulate the responsibilities of supervisors. International trends in postgraduate supervision, inclusive of certain regions in Africa, are increasingly advocating for a shift towards more collaborative and integrative approaches. These include cohort supervision, peer mentoring, and integrated frameworks that combine various elements of traditional and modern supervisory models. 19 Seiden Hyldegård and Jensen 20 support the notion of group supervision as a means to enhance supervision skills, which can positively influence postgraduate students’ writing. The advantages of group supervision include providing support, access to resources, quick thinking practice, encouragement to write, and professional growth opportunities. 21 Despite this growing paradigm shift and inherent focus on university education and training globally, African universities vary in practices related to the adoption of systematic and current approaches to postgraduate supervision. There is evidence to suggest that the practice of postgraduate supervision in Africa is largely rooted in the traditional, individualistic model. 22 Moreover, the successful adoption of alternative and new approaches to postgraduate supervision remains hindered by contextual challenges related to the availability of resources, funding and high staff-student turnover. 23 Conversely, Pillay and Balfour 24 have alluded to finding a variety of postgraduate research supervision practices and models which arise from supervisors’ ideological commitments and personal experiences. In such instances, there exists a continuum - from a traditional model where there is deep, intense attachment to the one-to-one relationship on one end. On the other end may also exist a hybrid model wherein the supervisory practices may be reconfigured based on varying contextual dynamics. In the South African context, there has been substantial growth in postgraduate enrolment rates since 1994; however, this has not reflected in graduations of doctoral candidates, which are still lower than the rates expressed in the National Development Plan 2030 (NDP). Postgraduate supervision remains pivotal to the successful graduation of students from their postgraduate program. 25 The changing landscape in higher education created new sets of challenges for the supervision process, which includes work which are more interdisciplinary and students requiring expertise from supervisors that they may lack. The current supervision model employed in South Africa is more of a traditional apprenticeship model, characterized by one-on-one supervision; however, there is a call to move more towards collaborative supervision approaches such as group or team supervision. The changing landscape of higher education in South Africa has led to a set of challenges experienced by both the supervisor and student in the supervision relationship. Supervisors in South Africa face many challenges with postgraduate supervision. Some of the challenges include; lack of adequate training and support; reliance on their own supervision experience as a means of preparation; heavy workloads on top of supervision expectations. The massification of postgraduate education leads to challenges in maintaining quality supervision while simultaneously increasing the quantity of throughput; time constraints lead to supervisors not having adequate time for reflection, personal development or attending developmental opportunities. All the aforementioned challenges faced by supervisors raise concerns and influence the quality of supervision they can provide. 26 , 27 In light of these challenges and the changing landscape of postgraduate supervision needs, there is a call for structured support, training and development of supervisors 25 , 27 Given the current state of challenges that supervisors experience in South Africa, it is not surprising that postgraduate students would also have their own set of challenges. Some of the challenges raised by postgraduate students concerning supervision include; the poor communication between the supervisor and student, which is especially true for students who are situated further away from the university and in rural areas. Students also feel that the feedback that they receive from their supervisors is not adequate to their needs or in some cases, amount of lack of feedback. Students also often feel that they do not receive enough support from their supervisors during the course of the program. Some of the more concerning challenges highlighted by students are the unethical practices of supervisors. 25 While substantial evidence exists on postgraduate supervision experiences from the South African context, there is a need for greater awareness of postgraduate supervision experiences in other contexts of the African continent. Moreover, the experiences of postgraduate research supervision are not clearly understood from the perspectives of all academic stakeholders involved in the supervision process, including postgraduate masters and doctoral students, academics, and research support staff, particularly research office personnel, writing center staff and subject librarians. This scoping review thus seeks to consolidate evidence on the experiences of postgraduate supervision in the African higher education context. The mapping of this empirical evidence may generate a more comprehensive understanding on the range of postgraduate supervision practices adopted in the region. Additionally, it may provide deeper insights on contextual barriers, success and best practices related to the adoption of various postgraduate supervision models in the region. For this review, experiences are operationally defined as situations, events, perspectives, knowledge, and observations associated with postgraduate research supervision in the African higher education context. They provide an account of facts that may be attributed to the practice of postgraduate supervision and include policies, regulations, empirical and anecdotal accounts of systems, processes, and interventions associated with the phenomenon of postgraduate supervision in the region. Methods This scoping review will map evidence of postgraduate supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa. The scoping review methodological framework by Arksey and O’Malley 28 will be used to guide the review. The review will thus comprise of the following steps as guided by the framework: (1) identification of the review question, (2) identification of the relevant studies, (3) selection of relevant studies, (4) charting the data, (5) collating, summarizing and reporting the results. Identification of the review question The main review question will be: What is the existing literature on postgraduate supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa? The sub-review questions will be 1. What is the range of literature on postgraduate supervision experiences among students and academics at higher education institutions in Africa? 2. What is the existing evidence on postgraduate supervision practices at higher education institutions in Africa? 3. What are the reported challenges, recommendations and best practices on postgraduate supervision at higher education institutions in Africa? Identification of the relevant studies This review will use the Population, Concept and Context (PCC) framework to align the study selection process with the review question and sub-questions. See Table 1 for the PCC framework and proposed alignment. Table 1. PCC Framework. Population Concept Context Postgraduate students (namely professional doctorates, doctorates by publication, research and coursework master’s and honours degrees) academics and support staff namely writing centre staff, librarians and research office personnel Postgraduate research supervision experiences Higher education institutions in Africa Search strategy Keywords combined with Boolean operators will be used to identify relevant articles in various online databases and search engines. These search engines will include ERIC, Web of Science, EbscoHost, Scopus and African Journals Online. The identification of articles will be facilitated through a search strategy that will include a combination of terms. See Table 2 . For the search strategy. A pilot search will be conducted to ascertain the validity of the proposed strategy. Table 2. Search strategy. # Search terms to be used 1. “Postgraduate supervision” AND “Experiences” AND “higher education” AND “Africa” 2. “Postgraduate supervision models” OR “Postgraduate supervision approaches” OR “Traditional supervision” OR “Group supervision” OR “Cohort supervision” OR “Apprentice model” OR “Team supervision” OR “mentorship” OR “co-supervision” or “integrated supervision” OR “Adaptive supervision” OR “distance supervision” “Peer supervision” OR “Self-supervision” AND “higher education” AND “Africa” 3. “Postgraduate students” OR “Supervisee” AND “Postgraduate supervision” AND “Experiences” AND “Higher education” AND “Africa” 4. “Academics” OR “Supervisors” OR “Lectures” OR “Collaborator” OR “Co-supervisor” AND “Postgraduate supervision” AND “Experiences” AND “Higher education” AND “Africa” 5. “Postgraduate supervision” AND “Challenges” OR “Barriers” AND “Higher education” AND “Africa” 6. “Postgraduate supervision” AND “Pedagogies” AND “Recommendations” OR “Best practices” AND “Higher education” AND “Africa” Selection of eligible studies Search results of electronic articles