PRISMA 2020 flow diagram generator

Type your numbers and get the complete PRISMA 2020 diagram, with every box from the official template. The arithmetic is checked as you type, because numbers that do not reconcile are the most common reason a diagram gets sent back. Download as SVG for a manuscript or PNG for a slide. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is stored.

Your numbers

Identification

PRISMA asks you to report each database separately where you can, rather than one combined total.

Screening

The three greyed fields are calculated, so they always reconcile.

Reports excluded, with reasons

PRISMA expects a reason for every full-text exclusion, and the reasons should account for all of them.

Included

A study can have several reports, so these two numbers often differ.

Template notes (optional)

Off by default for a cleaner figure. Turn it on if your journal wants the official template reproduced exactly. The asterisks in the box labels appear and disappear with the footnotes, so the diagram never carries a marker that points at nothing.

Other methods (optional)

Tired of counting by hand?

Verflux fills this diagram in from your actual screening decisions, keeps the numbers reconciled as you work, and lists your full-text exclusion reasons automatically.

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About this diagram

What changed between PRISMA 2009 and 2020?

2020 separates records (database entries) from reports (documents), adds "reports sought for retrieval" and "reports not retrieved", makes the removed-before-screening breakdown explicit, splits identification into database/register and other-methods branches, and folds the old Eligibility phase into Screening. Most journals now expect the 2020 form.

Which numbers must add up?

Identified minus removed-before-screening equals screened. Screened minus excluded equals sought for retrieval. Sought minus not-retrieved equals assessed. Assessed minus excluded equals included. This tool calculates each of those for you rather than letting you type a number that contradicts the one above it.

Do I need the "other methods" column?

Only if you found studies outside database searching — citation chasing, websites, contacting organisations, grey literature. If every record came from a database or register, leave it off.

Is this really free?

Yes, and there is no sign-up. It runs entirely in your browser; nothing is uploaded. We build it because people who need this diagram often need the rest of a review tool too.