Choose the checklist by matching your review type and the study designs you included, then confirm which items apply to your manuscript. For a systematic review, PRISMA 2020 supplies a reporting checklist, an expanded checklist, an abstract checklist, and flow diagrams for original and updated systematic reviews. For observational studies such as cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional designs, the STROBE Statement provides reporting checklists; STROBE assesses reporting completeness, not study quality.
A selection sequence
- Identify the review type and the designs of the included studies. If your winter-health paper is a systematic review, start with PRISMA 2020; if it reports an observational study, start with the STROBE checklist for that design. Expected result: a shortlist of candidate checklists tied to what you actually wrote.
- Read the checklist scope statement and mark each item as applicable, not applicable, or handled elsewhere. Expected result: a selected checklist rather than a wholesale copy.
- Map every applicable item to a manuscript section, such as Methods, Results, or Discussion. Expected result: a table showing where each item is addressed and which items still need text.
- Use the PRISMA 2020 flow diagrams to show how studies were found and included when you report a systematic review. Expected result: a completed flow diagram consistent with your reported counts.
Keep the purpose in view
PRISMA 2020 supports transparent reporting of why a systematic review was done, what methods were used, and what studies were found and included. STROBE addresses reporting completeness for observational designs. Use each checklist for the reporting job its scope describes, and record your applicability decisions so co-authors and reviewers can see the mapping.