How do I check whether my review's reporting matches PRISMA 2020?

Check PRISMA 2020 by mapping each checklist item to the exact manuscript section and page, marking it reported, partially reported, or missing, and listing the specific text you will add for each gap. PRISMA 2020 is a reporting checklist with an expanded checklist, an abstract checklist, and flow diagrams for original and updated systematic reviews; it describes what a review should report about why it was done, what methods were used, and which studies were found and included.

Build the completeness matrix

1. Open the PRISMA 2020 checklist and create one row per item, with columns for item number, manuscript section, page or line locator, status (reported, partially reported, or missing), and the exact text you will add. Expected result: every item has a locator or an explicit gap.
2. Read each item's wording in the expanded checklist before judging your manuscript. Expected result: you mark an item reported only when the manuscript text addresses what that item asks for, and partially reported when only part of it appears.
3. For each partially reported or missing item, write the sentence or table entry you will add and the section where it belongs. Expected result: the matrix ends with a concrete revision list rather than a score.

Where the search and selection items usually land

The Cochrane Handbook's chapter on searching and selecting studies covers planning searches, selecting sources, developing search strategies, searching reference lists and other sources, documenting searches, and managing records. Use those topics to locate the manuscript passages that should carry the corresponding PRISMA items, such as the search strategy, information sources, selection process, and study flow. If a passage documents the search but not, for example, the reference-list searching, mark the item partially reported and name the missing text.

Keep the checklist as a reporting tool

Treat the matrix as a record of what the manuscript reports and where. A completed matrix shows coverage and locators; it does not measure the review's methodological quality, so keep quality appraisal in its own section of the manuscript. Finish by re-reading each missing-item entry and confirming the planned text answers that item's wording.