Policy communication as the missing link in participatory rural drinking water governance: A systematic review with bibliometric mapping (retrospective registration)

Retrospective registration of a systematic review with thematic synthesis and bibliometric mapping on participatory rural drinking water governance. The review maps the intellectual structure of the field and the integration of policy communication with participation and accountability (RQ1), identifies communication mechanisms (information access, transparency, deliberation, feedback) that enable or constrain meaningful participation (RQ2), examines how institutional arrangements, power relations, accountability and context shape whose voices influence decisions (RQ3), and develops the Communication-Participation-Authority-Accountability (CPAA) framework (RQ4). Search: Scopus, open-access English-language journal articles 2021-2026, search date 9 October 2026; 262 records screened, 97 empirical studies included (30 core, 67 contextual). Bibliometric mapping with VOSviewer 1.6.20; thematic synthesis. Reported according to PRISMA 2020. The protocol was not registered before the review began; this registration documents the methods as conducted. Authors: Eres Timo and Akhmad Muwafik Saleh, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia.