Mapping IT Reference Frameworks for Governance, Service Management, and Quality Assurance: A Scoping Review

Abstract

The increasing complexity of information technology (IT) systems requires reference frameworks that connect governance, service management, and quality assurance. This scoping review maps 109 core sources published between 1996 and June 2026 to characterize evidence on IT reference frameworks across organizational and sectoral contexts; records from 2026 are treated as partial-year data and are not interpreted as a complete annual trend. The review was structured using the Population–Concept–Context (PCC) framework and reported in alignment with PRISMA-ScR guidance. Peer-reviewed studies and selected grey literature sources were charted to identify research trends, framework families, implementation patterns, integration interfaces, evaluation practices, and evidence gaps. Dominant families included ISO/TQM-oriented quality systems, COBIT and ITIL/IT service management (ITSM), enterprise architecture, sectoral quality assurance, cybersecurity, and emerging AI/data-governance approaches. The findings indicate that integration is concentrated around recurring interfaces among strategic governance, service operation, quality and assurance controls, enterprise architecture, and evidence feedback. However, the mapped evidence remains methodologically uneven: conceptual frameworks, case studies, and reviews dominate, while longitudinal validation and comparable implementation metrics are limited. Emerging AI-related work is treated as an early research direction rather than as mature evidence of effectiveness.