Skip to content
flowss
Start freeChecking your session
PRISMA 2020 flow templates

Cochrane Review — Awaiting Classification and Ongoing Studies

A Cochrane-style review, and the reason two extra terms exist in this notation. Cochrane requires two further destinations at full text — reports awaiting classification, and studies still ongoing — and both left the eligibility stage without being excluded. Without a way to state them, a correct Cochrane flow diagram cannot balance, and a checker that reported an error on every Cochrane review would be switched off within a week. Reports clean.

PRISMA 2020 flowScientific PlotsPRISMA 2020 flow syntax docs
Template previewPRISMA 2020 flow
Antibiotic prophylaxis in elective surgery — Cochrane review3,360 records identified · 3 exclusion reasonsIdentificationScreeningEligibilityIncludedRecords identified from:n = 3,360Databases: 3,120 · Registers: 240Records removed before screeningn = 835Duplicates removed: 690Excluded by automation: 145Records screened (title / abstract)n = 2,525Records excluded by reviewern = 2,160Reports sought for retrievaln = 365Reports not retrievedn = 22Reports assessed for eligibilityn = 343Reports excluded:n = 258Not randomised: n = 128No prophylaxis arm: n = 96Duplicate trial registration: n = 34—Awaiting classification: n = 19Ongoing studies: n = 11Studies included in reviewn = 41Reports of included studies: 55Every record is accounted for: all 4 stages of the flow balance.INFO55 reports describe 41 studies: 14 reports are a further paper about a study already counted.OKAll 13 stated counts are whole numbers of records.OKIdentification balances: 3,120 + 240 − 690 − 145 = 2,525 `title_screened`.OKScreening balances: 2,525 − 2,160 = 365 `abstracts_sought`.OKRetrieval balances: 365 − 22 = 343 `fulltext_assessed` (`other_sought` and `other_unavailable` are not stated and read as zero).OKEligibility balances: 343 − 288 = 55 `reports_included`.OKThe funnel descends: all 4 stage-to-stage comparisons hold — no count is larger than the one before it.OKAll 3 exclusion reasons are named and distinct, accounting for 258 reports.

Make it your own.

title "Antibiotic prophylaxis in elective surgery — Cochrane review"

db_records 3120
register_records 240
duplicates 690
excluded_auto 145

title_screened 2525
title_excluded 2160

abstracts_sought 365
abstracts_unavailable 22

fulltext_assessed 343
exclude_reason "Not randomised" 128
exclude_reason "No prophylaxis arm" 96
exclude_reason "Duplicate trial registration" 34

# Neither excluded nor included — Cochrane reports both.
awaiting_classification 19
ongoing_studies 11

reports_included 55
studies_included 41