to be will be exported to Covidence Five independent reviewers will the carryout the title, abstract and full text screening whilst also removing duplicates that were not identified by Covidence. Articles that meet the inclusion criteria will be included for full text review and independent screening will be done by the five reviewers. Consensus will be established by discussion among the reviewers and an arbitrator will be sought in instances of disagreement. The articles selection process will be documented using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flow chart – see Figure 1 . The selection of eligible articles will be guided by the following inclusion and exclusion criteria: Figure 1. PRISMA flow diagram. Inclusion criteria ▪ Primary studies focusing on students and academics at higher education institutions in Africa. ▪ Studies conducted between 2014 and 2024. ▪ Studies published in English only. ▪ High-quality secondary data from primary sources such as national and regional higher education reports from public and private institutions. Exclusion criteria ▪ Grey literature, systematic reviews, commentaries, opinion articles. ▪ Studies that do not differentiate between undergraduate and postgraduate studies. ▪ Studies conducted outside of Africa. ▪ Studies on vocational and non-degree postgraduate training. Charting the data An electronic data charting template will be used to capture articles that will be included in the review as guided by the inclusion and exclusion criteria and the PCC framework. The data charting template will be developed by the authors and guided by the contents of existing data charting tools. The tool will thus comprise of the following elements: (1) Author, (2) year of publication, (3) context, (4) study population characteristics, (5) design (6) key findings. Table 3 provides a representation of the proposed data charting template to be used. Table 3. Data charting template. Author Year Context Study population characteristics Design Key findings Collating, summarizing and reporting the findings A narrative report will be used to summarize the key findings from the extracted research. The emerging results will be presented in relation to the review question and sub-questions and will be aligned to the PCC framework. The studies will be examined using a narrative synthesis approach. Narrative synthesis allows for the presentation of results that are diverse and study designs. 29 The study will use three out of the four key elements proposed by Popay and colleagues (2006) to describe synthesize the evidence on postgraduate supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa. The key elements that will be used are; (1) developing elements of preliminary synthesis of findings of included studies, (2) exploring relationships within the data and, (3) assess the robustness of the synthesis. 30 Critical appraisal The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) will be utilised to measure qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods articles. Scoring for each appraisal tool will be negotiated amongst the review team. The MMAT tool consists of two screening questions followed by 5 further questions according to study design, rendering a maximum total of 14 points. Discussion This scoping review aims to map and synthesize evidence on postgraduate supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa. Presently research on postgraduate supervision experiences in countries like Malaysia and Pakistan allude to student’s challenges navigating the research process, models of research supervision adopted by academics and the need for understand the range of available postgraduate supervision approaches required for different students’ needs. 31 , 32 In the African context empirical evidence reports on experiences of post graduate supervision from the perspective on students, particularly those at PhD level and supervisors within specified postgraduate research disciplines. 33 There is also evidence to suggest varying practices and challenges related to postgraduate research supervision processes and practices. 34 Moreover contextual research highlights the need for collaborative efforts my stakeholders to ensure quality of research supervision practices so that postgraduate students can contribute significantly to addressing societal issue through their research. 35 Tlali, Chere-Masopha 36 further argue that supervisors should be capacitated through relevant training to execute the role and that supervisory guidelines be reviewed and benchmarked against best practices in the field. Despite the availability of reasonable empirical data on this subject, experiences of postgraduate research supervision are not holistically understood from the perspective of all relevant stakeholders within the African higher education context. The proposed review thus seeks to address this gap by mapping the range of empirical evidence on postgraduate supervision experiences from various academic stakeholders namely postgraduate Masters and PhD students, research supervisors and research support staff. In this regard, it hoped that the review may highlight several themes associated with postgraduate supervision experiences, including supervisor-student relationships, different models of supervision practices, and barriers from the different disciplines and fields of postgraduate research. It is also anticipated that the review will highlight gaps in the current literature, potentially leading to further research areas. The proposed findings may thus have implications for policy and practices related to postgraduate supervision in the African higher education context. This is significant in the African context due to a rapidly advancing higher education landscape and the role of high-quality supervision in the success of postgraduate students. Ethics and consent Ethics and consent were not required. Data availability No data are associated with this aricle. References 1. Holtman L, Mukwada G: Challenges confronting the quality of postgraduate research supervision and its effects on time-to-degree and throughput rates: A case of a South African University. Mediterr. J. Soc. Sci. 2014; 5 (6): 179–190. 2. Wisker G: The good supervisor: Supervising postgraduate and undergraduate research for doctoral theses and dissertations. Bloomsbury Publishing; 2012. 3. Sinclair M: The pedagogy of’good’PhD supervision: A national cross-disciplinary investigation of PhD supervision. Department of Education, Science and Training Canberra; 2004. 4. Pearson M, Brew A: Research training and supervision development. Stud. High. Educ. 2002; 27 (2): 135–150. Publisher Full Text 5. Nulty D, Kiley M, Meyers N: Promoting and recognising excellence in the supervision of research students: an evidence-based framework. Assess. Eval. High. Educ. 2009; 34 (6): 693–707. Publisher Full Text 6. Ganqa NH: Research supervision experiences of masters in education students at a South African University. University of Fort Hare; 2012. 7. Bitzer EM, Albertyn RM: Alternative approaches to postgraduate supervision: A planning tool to facilitate supervisory processes. S. Afr. J. High. Educ. 2011; 25 (5): 875–888. 8. McCallin A, Nayar S: Postgraduate research supervision: A critical review of current practice. Teach. High. Educ. 2012; 17 (1): 63–74. Publisher Full Text 9. Watts JH: Team supervision of the doctorate: Managing roles, relationships and contradictions. Teach. High. Educ. 2010; 15 (3): 335–339. Publisher Full Text 10. van Biljon J , Pilkington C, van der Merwe R : Cohort supervision: Towards a sustainable model for distance learning. Annual Conference of the Southern African Computer Lecturers’ Association. Springer; 2019. 11. Robertson M: Aspects of mentorship in team supervision of doctoral students in Australia. Aust. Educ. Res. 2017; 44 : 409–424. Publisher Full Text 12. Wald N, Kumar V, Sanderson LJ: Enhancing co-supervision practice by setting expectations in a structured discussion using a research-informed tool. High. Educ. Res. Dev. 2023; 42 (3): 757–769. Publisher Full Text 13. Maor D, Fraser BJ: Design of a participatory supervision support platform for improving higher degree supervision: A feasibility study. Office for Learning and Teaching; 2015. 14. Nasiri F, Mafakheri F: Postgraduate research supervision at a distance: A review of challenges and strategies. Stud. High. Educ. 2015; 40 (10): 1962–1969. Publisher Full Text 15. Halse C, Malfroy J: Retheorizing doctoral supervision as professional work. Stud. High. Educ. 2010; 35 (1): 79–92. Publisher Full Text 16. Buttery EA, Richter EM, Leal Filho W: An overview of the elements that influence efficiency in postgraduate supervisory practice arrangements. Int. J. Educ. Manag. 2005; 19 (1): 7–26. 17. Hutchinson S, Lawrence H: Enhancing the doctoral experience: A guide for supervisors and their international students. Routledge; 2017. 18. O’Carroll C, et al. : The PhD in Europe: Developing a system of doctoral training that will increase the internationalisation of universities. European Higher Education at the Crossroads: Between the Bologna Process and National Reforms. 2012; pp. 461–484. Publisher Full Text 19. Manderson L, et al. : Enhancing doctoral supervision practices in Africa. Journal of Higher Education in Africa/Revue de l’enseignement supérieur en Afrique. 2017; 15 (2): 23–40. 