PRISMA Flow Diagram Generator
A PRISMA flow diagram generator turns your study-selection counts into the flow chart journals expect. Enter the records identified, removed, screened, and included, list your exclusion reasons, and download a clean PRISMA 2020 diagram as a PNG or an editable SVG.
Identification
Screening
Included
Free download · no watermark, no sign-up
Diagram follows the PRISMA 2020 flow for new studies identified through databases and registers. Counts update live as you type. The PNG and editable SVG download free with no watermark and no sign-up.
How to build your PRISMA flow diagram
You fill in the counts from each stage of your search and selection, working top to bottom. The generator draws and connects the boxes as you type.
- 1. Enter identification. Record how many records you found in databases and registers, and how many duplicates and other records you removed before screening.
- 2. Enter screening. Add the number of records screened at title and abstract and the number excluded at that stage.
- 3. Enter eligibility. Record the reports sought for retrieval, any that could not be retrieved, and the reports assessed against your inclusion criteria.
- 4. List exclusion reasons and the final count. Add a reason and a number for every full-text exclusion, then the number of studies included. The reasons must sum to the total excluded at the full-text stage.
- 5. Export. Download a finished PNG for your manuscript or an editable SVG you can adjust later.
A worked example
Imagine a search that returned 1,250 records across databases, of which 300 were duplicates removed before screening. That leaves 950 records screened. If 870 were excluded at title and abstract, you sought 80 reports for retrieval. With 5 reports not retrieved, you assessed 75 for eligibility. Suppose 63 were excluded with reasons: 25 for the wrong population, 20 for the wrong outcome, and 18 for the wrong study design. That leaves 12 studies included.
Every step reconciles: 1,250 minus 300 is 950, 950 minus 870 is 80, 80 minus 5 is 75, and 75 minus 63 is 12. The three exclusion reasons add to 63, matching the full-text exclusions exactly. A reviewer can follow that arithmetic straight down the diagram, which is precisely the consistency check the next section covers.
Getting the numbers to add up
Reviewers and editors check that a PRISMA diagram is internally consistent, so the counts should reconcile down the flow. The records screened should equal the records identified minus the duplicates and other records removed before screening. The reports sought for retrieval should equal the records screened minus those excluded at title and abstract. The reports assessed for eligibility should equal the reports sought minus those that could not be retrieved. And the studies included should equal the reports assessed minus those excluded with reasons. Listing a clear reason for every full-text exclusion is the single most common requirement authors miss.
The flow diagram sits at the front of a systematic review, and the analysis follows once the included studies are in hand. If your review will pool results, the guide to how a systematic review differs from a meta-analysis sets out where the diagram fits, and what a meta-analysis actually does explains the next stage. When you reach the synthesis, pool your effect sizes in the pooling calculator and present them as a forest plot of the pooled effects, then check for small-study effects with a funnel plot.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Numbers that do not reconcile. If the boxes do not subtract cleanly down the flow, a reviewer will spot it immediately. Check every stage before you export.
- Omitting reasons for full-text exclusions. PRISMA 2020 expects a reason and a count for every report excluded at the eligibility stage. A bare total is the most common omission.
- Mixing duplicate removal into screening. Duplicates and other records removed before screening belong in identification, not in the title-and-abstract exclusion count.
- Using the old layout. The PRISMA 2020 diagram separates records removed before screening and adds the retrieval step. An outdated 2009-style chart can draw a query from reviewers.
Need the whole review, not just the diagram?
The flow chart is one figure in a much larger process. If you need the search, screening, extraction, and synthesis run to protocol and written up for peer review, a methodologist can take it from here.
Get help with your reviewFrequently asked questions
What is a PRISMA flow diagram?
A PRISMA flow diagram is the standard chart that shows how records moved through the selection process of a systematic review, from the initial search to the final set of included studies. It documents how many records were identified, how many were removed as duplicates, how many were screened and excluded, how many full reports were assessed, and how many studies ultimately made it into the review, with the reasons for exclusion recorded at the eligibility stage. It is a core part of transparent reporting and is expected by most journals.
What does PRISMA stand for?
PRISMA stands for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. It is a published reporting guideline, updated to the PRISMA 2020 statement, that sets out a checklist and a flow diagram authors should follow so that the methods and results of a review are reported completely and transparently. The flow diagram is the visual component of that guideline.
What are the four steps of PRISMA?
The flow diagram is organised around the stages of study selection. Identification is where records are found through database and register searches and duplicates are removed. Screening is where titles and abstracts are reviewed and clearly irrelevant records are excluded. Eligibility is where full reports are sought, retrieved, and assessed against the inclusion criteria, with exclusions and their reasons recorded. Included is the final stage, reporting the studies and reports that the review analyses. This generator lays the boxes out in exactly that order.
How do you generate a PRISMA flow diagram?
You enter the count for each stage of selection and the diagram is drawn for you. Start with the number of records found in databases and registers, add the duplicates and other records removed before screening, then the numbers screened, excluded, sought, not retrieved, and assessed, and finally the studies included along with the reasons for exclusion at the full-text stage. This generator updates the chart live as you type and lets you download a finished PNG or an editable SVG with no account required.
What is the difference between PRISMA 2009 and PRISMA 2020?
The 2020 update revised both the checklist and the flow diagram to reflect how reviews are actually conducted. The most visible change in the diagram is that records removed before screening, such as duplicates and ineligible records flagged by automation, now have their own box in the identification stage, and the path from records screened to reports sought, retrieved, and assessed is laid out more explicitly. The 2020 version is the current standard, so a new review should use it rather than the 2009 layout.
Is a PRISMA flow diagram required for a systematic review?
Most journals that publish systematic reviews expect a PRISMA flow diagram, and many require authors to follow the PRISMA 2020 statement as a condition of submission. Strictly speaking PRISMA is a reporting guideline rather than a legal mandate, but in practice the flow diagram has become the accepted way to show a transparent, reproducible selection process, and reviewers routinely ask for it when it is missing.