PRISMA flow diagram generator
Enter the counts from your systematic review and get a PRISMA 2020 flow diagram that adds up. Download it as PNG or SVG. Free, with no signup, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
What the diagram shows
The PRISMA 2020 flow diagram follows every record from the search to the final review in three stages. Identification counts what each database and register returned, then what you removed before screening: duplicates, records an automation tool marked ineligible, and anything removed for another reason.
Screening counts the records you read by title and abstract, the ones you excluded, and then the full-text reports you tried to retrieve and assessed. Every report excluded at this point needs a reason, listed with its count.
Included gives the studies in the review and the reports that describe them. These can differ, because one study often has more than one report.
How the numbers are checked
Four boxes are never typed. Records screened is records identified minus everything removed before screening. Reports sought is records screened minus records excluded. Reports assessed is reports sought minus reports not retrieved. Reports of included studies is reports assessed minus the reports you excluded for a reason.
If a stage removes more than it holds, or you list more included studies than reports, the tool flags it. A count that does not follow from the box above it is the easiest error for a reviewer to spot.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a PRISMA flow diagram?
- A figure that shows how many records a systematic review found, how many it removed or excluded at each stage, and how many studies ended up included. It is item 16a of the PRISMA 2020 checklist.
- Which PRISMA 2020 template does this make?
- The template for new systematic reviews that searched databases and registers. It does not draw the other-methods branch (websites, organisations, citation searching) or the previous-studies branch used by updated reviews. For those, use the templates at prisma-statement.org.
- What is the difference between records, reports and studies?
- A record is one entry returned by a search. A report is a document about a study, such as a journal article, a conference abstract or a trial registry entry. A study can have several reports, which is why the last box lists studies and reports separately.
- Which numbers are calculated for me?
- Records screened, reports sought for retrieval, reports assessed for eligibility and reports of included studies. Each is the box above it minus what left at that stage. If a later box would be negative, the tool says which stage does not add up instead of drawing it.
- Does it store my numbers?
- No. The diagram is drawn in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to Arca. Copy link puts your counts in the web address so you can reopen or share the diagram, and anyone with that address can see them.
- Can I use the diagram in a paper or a clinical evaluation report?
- Yes. Download the SVG to edit it in a vector editor, or the PNG for a document. The diagram is the standard PRISMA 2020 layout, so reviewers and notified bodies will recognise it. Cite Page et al., BMJ 2021;372:n71 for the PRISMA 2020 statement.
Related
Keep the counts from your screening, not from memory
Arca searches the literature, screens each record against your criteria in a grid, and draws the PRISMA flow from the recorded decisions, so the figure matches what you screened.