20. Seiden Hyldegård J, Jensen HN: The implied peer: thesis writers’ feedback activities and experiences in group supervision. Stud. High. Educ. 2023; 48 (11): 1754–1766. Publisher Full Text 21. Ngulube P: Postgraduate supervision practices in education research and the creation of opportunities for knowledge sharing. Problems of Education in the 21st Century. 2021; 79 (2): 255–272. Publisher Full Text 22. Ukwoma SC, Ngulube P: Supervision Practices in Library and Information Science Postgraduate Research in Nigeria and South Africa. Afr. J. Libr. Arch. Inf. Sci. 2020; 30 (2). 23. Ssentamu PN, Sajjabi FB: Supervisors’ Reflections on Policy and Practice in an African Graduate Setting: Towards a Pedagogy for Supervising Research, in Postgraduate Research Engagement in Low Resource Settings. IGI Global; 2020; 264–295. 24. Pillay G, Balfour RJ: Post-graduate supervision practices in South African universities in the era of democracy and educational change 1994-2004. S. Afr. J. High. Educ. 2011; 25 (2): 358–372. 25. Cekiso M, et al. : Supervision experiences of postgraduate research students at one South African higher education institution. S. Afr. J. High. Educ. 2019; 33 (3): 8–25. Publisher Full Text 26. Motshoane P: The need for the development of emerging postgraduate supervisors. J. New Gen. Sci. 2023; 21 (1): 74–85. Publisher Full Text 27. Masuku VZ: Becoming a research supervisor: Reflections on a postgraduate supervision course. Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies. 2021; 6 (4): 143–150. Publisher Full Text 28. Arksey H, O’Malley L: Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. Int. J. Soc. Res. Methodol. 2005; 8 (1): 19–32. Publisher Full Text 29. Guise V, Anderson J, Wiig S: Patient safety risks associated with telecare: a systematic review and narrative synthesis of the literature. BMC Health Serv. Res. 2014 Dec; 14 : 1–5. Publisher Full Text 30. Popay J, Roberts H, Sowden A, et al. : Guidance on the Conduct of Narrative Synthesis in Systematic Reviews. A Product from the ESRC Methods Programme Version 1. 2006; 1–93. Publisher Full Text 31. Sidhu GK, et al. : Postgraduate Supervision: Exploring Malaysian Students’ Experiences. Procedia. Soc. Behav. Sci. 2013; 90 : 133–141. Publisher Full Text 32. Ali J, Ullah H, Sanauddin N: Postgraduate Research Supervision: Exploring the Lived Experience of Pakistani Postgraduate Students. FWU Journal of. Soc. Sci. 2019; 13 (1). 33. Omoya O, et al. : A scoping review protocol of the lived experiences of doing a PhD in Africa. PLoS One. 2023; 18 (9): e0290701. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text | Free Full Text 34. Daramola O: Lessons from postgraduate supervision in two african universities: An autoethnographic account. Educ. Sci. 2021; 11 (7): 345. Publisher Full Text 35. Komba SC, Chiwamba SV: Towards improving the supervision of postgraduate students in Tanzanian higher learning institutions. Int. J. Res. Stud. Educ. 2017; 6 (2): 29–40. 36. Tlali T, et al. : Challenges Confronting Postgraduate Supervision at the National University of Lesotho:: Supervisors’ Perspectives. Int. J. Afr. High. Educ. 2022; 9 (2): 22–39. Publisher Full Text Comments on this article Comments (0) Version 2 VERSION 2 PUBLISHED 09 Dec 2024 ADD YOUR COMMENT Comment Author details Author details 1 Research Development and Postgraduate Support, Office of the DVC Research & Innovation, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Western Cape, South Africa 2 Department of Craniofacial Biology, Pathology and Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Western Cape, South Africa Celenkosini Thembelenkosini Nxumalo Roles: Conceptualization, Project Administration, Resources, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing Tina Roberts Roles: Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing Abdel-Hakeem Mohamed Roles: Project Administration, Writing – Review & Editing Janene Marais Roles: Writing – Review & Editing Noluthando Mayedwa Roles: Resources, Validation, Writing – Review & Editing Competing interests No competing interests were disclosed. Grant information The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work. Article Versions (2) version 2 Revised Published: 04 Aug 2025, 13:1509 https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.158939.2 version 1 Published: 09 Dec 2024, 13:1509 https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.158939.1 Copyright © 2025 Thembelenkosini Nxumalo C et al . This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Download Export To Sciwheel Bibtex EndNote ProCite Ref. Manager (RIS) Sente metrics Views Downloads F1000Research - - PubMed Central info_outline Data from PMC are received and updated monthly. - - Citations open_in_new 0 open_in_new 0 open_in_new SEE MORE DETAILS CITE how to cite this article Thembelenkosini Nxumalo C, Roberts T, Mohamed AH et al. Mapping evidence of postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa: A scoping review protocol [version 2; peer review: 2 approved with reservations] . F1000Research 2025, 13 :1509 ( https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.158939.2 ) NOTE: If applicable, it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in all citations of this article. COPY CITATION DETAILS track receive updates on this article Track an article to receive email alerts on any updates to this article. TRACK THIS ARTICLE Share Open Peer Review Current Reviewer Status: ? Key to Reviewer Statuses VIEW HIDE Approved The paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested Approved with reservations A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit. Not approved Fundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions Version 1 VERSION 1 PUBLISHED 09 Dec 2024 Views 0 Cite How to cite this report: Baskara FR. Reviewer Report For: Mapping evidence of postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa: A scoping review protocol [version 2; peer review: 2 approved with reservations] . F1000Research 2025, 13 :1509 ( https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.174597.r366701 ) The direct URL for this report is: https://f1000research.com/articles/13-1509/v1#referee-response-366701 NOTE: it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in this citation. Close Copy Citation Details Reviewer Report 03 Mar 2025 FX. Risang Baskara , English Letters Department, Universitas Sanata Dharma, Depox, Indonesia Approved with Reservations VIEWS 0 https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.174597.r366701 Summary of the Article This protocol outlines a scoping review aimed at mapping evidence on postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa. The authors plan to use Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework to systematically identify, select, ... Continue reading READ ALL Summary of the Article This protocol outlines a scoping review aimed at mapping evidence on postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa. The authors plan to use Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework to systematically identify, select, and analyze relevant literature. The review will address one main question: "What is the existing literature on postgraduate supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa?" with three sub-questions focusing on the range of literature, existing evidence on supervision practices, and reported challenges and best practices. The protocol details the search strategy, inclusion/exclusion criteria, data charting approach, and analysis methods. The authors argue that while substantial evidence exists on postgraduate supervision experiences in South Africa, a comprehensive understanding across the African continent that includes the perspectives of all stakeholders (students, academics, and support staff) is lacking. Is the rationale for, and objectives of, the study clearly described? Yes The authors provide a clear and compelling rationale for conducting this scoping review. They effectively establish the importance of postgraduate supervision in higher education and outline various approaches and models used globally. The protocol articulates how understanding postgraduate supervision experiences in the African context is crucial yet currently limited in scope, highlighting the need for a comprehensive review that consolidates evidence from various stakeholders across the continent. The objectives are explicitly stated through a main review question and three sub-questions that appropriately focus the scope of the review. Is the study design appropriate for the research question? Yes The selection of a scoping review methodology is well-justified for mapping the current landscape of evidence on postgraduate supervision experiences in Africa. The authors have appropriately chosen Arksey and O'Malley's framework, which is a well-established approach for scoping reviews. The Population, Context, and Concept (PCC) framework used to structure the search strategy aligns well with the research questions. The planned approach to searching, selecting, charting, and analyzing the data is logical and follows standard practices for scoping reviews. Are sufficient details of the methods provided to allow replication by others? Partly While the protocol provides substantial methodological detail, several aspects require further clarification: Conceptual definitions: The authors should provide clearer operational definitions of key concepts, particularly "experience" in this context. The