Report search results
Capture your search
PRISMA 2020 specifies the following as essential elements:
- Title of the database searched e.g. MEDLINE
- Name of the database platform/interface e.g. Ovid (for example, MEDLINE (Ovid), SPORTDiscus (EBSCOhost))
- Database date range - how many years the database covers (where stated) e.g. 1946 to present
- Date database last searched or consulted
- Years covered by the search - specify if any date limits were applied
- Complete search strategy (including all search terms and any limits applied)
PRISMA
'Review authors are expected to include a PRISMA-type flow diagram demonstrating the flow of studies throughout the selection process (Page et al 2021a)' -- Chapter III 'Reporting the review', Section III.3.4.1, Cochrane Handbook 2022
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) are reporting guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Often journals will ask your to report your systematic review results using PRISMA or another relevant reporting guideline. Find out more:
PRISMA 2020 resources
- PRISMA 2020 Flow DiagramProvides templates you can use as guides in designing your own diagram to map the flow of information through the stages of your systematic review.
- PRISMA 2020 Flow Diagram generator'This tool allows you to produce a flow diagram for your own review that conforms to the PRISMA2020 Statement.' New July 2022 - now supports reporting of individual databases and registers
- PRISMA checklist - PRISMA 2020'...comprises a 27-item checklist addressing the introduction, methods, results and discussion sections of a systematic review report'.
- Implementing the 27 PRISMA 2020 Statement items for systematic reviews in the sport and exercise medicine, musculoskeletal rehabilitation and sports science fields: the PERSiST (implementing Prisma in Exercise, Rehabilitation, Sport medicine and...Consensus statement with exemplars published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine 2021
PRISMA 2009 RESOURCES
For information only. PRISMA 2009 has been superseded by PRISMA 2020. Reviewers are now expected to use PRIMSA 2020 standards.
- PRISMA 2009 flow diagramThe PRISMA flow diagram provides a graphical representation of the flow of citations reviewed in the course of a systematic review.
- PRISMA 2009 Flow Diagram GeneratorUse this generator to create a completed PRISMA flow diagram for your systematic review.
- Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: the PRISMA Statement (2009)The PRISMA statement explains the meaning and rationale for its 27 item checklist and four-phase flow diagram.
doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000097 - The PRISMA Statement for Reporting Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of Studies That Evaluate Health Care Interventions: Explanation and Elaboration (2009)Details the meaning and rationale for each checklist item in the PRISMA 2009 Statement.
Select the diagram below to see an example of a published PRISMA 2020 flow diagram, taken from:
- Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in Patients with COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisIppolito, M, Misseri, G, Catalisano, G, Marino, C, Ingoglia, G, Alessi, M, … Cortegiani, A 2021, ‘Ventilator-associated pneumonia in patients with covid-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis’, Antibiotics, vol. 10, no. 5.
Guidelines and standards
- Cochrane Handbook: part 2, chapter 4.5: Documenting and reporting the search process
This chapter provides recommendations for authors on documenting the search process. It also includes the relevant MECIR.
‘Specify all databases, registers, websites, organisations, reference lists, and other sources searched or consulted to identify studies. Specify the date when each source was last searched or consulted.’ p.5
‘Present the full search strategies for all databases, registers, and websites, including any filters and limits used.’ p. 6
‘Describe the results of the search and selection process, from the number of records identified in the search to the number of studies included in the review, ideally using a flow diagram.’ p. 18
- PRISMA 2020 Explanation and Elaboration
Other standards
- Overview of systematic reviewsSee the overview page (of this guide) for additional guidelines and standards.
Other reporting guidelines
- EQUATOR network (Enhancing the QUality and Transparency Of health Research)Provides an extensive database of published reporting guidelines related to human health (for example CONSORT and STROBE). Search, or browse by study type, clinical area and section of report
- Reporting guideline for overviews of reviews of healthcare interventions: development of the PRIOR statementThese new guidelines published August 2022 provide reporting guidance for overviews of reviews of healthcare interventions. Gates et al. (2022), BMJ, 378, doi: 10.1136/bmj-2022-070849