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PRISMA 2020 flow templates

Teaching Case — Twelve Reports That Left With No Reason

The reference flow with one number changed, and the reason this engine exists. Twelve reports leave the review between assessment and inclusion with nothing recorded against them — in a figure whose only job is to record it. Every box is present, every count is plausible, every arrow is where it should be, and the figure is identical to the correct one except for two digits in one box. The engine names the twelve and draws the failing arrow in red.

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Template previewPRISMA 2020 flow
Remote monitoring in heart failure — systematic review3,006 records identified · 3 exclusion reasonsIdentificationScreeningEligibilityIncludedRecords identified from:n = 3,006Databases: 2,840 · Registers: 120 · Other methods: 46Records removed before screeningn = 814Duplicates removed: 610Excluded by automation: 180Removed for other reasons: 24Records screened (title / abstract)n = 2,192Records excluded by reviewern = 1,740Reports sought for retrievaln = 452Reports not retrievedn = 31Reports assessed for eligibilityn = 421Reports excluded:n = 305No remote-monitoring arm: n = 148Wrong outcome measure: n = 96Conference abstract only: n = 6112 unaccounted forStudies included in reviewn = 98Reports of included studies: 1041 count in this flow contradicts another. 3 of 4 stages balance.ERROR12 reports left the review with no reason recorded. 421 reports were assessed for eligibility and 305 are accounted for across 3 exclusion reasons, whichleaves 116 — but the document states 104. Three things could make that right: a reason is missing from the list, one of the counts is wrong, or those 116reports describe only 104 distinct studies — in which case state `reports_included 116` and the flow balances (`previous_reports`, `awaiting_classification`and `ongoing_studies` are not stated and read as zero).INFO104 reports describe 98 studies: 6 reports are a further paper about a study already counted.OKAll 13 stated counts are whole numbers of records.OKIdentification balances: 2,840 + 120 + 46 − 610 − 180 − 24 = 2,192 `title_screened`.OKScreening balances: 2,192 − 1,740 = 452 `abstracts_sought`.OKRetrieval balances: 452 − 31 = 421 `fulltext_assessed` (`other_sought` and `other_unavailable` are not stated and read as zero).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 305 reports.

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title "Remote monitoring in heart failure — systematic review"

db_records 2840
register_records 120
other_records 46

duplicates 610
excluded_auto 180
excluded_other 24

title_screened 2192
title_excluded 1740

abstracts_sought 452
abstracts_unavailable 31

fulltext_assessed 421
exclude_reason "No remote-monitoring arm" 148
exclude_reason "Wrong outcome measure" 96
exclude_reason "Conference abstract only" 61

reports_included 104
studies_included 98