Which of the four PRISMA 2020 templates you need
PRISMA 2020 ships four versions of the flow diagram. They are the same diagram with two optional parts, and two questions tell you which parts you need.
Question one: is this an update?
A new review starts from nothing. An updated review revisits a published review, so it has to show what was already included before the update as well as what the new searching added. The updated template adds a column on the left for the previous version, and a final box giving the combined totals.
Use the updated template only when you are formally updating a specific earlier review. Running fresh searches on a topic somebody else has reviewed is still a new review.
Question two: did you search beyond databases and registers?
The second column covers studies found by other methods: citation chasing, contacting authors or organisations, hand-searching journals, and grey literature from websites. These follow their own path because there is no meaningful "records screened" step — you assess what you find.
If every included study came from a database or register search, leave this off and the diagram stays a single column.
The four combinations
| Template | When to use it |
|---|---|
| New review, databases and registers only | The common case: a first review with a purely database-driven search. |
| New review, plus other methods | A first review that also chased citations or used grey literature. |
| Updated review, databases and registers only | An update to a published review, database searching only. |
| Updated review, plus other methods | An update that also searched beyond databases. |
A note on the totals box
In the updated templates, the final box holds the combined totals: studies carried over from the previous version plus new studies from this update. This tool calculates that box for you rather than letting you type it, because it is a sum of two numbers you have already given, and typing it separately is a common source of diagrams that contradict themselves.
Open the generator — the review type dropdown and the other-methods checkbox switch between all four.