Use GRADE to rate certainty of evidence per outcome; use a reporting checklist such as PRISMA 2020 to audit whether a review reported its methods and findings completely. The two tools answer different questions, so the choice follows from what you need to decide.
What each tool measures
GRADE is a transparent approach to rating certainty of evidence and strength of recommendations, using explicit criteria and judgements made at the outcome level. That outcome-level structure matters: certainty is rated for each outcome, so a review can carry high certainty for mortality and low certainty for a patient-reported outcome in the same body of evidence.
PRISMA 2020 is a checklist with flow diagrams for transparent reporting of why a systematic review was done, what methods were used, and what studies were found and included. It measures completeness of reporting.
Choosing between them
- Identify the decision you need to support. If the question is how much to trust an effect estimate for a given outcome, select GRADE and rate certainty for that outcome using its explicit criteria. If the question is whether a manuscript discloses its rationale, methods, and included studies, select the reporting checklist and audit each item.
- Match the tool to the object being judged. GRADE judgements attach to outcomes and feed Summary of Findings tables and GRADEpro workflows in evidence syntheses. Checklist items attach to sections of a manuscript.
- Record the result in the form the tool produces. A GRADE assessment yields a certainty rating per outcome; a checklist audit yields a list of reported and missing items.
A common mix-up
A complete PRISMA checklist tells you the review reported its methods and findings; it does not tell you how much to trust any estimate. Conversely, a GRADE certainty rating describes confidence in an outcome estimate and does not certify that the manuscript reported every methodological step. When a reviewer asks about trust in an estimate, answer with GRADE; when an editor asks about reporting completeness, answer with the checklist.