interrelationship between experiences, practices, and policies should be acknowledged. Definition of "support staff": The protocol mentions "support staff" as part of the population but does not clearly define this group. Given the diversity of support roles in postgraduate supervision (administrative staff, writing center staff, librarians, research office personnel, etc.), this term needs clearer definition. Types of postgraduate qualifications: The protocol does not differentiate between types of postgraduate qualifications that may influence supervision experiences. Clarification is needed on whether the review will include all types (professional doctorates, doctorates by publication, coursework programs, research degrees) or focus on specific qualification structures. Additional data sources: While the protocol mentions electronic databases, it should address how other potential data sources recommended by Arksey and O'Malley will be incorporated. Consideration of high-quality secondary sources based on primary data (such as national reports) would strengthen the approach. Quality assessment: The protocol does not mention whether or how the quality of included studies will be assessed. While not always required in scoping reviews, some discussion of how study quality might be considered would strengthen the methodology. Are the datasets clearly presented in a useable and accessible format? Not applicable As this is a protocol for a future review, there are no datasets presented at this stage. The authors appropriately note that "No data are associated with this article." Additional Feedback Strengths The background section provides comprehensive contextual information on postgraduate supervision approaches globally and in Africa. The inclusion of multiple stakeholder perspectives (students, academics, and support staff) is valuable and addresses a gap in existing literature. The search strategy is detailed and appears comprehensive. The PRISMA flow diagram is appropriately included to guide the reporting of the study selection process. Areas requiring revision Conceptual clarity: The authors should provide clearer definitions of key concepts and acknowledge the interrelationship between experience, practice, and policy. This is essential for ensuring that the search strategy captures all relevant literature. Support staff definition: A clearer definition of what constitutes "support staff" in the context of this review is needed to ensure appropriate literature identification and analysis. Qualification types: The authors should clarify whether and how different types of postgraduate qualifications will be considered in the review, as supervision experiences may vary significantly across qualification structures. Data sources expansion: The protocol would benefit from explicitly addressing additional data sources beyond electronic databases, including consideration of relevant secondary sources based on primary data. Minor corrections needed: Several grammatical errors need correction, particularly subject-verb agreement in some sections Typos in the Discussion section (e.g., "on-of", "my-by", "aricle-article") Reference #25 appears to be an error and should be corrected Conclusion This protocol presents a well-conceived scoping review on an important topic in higher education. The rationale is clear, the methodological approach is generally appropriate, and the study has potential to make a valuable contribution to understanding postgraduate supervision experiences in Africa. With attention to the issues outlined above—particularly conceptual clarity, population definitions, consideration of qualification types, and expansion of data sources—the review methodology would be strengthened considerably. I recommend that the authors address these points to enhance the rigor and potential impact of their review. Is the rationale for, and objectives of, the study clearly described? Yes Is the study design appropriate for the research question? Yes Are sufficient details of the methods provided to allow replication by others? Partly Are the datasets clearly presented in a useable and accessible format? Not applicable Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed. Reviewer Expertise: Technology-Enhanced Language Learning (TELL); Blended Learning Approaches in EFL Contexts; Flipped Classroom Methodologies for Language Acquisition; Artificial Intelligence Applications in Language Education; Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL); Digital Tools and Platforms for EFL Teaching; Innovative Pedagogies in Second Language Acquisition I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard, however I have significant reservations, as outlined above. Close READ LESS CITE CITE HOW TO CITE THIS REPORT Baskara FR. Reviewer Report For: Mapping evidence of postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa: A scoping review protocol [version 2; peer review: 2 approved with reservations] . F1000Research 2025, 13 :1509 ( https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.174597.r366701 ) The direct URL for this report is: https://f1000research.com/articles/13-1509/v1#referee-response-366701 NOTE: it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in all citations of this article. COPY CITATION DETAILS Report a concern Author Response 03 Apr 2026 Celenkosini Nxumalo , Research Development and Postgraduate Support, Office of the DVC Research & Innovation, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa 03 Apr 2026 Author Response Thank you very much for the comprehensive review report, which was well received. All comments, suggestions and queries have been attended to, please kindly see version 2 of the manuscript ... Continue reading Thank you very much for the comprehensive review report, which was well received. All comments, suggestions and queries have been attended to, please kindly see version 2 of the manuscript with changes. Looking forward to your feedback. Thank you very much for the comprehensive review report, which was well received. All comments, suggestions and queries have been attended to, please kindly see version 2 of the manuscript with changes. Looking forward to your feedback. Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed. Close Report a concern Respond or Comment COMMENTS ON THIS REPORT Author Response 03 Apr 2026 Celenkosini Nxumalo , Research Development and Postgraduate Support, Office of the DVC Research & Innovation, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa 03 Apr 2026 Author Response Thank you very much for the comprehensive review report, which was well received. All comments, suggestions and queries have been attended to, please kindly see version 2 of the manuscript ... Continue reading Thank you very much for the comprehensive review report, which was well received. All comments, suggestions and queries have been attended to, please kindly see version 2 of the manuscript with changes. Looking forward to your feedback. Thank you very much for the comprehensive review report, which was well received. All comments, suggestions and queries have been attended to, please kindly see version 2 of the manuscript with changes. Looking forward to your feedback. Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed. Close Report a concern COMMENT ON THIS REPORT Views 0 Cite How to cite this report: Luckett K. Reviewer Report For: Mapping evidence of postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa: A scoping review protocol [version 2; peer review: 2 approved with reservations] . F1000Research 2025, 13 :1509 ( https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.174597.r359019 ) The direct URL for this report is: https://f1000research.com/articles/13-1509/v1#referee-response-359019 NOTE: it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in this citation. Close Copy Citation Details Reviewer Report 07 Feb 2025 Kathy Luckett , University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Rhodes University, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa Approved with Reservations VIEWS 0 https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.174597.r359019 The scoping review outlined in this protocol is well motivated and by the authors and will fill an important gap in the literature on postgraduate supervision in Africa for several reasons: review studies in HE are typically conducted with the ... Continue reading READ ALL The scoping review outlined in this protocol is well motivated and by the authors and will fill an important gap in the literature on postgraduate supervision in Africa for several reasons: review studies in HE are typically conducted with the institution/ discipline/ nation state as the unit of analysis, there is a paucity of regional reviews; to my knowledge few studies focus on experience (as opposed to outcomes or results) and it is rare to find studies that include support staff as participants. Thus the aim to provide “holistic insight” on this topic could be a significant contribution to the field. Overall, the design of the scoping review is adequate to the research questions and robust and replicable. However, the ambitions scope of the review does raise a few concerns for me. Below I list a few points that may be useful to the researchers to consider prior to embarking on the review: The authors’ focus on ‘experience’ is deliberate, but I did wonder whether they should also provide some clarity