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PROSPERO registration checklist
Before registering a systematic review on PROSPERO, you should have each of the fields below clearly defined. Registration is done before you actually begin the review (before moving on to full-text screening), and many journals require this for systematic reviews.
1. Basic identification
- ☐Review title (clearly states that it is a systematic review or meta-analysis)
- ☐Stage of the study at the time of registration (e.g. preliminary searches done, full-text screening not started)
- ☐Estimated start and end dates
- ☐Corresponding author, institutional affiliation, all team members
- ☐Funding source or sponsor (stated explicitly if none) and conflict of interest declaration
2. Research question and PICO
- ☐Clear, answerable research question
- ☐Population, Intervention/exposure
- ☐Comparator (if any), Outcome (primary and secondary outcome measures + timing)
- ☐Definition of the condition / field being studied
3. Search strategy
- ☐Databases to be searched (PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane CENTRAL, Scopus, Web of Science)
- ☐Grey literature and hand-searching plan (if any)
- ☐Language and date restrictions (if any) and their rationale
- ☐A complete search string ready and storable for at least one database
4. Inclusion and exclusion criteria
- ☐Study types (e.g. RCT, cohort, diagnostic accuracy)
- ☐Inclusion criteria (consistent with PICO) and exclusion criteria
- ☐Context restrictions (if any)
5. Selection, extraction, and assessment
- ☐How many independent reviewers for study selection (dual independent recommended) and disagreement resolution
- ☐Data extraction form and variables to be extracted
- ☐Risk of bias / quality tool (Cochrane RoB 2, ROBINS-I, NOS, QUADAS-2)
- ☐Whether the certainty of evidence will be assessed with GRADE
6. Synthesis plan
- ☐Narrative synthesis and/or meta-analysis
- ☐Meta-analysis: effect size measure, model (fixed/random effects), software (R metafor, RevMan)
- ☐Heterogeneity (I2, tau-squared), subgroup and sensitivity analyses
- ☐Publication bias assessment (funnel plot, Egger test)
7. Reporting and dissemination
- ☐Adherence to the PRISMA 2020 flow diagram and checklist
- ☐Alignment of the protocol with PRISMA-P
- ☐Keywords and dissemination plan (target journal, presentation)
Common mistakes
- →Registering too late (once full-text screening has started, the registration counts as retrospective).
- →Inclusion criteria not matching the PICO.
- →Not matching the risk of bias tool to the study type (e.g. applying RoB 2 to an observational study).
- →Not specifying the meta-analysis model and heterogeneity plan up front and choosing them based on the data.
- →Not storing the search string in a reproducible way.
Take a closer look at the method
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This checklist was prepared by a biomedical methodologist with their own PROSPERO-registered systematic reviews and peer-reviewed publications. A free 15-minute consultation for your registration or conduct.
Related service: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Consulting