PRISMA 2020 explanation and elaboration: updated guidance and exemplars for reporting systematic reviews

Abstract

The methods and results of systematic reviews should be reported in sufficient detail to allow users to assess the trustworthiness and applicability of the review findings. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement was developed to facilitate transparent and complete reporting of systematic reviews and has been updated (to PRISMA 2020) to reflect recent advances in systematic review methodology and terminology. Here, we present the explanation and elaboration paper for PRISMA 2020, where we explain why reporting of each item is recommended, present bullet points that detail the reporting recommendations, and present examples from published reviews. We hope that changes to the content and structure of PRISMA 2020 will facilitate uptake of the guideline and lead to more transparent, complete, and accurate reporting of systematic reviews.

Keywords

MeSH Terms

Affiliated Institutions

• Odense University Hospital DK
• Brigham and Women's Hospital US
• Public Health Ontario CA
• St. Michael's Hospital CA
• Université Paris Cité FR
• University of Southern Denmark DK
• Harvard University US
• Impact CA
• The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio US
• Monash University AU
• Ottawa Hospital CA
• Unity Health Toronto
• University College London GB
• University of Toronto CA
• American University of Beirut LB
• Bruyère CA
• University of Amsterdam NL
• University of Bristol GB
• Indiana University Bloomington US
• Inserm FR
• University of York GB
• Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust GB
• University of Colorado Denver US
• Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
• Bond University AU
• Academy of Medicine SG
• Queen's University CA
• McMaster University CA
• Johns Hopkins University US
• University of Ottawa CA
• Oregon Health & Science University US
• Centre de Recherche Épidémiologie et Statistique

Related Publications