around defining key concepts – either before embarking on the literature search and/ or as a result of their findings. Relatedly, the focus on ‘experience’ could prove to be a limiting factor on their findings. I say ‘may’, because I could well be wrong. However, in my view ‘practice’ and ‘experience’ are closely intertwined, while policy (at both national and institutional levels) tends to both enable and constrain practice/experience. The realities of these kind of everyday slippages point to the need for conceptual clarity and great care when defining key words as well as awareness of potential limitations on the review. Also related to conceptual clarity, I wondered how the authors intend to define ‘support staff’ and whether they need to give thought to this prior to conducting the literature search. There are a range of support and professional staff involved in the supervision process, for example administrative staff at different levels, professional development staff who provide services and training in writing, editing, supervision, ethics and research integrity, to both academics and students, as well as librarians and others who provide support around funding, tracking enrolments, progress, graduation rates and quality assurance. While the authors note the range of models used for supervision, they do not seem to consider different types of qualification, for example professional doctorates, badged doctorates, doctorates by publication, coursework doctorates/ masters, full research degrees, M. / D.Phil etc. I wondered whether the range of types of qualification should be taken into account in the search criteria (as either inclusion or exclusion criteria). Regarding Stage 2 (Identification of relevant studies) the emphasis is on electronic databases. However, Arksey & O’Malley refer to three additional data sources that seem to be lumped under ‘additional records identified through other sources’ in the PRISMA diagram. While noting that the review will look at only primary research data, I think rich data sources could be retrieved from secondary sources that are based on primary data such as the South Africa Council on Higher Education’s “Doctoral Degrees National Report” (2022). Finally, some minor corrections: Grammar: subject-verb agreement. Typos – e.g. in Discussion section – eg on-of, my-by, aricle-article, Error in Reference List 25. Harmon QE: The burden of uterine fibroids: a search for primary and secondary prevention. Fertil. Steril. 2019; 111 (1): 50–51. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text Is the rationale for, and objectives of, the study clearly described? Yes Is the study design appropriate for the research question? Yes Are sufficient details of the methods provided to allow replication by others? Yes Are the datasets clearly presented in a useable and accessible format? Yes Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed. I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard, however I have significant reservations, as outlined above. Close READ LESS CITE CITE HOW TO CITE THIS REPORT Luckett K. Reviewer Report For: Mapping evidence of postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa: A scoping review protocol [version 2; peer review: 2 approved with reservations] . F1000Research 2025, 13 :1509 ( https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.174597.r359019 ) The direct URL for this report is: https://f1000research.com/articles/13-1509/v1#referee-response-359019 NOTE: it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in all citations of this article. COPY CITATION DETAILS Report a concern Author Response 03 Apr 2026 Celenkosini Nxumalo , Research Development and Postgraduate Support, Office of the DVC Research & Innovation, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa 03 Apr 2026 Author Response Thank you very much for reviewing this manuscript, all comments and concerns raised have been well noted and changes have been effected on the revised manuscript submitted. Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed. Thank you very much for reviewing this manuscript, all comments and concerns raised have been well noted and changes have been effected on the revised manuscript submitted. Thank you very much for reviewing this manuscript, all comments and concerns raised have been well noted and changes have been effected on the revised manuscript submitted. Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed. Close Report a concern Respond or Comment COMMENTS ON THIS REPORT Author Response 03 Apr 2026 Celenkosini Nxumalo , Research Development and Postgraduate Support, Office of the DVC Research & Innovation, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa 03 Apr 2026 Author Response Thank you very much for reviewing this manuscript, all comments and concerns raised have been well noted and changes have been effected on the revised manuscript submitted. Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed. Thank you very much for reviewing this manuscript, all comments and concerns raised have been well noted and changes have been effected on the revised manuscript submitted. Thank you very much for reviewing this manuscript, all comments and concerns raised have been well noted and changes have been effected on the revised manuscript submitted. Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed. Close Report a concern COMMENT ON THIS REPORT Comments on this article Comments (0) Version 2 VERSION 2 PUBLISHED 09 Dec 2024 ADD YOUR COMMENT Comment keyboard_arrow_left keyboard_arrow_right Open Peer Review Reviewer Status info_outline Alongside their report, reviewers assign a status to the article: Approved The paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested Approved with reservations A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit. Not approved Fundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions Reviewer Reports Invited Reviewers 1 2 Version 2 (revision) 04 Aug 25 Version 1 09 Dec 24 read read Kathy Luckett , University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa FX. Risang Baskara , Universitas Sanata Dharma, Depox, Indonesia Comments on this article All Comments (0) Add a comment Sign up for content alerts Sign Up You are now signed up to receive this alert Browse by related subjects keyboard_arrow_left Back to all reports Reviewer Report 0 Views copyright © 2025 Baskara F. This is an open access peer review report distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 03 Mar 2025 | for Version 1 FX. Risang Baskara , English Letters Department, Universitas Sanata Dharma, Depox, Indonesia 0 Views copyright © 2025 Baskara F. This is an open access peer review report distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. format_quote Cite this report speaker_notes Responses (1) Approved With Reservations info_outline Alongside their report, reviewers assign a status to the article: Approved The paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested Approved with reservations A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit. Not approved Fundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions Summary of the Article This protocol outlines a scoping review aimed at mapping evidence on postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa. The authors plan to use Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework to systematically identify, select, and analyze relevant literature. The review will address one main question: "What is the existing literature on postgraduate supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa?" with three sub-questions focusing on the range of literature, existing evidence on supervision practices, and reported challenges and best practices. The protocol details the search strategy, inclusion/exclusion criteria, data charting approach, and analysis methods. The authors argue that while substantial evidence exists on postgraduate supervision experiences in South Africa, a comprehensive understanding across the African continent that includes the perspectives of all stakeholders (students, academics, and support staff) is lacking. Is the rationale for, and objectives of, the study clearly described? Yes The authors provide a clear and compelling rationale for conducting this scoping review. They effectively establish the importance of postgraduate supervision in higher education and outline various approaches and models used globally. The protocol articulates how understanding postgraduate supervision experiences in the African context is crucial yet currently limited in scope, highlighting the need for a comprehensive review that consolidates evidence from various stakeholders across the continent. The objectives are explicitly stated through a main review question and three sub-questions that appropriately focus the scope of the review. Is the study design appropriate for the research question? Yes The selection of a scoping review methodology is well-justified for mapping the current landscape of evidence on postgraduate supervision experiences in Africa. The authors have appropriately chosen Arksey and O'Malley's framework, which is a well-established approach for scoping reviews. The Population, Context, and Concept (PCC) framework used to structure the search strategy aligns well with the research questions. The planned approach to searching, selecting, charting, and analyzing the data is logical