PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) An evidence-based minimum set of items for reporting in systematic reviews and meta-analyses in the health sciences. PRISMA primarily focuses on the reporting of reviews evaluating the effects of interventions, but can also be used as a basis for reporting systematic reviews with objectives other than evaluating interventions (e.g. evaluating etiology, prevalence, diagnosis or prognosis). PRISMA aims to help authors improve the reporting of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
PRISMA 2020 Statement A document including a 27-item checklist and flow diagram which aims to guide authors on how to develop a systematic review protocol and what to include when writing the review. The PRISMA statement was designed to help systematic reviewers transparently report why the review was done, what the authors did, and what they found. The PRISMA 2020 statement replaces the original 2009 statement and includes new reporting guidance that reflects advances in methods to identify, select, appraise, and synthesize studies (Page, M.J. et al.,, 2021).
PRISMA Checklist The PRISMA 2020 statement comprises a 27-item checklist addressing the introduction, methods, results and discussion sections of a systematic review report, and a 12-item checklist for the abstract. Once users record a response for each item in the checklist(s), they can generate and download a report of their completed checklist in Word or PDF format.
PRISMA Flow Diagram Depicts the flow of information through the different phases of a systematic review. It maps out the number of records identified, included and excluded, and the reasons for exclusions. Different templates are available depending on the type of review (new or updated) and sources used to identify studies. Sample:
(Page, M.J. et al., 2021)
PRISMA Flow Diagram Generator Free program to create flow diagrams.
PRISMA Extensions Several extensions of the PRISMA Statement have been developed to facilitate the reporting of different types or aspects of systematic reviews. Please click on the relevant extension below for more information.
Some important extensions for systematic reviews are:
PRISMA-P (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis Protocols) 2015 checklist - A reporting guideline for systematic review protocols PRISMA-P consists of a 17-item checklist intended to facilitate the preparation and reporting of a robust protocol for the systematic review (Moher, D. et al., 2015)..
PRISMA-Search The PRISMA extension reporting guideline for searching was published in 2021. PRISMA-S builds on the PRISMA reporting guideline and was created to help librarians, information specialists, and systematic reviewers transparently report searches. The PRISMA-Search Checklist includes 16 reporting items, each of which is detailed with exemplar reporting and rationale (Rethlefsen, K.S. et al., 2021).
PRISMA-ScR PRISMA extension for scoping reviews checklist - contains 20 essential reporting items and two optional items to include when completing a scoping review. Scoping reviews serve to synthesize evidence and assess the scope of literature on a topic. Among other objectives, scoping reviews help determine whether a systematic review of the literature is warranted (Tricco, A.C. et al., 2018).
This video below from Knowledge Translation Program introduces the PRISMA-ScR checklist alongside some tools to assist researchers conducting and reporting scoping reviews:
Reporting Guidelines Under Development for Systematic Reviews Reporting guidelines under development for systematic reviews, systematic review-related papers and PRISMA extensions. From Equator Network.
References
Page, McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., … Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ (Online), 372, n71–n71.
Tricco, A. C., Lillie, E., Zarin, W., O’Brien, K. K., Colquhoun, H., Levac, D., Moher, D., Peters, M. D., Horsley, T., Weeks, L., Hempel, S., Akl, E. A., Chang, C., McGowan, J., Stewart, L., Hartling, L., Aldcroft, A., Wilson, M. G., Garritty, C., & Lewin, S. (2018). PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and Explanation. Annals of Internal Medicine., 169(7), 467–473. https://doi.org/10.7326/M18-0850.