Is There a PRISMA 2026 Checklist? What to Use Instead

Which guidance should an author use?

As checked on October 13, 2026, the official PRISMA website provides the PRISMA 2020 statement, checklist, expanded checklist, abstract checklist and flow-diagram templates. Use that documented material for a systematic review, together with an applicable extension and your journal's current author instructions.

For a scoping review, consult PRISMA-ScR, published in 2018. A review protocol, a search-methods report and a completed review serve different purposes; check the scope of a guideline before applying its checklist. Do not infer a replacement standard from a blog title or the calendar year.

Automation was already part of PRISMA 2020

Item 8 covers the selection process, including the human reviewers and any automation used. Item 9 addresses automation in data collection where applicable, and item 11 does so for risk-of-bias assessment. The official checklist is the source for those item numbers.

The expanded checklist gives more detail on describing a classifier, its role and its validation. It also distinguishes eliminating records from prioritising their screening. Your methods should let a reader understand what the software actually did and where human decisions remained.

For example, putting likely-relevant abstracts first is different from discarding abstracts automatically. A diagram should count the records that were actually removed before screening; merely using software to organise the work does not create an automation-exclusion count. Record the tool's role as you work so the later report matches the process.

Choose the flow diagram from the review you performed

The official templates distinguish a new review from an updated review, and searches confined to databases and registers from searches that also use other sources. That produces four PRISMA 2020 flow-diagram templates.

An update should keep retained evidence from the previous review distinguishable from newly found evidence. A new report about an already included study is not automatically a new study. Keep the report-to-study links in your working log, then use the figure to summarize the counts.

The Journal Metrics PRISMA flow diagram generator helps enter and reconcile those counts. You can also download the original blank Word templates or follow a worked example. The tool is an independent implementation; a successful arithmetic check is not a judgment that the full review follows the guideline.

Keep file formats separate from reporting requirements

A JSON project file is useful for saving structured counts and reopening an editor. The PRISMA 2020 checklist does not prescribe JSON as a required flow-diagram submission format. Item 27 asks authors to identify available data, code and other materials and where to find them; it does not turn one particular file type into a universal submission rule. See the official wording.

Choose your final figure format from the journal's instructions. Preserve an editable project and the underlying screening log for your team. A figure file, a screening dataset and a completed reporting checklist each answer a different question and should agree with one another.

A practical check before submission

1. Open the official checklist and confirm its scope. Record the version you are using.
2. Map each applicable item to the relevant manuscript page, table or supplement. A checked box should point to actual reporting.
3. Reconcile the selection figure with the screening log and included-evidence table, preserving the distinction between records, reports and studies.
4. Read the target journal's current instructions for the checklist and figure files it wants.

For a fuller walkthrough, see our practical PRISMA 2020 reporting guide. For scoping reviews, the ScR diagram page explains the sources-of-evidence terminology and item 14.