and follows standard practices for scoping reviews. Are sufficient details of the methods provided to allow replication by others? Partly While the protocol provides substantial methodological detail, several aspects require further clarification: Conceptual definitions: The authors should provide clearer operational definitions of key concepts, particularly "experience" in this context. The interrelationship between experiences, practices, and policies should be acknowledged. Definition of "support staff": The protocol mentions "support staff" as part of the population but does not clearly define this group. Given the diversity of support roles in postgraduate supervision (administrative staff, writing center staff, librarians, research office personnel, etc.), this term needs clearer definition. Types of postgraduate qualifications: The protocol does not differentiate between types of postgraduate qualifications that may influence supervision experiences. Clarification is needed on whether the review will include all types (professional doctorates, doctorates by publication, coursework programs, research degrees) or focus on specific qualification structures. Additional data sources: While the protocol mentions electronic databases, it should address how other potential data sources recommended by Arksey and O'Malley will be incorporated. Consideration of high-quality secondary sources based on primary data (such as national reports) would strengthen the approach. Quality assessment: The protocol does not mention whether or how the quality of included studies will be assessed. While not always required in scoping reviews, some discussion of how study quality might be considered would strengthen the methodology. Are the datasets clearly presented in a useable and accessible format? Not applicable As this is a protocol for a future review, there are no datasets presented at this stage. The authors appropriately note that "No data are associated with this article." Additional Feedback Strengths The background section provides comprehensive contextual information on postgraduate supervision approaches globally and in Africa. The inclusion of multiple stakeholder perspectives (students, academics, and support staff) is valuable and addresses a gap in existing literature. The search strategy is detailed and appears comprehensive. The PRISMA flow diagram is appropriately included to guide the reporting of the study selection process. Areas requiring revision Conceptual clarity: The authors should provide clearer definitions of key concepts and acknowledge the interrelationship between experience, practice, and policy. This is essential for ensuring that the search strategy captures all relevant literature. Support staff definition: A clearer definition of what constitutes "support staff" in the context of this review is needed to ensure appropriate literature identification and analysis. Qualification types: The authors should clarify whether and how different types of postgraduate qualifications will be considered in the review, as supervision experiences may vary significantly across qualification structures. Data sources expansion: The protocol would benefit from explicitly addressing additional data sources beyond electronic databases, including consideration of relevant secondary sources based on primary data. Minor corrections needed: Several grammatical errors need correction, particularly subject-verb agreement in some sections Typos in the Discussion section (e.g., "on-of", "my-by", "aricle-article") Reference #25 appears to be an error and should be corrected Conclusion This protocol presents a well-conceived scoping review on an important topic in higher education. The rationale is clear, the methodological approach is generally appropriate, and the study has potential to make a valuable contribution to understanding postgraduate supervision experiences in Africa. With attention to the issues outlined above—particularly conceptual clarity, population definitions, consideration of qualification types, and expansion of data sources—the review methodology would be strengthened considerably. I recommend that the authors address these points to enhance the rigor and potential impact of their review. Is the rationale for, and objectives of, the study clearly described? Yes Is the study design appropriate for the research question? Yes Are sufficient details of the methods provided to allow replication by others? Partly Are the datasets clearly presented in a useable and accessible format? Not applicable Competing Interests No competing interests were disclosed. Reviewer Expertise Technology-Enhanced Language Learning (TELL); Blended Learning Approaches in EFL Contexts; Flipped Classroom Methodologies for Language Acquisition; Artificial Intelligence Applications in Language Education; Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL); Digital Tools and Platforms for EFL Teaching; Innovative Pedagogies in Second Language Acquisition I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard, however I have significant reservations, as outlined above. reply Respond to this report Responses (1) Author Response 03 Apr 2026 Celenkosini Nxumalo, Research Development and Postgraduate Support, Office of the DVC Research & Innovation, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa Thank you very much for the comprehensive review report, which was well received. All comments, suggestions and queries have been attended to, please kindly see version 2 of the manuscript with changes. Looking forward to your feedback. View more View less Competing Interests No competing interests were disclosed. reply Respond Report a concern Baskara FR. Peer Review Report For: Mapping evidence of postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa: A scoping review protocol [version 2; peer review: 2 approved with reservations] . F1000Research 2025, 13 :1509 ( https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.174597.r366701) NOTE: it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in this citation. The direct URL for this report is: https://f1000research.com/articles/13-1509/v1#referee-response-366701 keyboard_arrow_left Back to all reports Reviewer Report 0 Views copyright © 2025 Luckett K. This is an open access peer review report distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 07 Feb 2025 | for Version 1 Kathy Luckett , University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; Rhodes University, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa 0 Views copyright © 2025 Luckett K. This is an open access peer review report distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. format_quote Cite this report speaker_notes Responses (1) Approved With Reservations info_outline Alongside their report, reviewers assign a status to the article: Approved The paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested Approved with reservations A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit. Not approved Fundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions The scoping review outlined in this protocol is well motivated and by the authors and will fill an important gap in the literature on postgraduate supervision in Africa for several reasons: review studies in HE are typically conducted with the institution/ discipline/ nation state as the unit of analysis, there is a paucity of regional reviews; to my knowledge few studies focus on experience (as opposed to outcomes or results) and it is rare to find studies that include support staff as participants. Thus the aim to provide “holistic insight” on this topic could be a significant contribution to the field. Overall, the design of the scoping review is adequate to the research questions and robust and replicable. However, the ambitions scope of the review does raise a few concerns for me. Below I list a few points that may be useful to the researchers to consider prior to embarking on the review: The authors’ focus on ‘experience’ is deliberate, but I did wonder whether they should also provide some clarity around defining key concepts – either before embarking on the literature search and/ or as a result of their findings. Relatedly, the focus on ‘experience’ could prove to be a limiting factor on their findings. I say ‘may’, because I could well be wrong. However, in my view ‘practice’ and ‘experience’ are closely intertwined, while policy (at both national and institutional levels) tends to both enable and constrain practice/experience. The realities of these kind of everyday slippages point to the need for conceptual clarity and great care when defining key words as well as awareness of potential limitations on the review. Also related to conceptual clarity, I wondered how the authors intend to define ‘support staff’ and whether they need to give thought to this prior to conducting the literature search. There are a range of support and professional staff involved in the supervision process, for example administrative staff at different levels, professional development staff who provide services and training in writing, editing, supervision, ethics and research integrity, to both academics and students, as well as librarians and others who provide support around funding, tracking enrolments, progress, graduation rates and quality assurance. While the authors note the range of models used for supervision, they do not seem to consider different types of qualification, for example professional doctorates, badged doctorates, doctorates by publication, coursework doctorates/ masters, full research degrees, M. / D.Phil etc. I wondered whether the range of types of qualification should be taken into account in the search criteria (as either inclusion or exclusion criteria). Regarding Stage 2 (Identification of relevant studies) the emphasis is on electronic databases. However, Arksey & O’Malley refer to three additional data sources that seem to be lumped under ‘additional records identified through other sources’ in the PRISMA diagram. While noting that the review will look at only primary research data, I think rich data sources could be retrieved from secondary sources that are based on primary data such as the South Africa Council on Higher Education’s “Doctoral Degrees National Report” (2022). Finally, some minor corrections: Grammar: subject-verb agreement. Typos – e.g. in Discussion section – eg on-of, my-by, aricle-article, Error in Reference List 25. Harmon QE: The burden of uterine fibroids: a search for primary and secondary prevention. Fertil. Steril. 