This paper was presented at the Diversifying Scholarship Research Conference 2022 organized by University of Virgina remotely. I have added the oral presentation along with the audio version of it (mp3) + Transcript of the presentation for anyone that might need additional resources :) Feel free to email me with any doubts or potential collaboration on this project :)) **Abstract:** **Background:** Mental health-related issues amongst youth during the COVID-19 pandemic have raised major concerns. While India battles with easy accessibility to mental health services, it also struggles with ongoing gender inequality, specific to those on the margins. This paper focused on reviewing articles that reported mental health concerns or psychological distress among youth in India amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the study was strongly motivated by the lack of inclusivity in the initial stages of data collection, which has led research in India around mental health to be binary and limited. **Methods:** This paper followed the steps in conducting a scoping review based on Arksey and O’Malley’s methodology. An exhaustive literature search was conducted on Google Scholar and PubMed of published articles from 2020-2021. To keep up with the latest trends in upcoming research papers, pre-prints were included from Psyarxiv. A systematic approach was defined by identifying 5 keywords, inclusive-exclusive criteria, and data synthesis using a reference manager. **Results:** Out of a total search of 411 articles, only 87 were included because they didn't fit into the criteria as they did not define their participants’ gender clearly or they focused only on a particular gender. Conclusions: The scoping review found gaps in the definition of participants’ sex and gender. While in some articles these terminologies were confused to be one, the rest focused on the two genders for their studies which became binary in approach. There is an urgent need for an inclusive and diverse approach to data collection. **Keywords:** Mental Health, COVID-19, Scoping review,Gender, Psychological distress I have also added a file with supplementary material for some of the mentioned things in the presentation.