ITIL process-execution gaps and serious games for ITSM training: protocol for a systematic evidence review (version 14)

Registration deposit of the protocol for a systematic evidence review, prepared under PRISMA-P 2015, on the gap between formally documented ITIL processes and their execution in IT service management, and on the use of serious games and game-based learning in ITSM training. The review has three questions: RQ1, the factors reported as associated with the gap, with a focus on Service Desk and Incident Management; RQ2, how serious games and game-based learning have been used in ITSM/ITIL training; RQ3, design principles for serious games supporting competency development in ITSM environments. The package contains: the protocol (version 14, PDF and Word); the PRISMA-P 2015 checklist and the PRISMA-S mapping; the master execution workbook (search plan and log, reference sets, domain-swap control, screening, extraction and appraisal forms, inter-rater reliability, PRISMA flow, PRESS record, amendment log); the executable search strategies for ScienceDirect, IEEE Xplore and the AIS eLibrary; the completed PRESS 2015 peer-review form; and the full-text eligibility assessment of the reference-set records C3 to C5. Search strings are version 1.4: piloted in the live interfaces of six databases on 28 and 29 July 2026, PRESS-reviewed on 19 August 2026 with no concerns, and confirmed by the supervisors in October 2026. The principal search is executed immediately after this deposit. This deposit is time-stamped and precedes the principal search; later versions, if any, are deposited as new versions of this record.