2019; 111 (1): 50–51. PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text Is the rationale for, and objectives of, the study clearly described? Yes Is the study design appropriate for the research question? Yes Are sufficient details of the methods provided to allow replication by others? Yes Are the datasets clearly presented in a useable and accessible format? Yes Competing Interests No competing interests were disclosed. I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard, however I have significant reservations, as outlined above. reply Respond to this report Responses (1) Author Response 03 Apr 2026 Celenkosini Nxumalo, Research Development and Postgraduate Support, Office of the DVC Research & Innovation, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa Thank you very much for reviewing this manuscript, all comments and concerns raised have been well noted and changes have been effected on the revised manuscript submitted. View more View less Competing Interests No competing interests were disclosed. reply Respond Report a concern Luckett K. Peer Review Report For: Mapping evidence of postgraduate research supervision experiences at higher education institutions in Africa: A scoping review protocol [version 2; peer review: 2 approved with reservations] . F1000Research 2025, 13 :1509 ( https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.174597.r359019) NOTE: it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in this citation. The direct URL for this report is: https://f1000research.com/articles/13-1509/v1#referee-response-359019 Alongside their report, reviewers assign a status to the article: Approved - the paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested Approved with reservations - A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit. Not approved - fundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions Adjust parameters to alter display View on desktop for interactive features Includes Interactive Elements View on desktop for interactive features Competing Interests Policy Provide sufficient details of any financial or non-financial competing interests to enable users to assess whether your comments might lead a reasonable person to question your impartiality. Consider the following examples, but note that this is not an exhaustive list: Examples of 'Non-Financial Competing Interests' Within the past 4 years, you have held joint grants, published or collaborated with any of the authors of the selected paper. You have a close personal relationship (e.g. parent, spouse, sibling, or domestic partner) with any of the authors. You are a close professional associate of any of the authors (e.g. scientific mentor, recent student). You work at the same institute as any of the authors. You hope/expect to benefit (e.g. favour or employment) as a result of your submission. You are an Editor for the journal in which the article is published. Examples of 'Financial Competing Interests' You expect to receive, or in the past 4 years have received, any of the following from any commercial organisation that may gain financially from your submission: a salary, fees, funding, reimbursements. You expect to receive, or in the past 4 years have received, shared grant support or other funding with any of the authors. You hold, or are currently applying for, any patents or significant stocks/shares relating to the subject matter of the paper you are commenting on. Stay Updated Sign up for content alerts and receive a weekly or monthly email with all newly published articles Register with F1000Research Already registered? Sign in Not now, thanks close PLEASE NOTE If you are an AUTHOR of this article, please check that you signed in with the account associated with this article otherwise we cannot automatically identify your role as an author and your comment will be labelled as a “User Comment”. If you are a REVIEWER of this article, please check that you have signed in with the account associated with this article and then go to your account to submit your report, please do not post your review here. If you do not have access to your original account, please contact us . All commenters must hold a formal affiliation as per our Policies . The information that you give us will be displayed next to your comment. User comments must be in English, comprehensible and relevant to the article under discussion. We reserve the right to remove any comments that we consider to be inappropriate, offensive or otherwise in breach of the User Comment Terms and Conditions . Commenters must not use a comment for personal attacks. When criticisms of the article are based on unpublished data, the data should be made available. I accept the User Comment Terms and Conditions Please confirm that you accept the User Comment Terms and Conditions. Affiliation ✕ refresh Please enter your institution. Note: To add your institution or organisation, start typing the name and then select the correct name from the list. Where applicable, the name will appear in both the original language and in English. Do not paste in the name. If the name does not appear in the drop-down list, we will display the information you have entered. ✕ refresh Country/Region * USA UK Canada China France Germany Afghanistan Aland Islands Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and Mcdonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo (Serbia and Montenegro) Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Minor Outlying Islands of the United States Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Korea North Macedonia Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territory Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Is South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand The Gambia The Netherlands Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu UK USA Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United States Virgin Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Wallis and Futuna West Bank and Gaza Strip Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Please select your country/region. You must enter a comment. Competing Interests Please disclose any competing interests that might be construed to influence your judgment of the article's or peer review report's validity or importance. Competing Interests Policy Provide sufficient details of any financial or non-financial competing interests to enable users to assess whether your comments might lead a reasonable person to question your impartiality. Consider the following examples, but note that this is not an exhaustive list: Examples of 'Non-Financial Competing Interests' Within the past 4 years, you have held joint grants, published or collaborated with any of the authors of the selected paper. You have a close personal relationship (e.g. parent, spouse, sibling, or domestic partner) with any of the authors. You are a close professional associate of any of the authors (e.g. scientific mentor, recent student). You work at the same institute as any of the authors. You hope/expect to benefit (e.g. favour or employment) as a result of your submission. You are an Editor for the journal in which the article is published. Examples of 'Financial Competing Interests' You expect to receive, or in the past 4 years have received, any of the following from any commercial organisation that may gain financially from your submission: a salary, fees, funding, reimbursements. You expect to receive, or in the past 4 years have received, shared grant support or other funding with any of the authors. You hold, or are currently applying for, any patents or significant stocks/shares relating to the subject matter of the paper you are commenting on. Please state your competing interests The comment has been saved. An error has occurred. Please try again. Cancel Post var lTitle = "Mapping evidence of postgraduate research...".replace("'", ''); var linkedInUrl = "http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?url=https://f1000research.com/articles/13-1509/v2" + "&title=" + encodeURIComponent(lTitle) + "&summary=" + encodeURIComponent('Read the article by '); var deliciousUrl = "https://del.icio.us/post?url=https://f1000research.com/articles/13-1509/v2&title=" + encodeURIComponent(lTitle); var redditUrl = "http://reddit.com/submit?url=https://f1000research.com/articles/13-1509/v2" + "&title=" + encodeURIComponent(lTitle); linkedInUrl += encodeURIComponent('Thembelenkosini Nxumalo C et al.'); var offsetTop = /chrome/i.test( navigator.userAgent ) ? 