The PRISMA checklist should be used as a final quality control tool to ensure your systematic review manuscript includes all required reporting elements before submission.
Review Each Checklist Item Systematically
Work through all 27 items on the PRISMA 2020 checklist sequentially, verifying that your manuscript addresses each one. Check that your title identifies the study as a systematic review, your abstract follows the structured format, and your methods section clearly documents your search strategy, eligibility criteria, and data extraction process. For each checklist item, note the page number where it appears in your manuscript—most journals require this documentation.
Verify Your Flow Diagram Completeness
Ensure your PRISMA flow diagram accurately tracks the number of records at each stage: identification, screening, eligibility assessment, and final inclusion. The diagram should account for all excluded studies and specify reasons for exclusion. This visual representation must match the numbers reported in your text exactly, as inconsistencies are a common reason for editorial queries.
Cross-Check Protocol Registration and Deviations
Confirm that you've reported your protocol registration number (PROSPERO or equivalent) and documented any deviations from your original protocol. Reviewers and editors specifically look for transparency about changes made during the review process, such as modified search terms or additional databases consulted.
Assess Risk of Bias Reporting
Verify that you've described your risk of bias assessment tool, presented results for each included study, and explained how bias considerations influenced your synthesis and conclusions. This section often requires revision to meet PRISMA standards, as many authors underreport their quality assessment methods.
Complete the PRISMA Checklist Table
Fill out the official PRISMA checklist document that accompanies your submission, indicating the manuscript page number where each item is addressed. Many journals provide this as a required supplementary file. If your systematic review involves complex searches across multiple databases, tools like WisPaper's Scholar Search can help verify that your documented search strategy captures the relevant literature without excessive noise—addressing PRISMA's requirement for comprehensive yet precise search reporting.
This final PRISMA check typically reveals 3-5 missing elements that can be quickly added before submission, significantly reducing the likelihood of desk rejection or major revisions.
