This scoping review explores the therapeutic use, optimal stimulation parameters, effective sham protocols, and safety of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS). The study included 109 studies across 21 clinical populations, primarily psychiatric, cardiac, and neurological disorders. Overall, taVNS showed favorable therapeutic effects with a wide range of stimulation parameters, suggesting its safety and tolerability. However, stimulation parameter reporting was inconsistent, hindering the exploration of correlations between parameters and therapeutic outcomes. Sham protocols were reported but their effectiveness in blinding participants was rarely evaluated. Adverse events (AEs) were poorly investigated, but most were localized to the stimulation site, with serious AEs being rare. The review highlights the need for standardized and comprehensive reporting of stimulation parameters and AEs to improve the quality and reproducibility of future taVNS studies.This scoping review explores the therapeutic use, optimal stimulation parameters, effective sham protocols, and safety of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS). The study included 109 studies across 21 clinical populations, primarily psychiatric, cardiac, and neurological disorders. Overall, taVNS showed favorable therapeutic effects with a wide range of stimulation parameters, suggesting its safety and tolerability. However, stimulation parameter reporting was inconsistent, hindering the exploration of correlations between parameters and therapeutic outcomes. Sham protocols were reported but their effectiveness in blinding participants was rarely evaluated. Adverse events (AEs) were poorly investigated, but most were localized to the stimulation site, with serious AEs being rare. The review highlights the need for standardized and comprehensive reporting of stimulation parameters and AEs to improve the quality and reproducibility of future taVNS studies.