4 : -10; var addthis_config = { ui_offset_top: offsetTop, services_compact : "facebook,twitter,www.linkedin.com,www.mendeley.com,reddit.com", services_expanded : "facebook,twitter,www.linkedin.com,www.mendeley.com,reddit.com", services_custom : [ { name: "LinkedIn", url: linkedInUrl, icon:"/img/icon/at_linkedin.svg" }, { name: "Mendeley", url: "http://www.mendeley.com/import/?url=https://f1000research.com/articles/13-1509/v2/mendeley", icon:"/img/icon/at_mendeley.svg" }, { name: "Reddit", url: redditUrl, icon:"/img/icon/at_reddit.svg" }, ] }; var addthis_share = { url: "https://f1000research.com/articles/13-1509", templates : { twitter : "Mapping evidence of postgraduate research supervision experiences.... Thembelenkosini Nxumalo C et al., published by " + "@F1000Research" + ", https://f1000research.com/articles/13-1509/v2" } }; if (typeof(addthis) != "undefined"){ addthis.addEventListener('addthis.ready', checkCount); addthis.addEventListener('addthis.menu.share', checkCount); } $(".f1r-shares-twitter").attr("href", "https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=" + addthis_share.templates.twitter); $(".f1r-shares-facebook").attr("href", "https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=" + addthis_share.url); $(".f1r-shares-linkedin").attr("href", addthis_config.services_custom[0].url); $(".f1r-shares-reddit").attr("href", addthis_config.services_custom[2].url); $(".f1r-shares-mendelay").attr("href", addthis_config.services_custom[1].url); function checkCount(){ setTimeout(function(){ $(".addthis_button_expanded").each(function(){ var count = $(this).text(); if (count !== "" && count != "0") $(this).removeClass("is-hidden"); else $(this).addClass("is-hidden"); }); }, 1000); } close How to cite this report {{reportCitation}} Cancel Copy Citation Details $(function(){R.ui.buttonDropdowns('.dropdown-for-downloads');}); $(function(){R.ui.toolbarDropdowns('.toolbar-dropdown-for-downloads');}); $.get("/articles/acj/158939/185902") new F1000.Clipboard(); new F1000.ThesaurusTermsDisplay("articles", "article", "185902"); $(document).ready(function() { $( "#frame1" ).on('load', function() { var mydiv = $(this).contents().find("div"); var h = mydiv.height(); console.log(h) }); var tooltipLivingFigure = jQuery(".interactive-living-figure-label .icon-more-info"), titleLivingFigure = tooltipLivingFigure.attr("title"); tooltipLivingFigure.simpletip({ fixed: true, position: ["-115", "30"], baseClass: 'small-tooltip', content:titleLivingFigure + " " }); tooltipLivingFigure.removeAttr("title"); $("body").on("click", ".cite-living-figure", function(e) { e.preventDefault(); var ref = $(this).attr("data-ref"); $(this).closest(".living-figure-list-container").find("#" + ref).fadeIn(200); }); $("body").on("click", ".close-cite-living-figure", function(e) { e.preventDefault(); $(this).closest(".popup-window-wrapper").fadeOut(200); }); $(document).on("mouseup", function(e) { var metricsContainer = $(".article-metrics-popover-wrapper"); if (!metricsContainer.is(e.target) && metricsContainer.has(e.target).length === 0) { $(".article-metrics-close-button").click(); } }); var articleId = $('#articleId').val(); if($("#main-article-count-box").attachArticleMetrics) { $("#main-article-count-box").attachArticleMetrics(articleId, { articleMetricsView: true }); } }); var figshareWidget = $(".new_figshare_widget"); if (figshareWidget.length > 0) { window.figshare.load("f1000", function(Widget) { // Select a tag/tags defined in your page. In this tag we will place the widget. _.map(figshareWidget, function(el){ var widget = new Widget({ articleId: $(el).attr("figshare_articleId") //height:300 // this is the height of the viewer part. [Default: 550] }); widget.initialize(); // initialize the widget widget.mount(el); // mount it in a tag that's on your page // this will save the widget on the global scope for later use from // your JS scripts. This line is optional. //window.widget = widget; }); }); } close Error Close Add Reset F1000.MICROSERVICES.AFFILIATION = ''; $(document).ready(function () { $('.js-affiliations-form').each((index, form) => { new AffiliationForm({ formId: form.id, institutionErrorSelector: '.comment-enter-institution', departmentErrorSelector: '.comment-enter-department', placeSelector: '.js-add-comment-place', stateSelector: '.js-add-comment-state', zipCodeSelector: '.js-add-comment-zipcode', countrySelector: '.js-add-comment-country', countryErrorSelector: '.comment-enter-country', }); }); }); $(document).ready(function () { var reportIds = { "364805": 0, "364804": 0, "364807": 0, "364806": 0, "364803": 0, "364802": 0, "351885": 0, "351884": 0, "351887": 0, "351886": 0, "364809": 0, "364808": 0, "351883": 0, "351892": 0, "351889": 0, "351888": 0, "351891": 0, "351890": 0, "347693": 0, "347692": 0, "347695": 0, "347694": 0, "347689": 0, "347691": 0, "347690": 0, "355381": 0, "355380": 0, "355383": 0, "355382": 0, "347697": 0, "347696": 0, "355379": 0, "347698": 0, "355378": 0, "355385": 0, "355384": 0, "355387": 0, "355386": 0, "402370": 0, "402371": 0, "366695": 0, "359015": 0, "359014": 0, "366701": 14, "366700": 0, "359020": 0, "366703": 0, "366702": 0, "366697": 0, "366696": 0, "359016": 0, "366699": 0, "359019": 17, "366698": 0, "359018": 0, "366704": 0, }; $(".referee-response-container,.js-referee-report").each(function(index, el) { var reportId = $(el).attr("data-reportid"), reportCount = reportIds[reportId] || 0; $(el).find(".comments-count-container,.js-referee-report-views").html(reportCount); }); var uuidInput = $("#article_uuid"), oldUUId = uuidInput.val(), newUUId = "2ab10ec9-f780-415b-b904-5d435ddf0c06"; uuidInput.val(newUUId); $("a[href*='article_uuid=']").each(function(index, el) { var newHref = $(el).attr("href").replace(oldUUId, newUUId); $(el).attr("href", newHref); }); }); An innovative open access publishing platform offering rapid publication and open peer review, whilst supporting data deposition and sharing. Browse Gateways Collections How it Works Contact For Developers Cookie Notice Privacy Notice RSS Submit Your Research Follow us © 2012-2026 F1000 Research Ltd. ISSN 2046-1402 | Legal | Partner of Research4Life • CrossRef • ORCID • FAIRSharing R.templateTests.simpleTemplate = R.template(' $text $text $text $text $text '); R.templateTests.runTests(); var F1000platform = new F1000.Platform({ name: "f1000research", displayName: "F1000Research", hostName: "f1000research.com", id: "1", editorialEmail: "[email protected]", infoEmail: "[email protected]", usePmcStats: true }); $(function(){R.ui.dropdowns('.dropdown-for-authors, .dropdown-for-about, .dropdown-for-myresearch');}); // $(function(){R.ui.dropdowns('.dropdown-for-referees');}); $(document).ready(function () { if ($(".cookie-warning").is(":visible")) { $(".sticky").css("margin-bottom", "35px"); $(".devices").addClass("devices-and-cookie-warning"); } $(".cookie-warning .close-button").click(function (e) { $(".devices").removeClass("devices-and-cookie-warning"); $(".sticky").css("margin-bottom", "0"); }); $("#tweeter-feed .tweet-message").each(function (i, message) { var self = $(message); self.html(linkify(self.html())); }); $(".partner").on("mouseenter mouseleave", function() { $(this).find(".gray-scale, .colour").toggleClass("is-hidden"); }); }); Sign In Remember me Forgotten your password? Sign In Cancel Email or password not correct. Please try again Please wait... $(function(){ // Note: All the setup needs to run against a name attribute and *not* the id due the clonish // nature of facebox... $("a[id=googleSignInButton]").click(function(event){ event.preventDefault(); $("input[id=oAuthSystem]").val("GOOGLE"); $("form[id=oAuthForm]").submit(); }); $("a[id=facebookSignInButton]").click(function(event){ event.preventDefault(); $("input[id=oAuthSystem]").val("FACEBOOK"); $("form[id=oAuthForm]").submit(); }); $("a[id=orcidSignInButton]").click(function(event){ event.preventDefault(); $("input[id=oAuthSystem]").val("ORCID"); $("form[id=oAuthForm]").submit(); }); }); If you've forgotten your password, please enter your email address below and we'll send you instructions on how to reset your password. The email address should be the one you originally registered with F1000. Email address not valid, please try again You registered with F1000 via Google, so we cannot reset your password. To sign in, please click here . If you still need help with your Google account password, please click here . You registered with F1000 via Facebook, so we cannot reset your password. To sign in, please click here . If you still need help with your Facebook account password, please click here . Code not correct, please try again Reset password Cancel Email us for further assistance. Server error, please try again. If your email address is registered with us, we will email you instructions to reset your password. If you think you should have received this email but it has not arrived, please check your spam filters and/or contact for further assistance. Please wait... Register $(document).ready(function () { signIn.createSignInAsRow($("#sign-in-form-gfb-popup")); $(".target-field").each(function () { var uris = $(this).val().split("/"); if (uris.pop() === "login") { $(this).val(uris.toString().replace(",","/")); } }); });