In this space, some 10 years ago, I wrote about the relatively new Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement, a set of guidelines that were released to provide more sophisticated and uniform standards for the reporting of integrated literature or systematic reviews (Swartz, 2011The PRISMA statement: A guideline for systematic reviews and meta-analyses.). Since then, that editorial has been widely cited. Moreover, a revised PRISMA 2020 statement (Page et al., 2021Page M.J. McKenzie J.E. Bossuyt P.M. Boutron I. Hoffmann T.C. Mulrow C.D. Moher D. The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews.) has now been released, so I thought it might be wise to visit this topic again.Systematic reviews in the health care literature remain important as a means of keeping clinicians up to date on advances in their fields, providing the basis for clinical practice guidelines, identifying research questions, and prioritizing the needs for research funding. The PRISMA guidelines are not intended to necessarily guide the conduct of this type of research. Rather, PRISMA is a recommended reporting guideline to assist authors in providing clear, accurate, and complete documentation of the review process and findings. The original guidelines from 2009 have been widely endorsed by over 200 journals in various disciplines (Moher et al., 2009Moher D. Liberati A. Tetzlaff J. Altman D.G. PRISMA Group
Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA Statement.; Page et al., 2021Page M.J. McKenzie J.E. Bossuyt P.M. Boutron I. Hoffmann T.C. Mulrow C.D. Moher D. The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews.).Since 2009, there have been advances and developments in the process of conducting systematic literature reviews, including methods to determine the possibility of bias in reviewed studies. There have also been developments in how systematic review results may be disseminated, and data and research materials may now be more easily shared in publicly accessible repositories. In addition, strategies have been identified to facilitate the implementation of the PRISMA guidelines. For these reasons, through exhaustive literature reviews, surveys, and iterative discussions, the updated PRISMA 2020 guidelines were released (Page et al., 2021Page M.J. McKenzie J.E. Bossuyt P.M. Boutron I. Hoffmann T.C. Mulrow C.D. Moher D. The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews.).Similar to the original PRISMA statement, PRISMA 2020 contains a 27-item checklist with detailed reporting recommendations, an updated abstract checklist, and a revised flow diagram for original and updated reviews (Page et al., 2021Page M.J. McKenzie J.E. Bossuyt P.M. Boutron I. Hoffmann T.C. Mulrow C.D. Moher D. The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews.). Among these updates are guidelines for (1) presenting full search strategies for all databases used, (2) enhancing the reporting of how records were reviewed, (3) using additional subitems in the methods and results in sections for a clearer synthesis of results, (4) minimizing the risk of bias among studies, (5) reporting the degree of confidence in the evidence as related to an outcome, (6) declaring any competing interests among the authors, and (7) identifying whether data or analytic codes are publicly available.To help authors track which items to report within a manuscript, the PRISMA Web site () http://www.prisma-statement.org contains fillable templates of the checklist through a user-friendly interface, as well as a helpful, revised flow chart.

Although the conduct of a systematic review may seem like a daunting undertaking, the PRISMA 2020 guidelines offer concrete steps and pathways to enhance the reporting of such projects. The hope is that the updated guidelines will continue to benefit authors, editors, manuscript reviewers, guideline developers, health care providers, and patients.

ReferencesMoher D. Liberati A. Tetzlaff J. Altman D.G. PRISMA Group

Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA Statement.

Annals of Internal Medicine. 151 (): 264-269Page M.J. McKenzie J.E. Bossuyt P.M. Boutron I. Hoffmann T.C. Mulrow C.D. Moher D.

The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews.

The British Medical Journal. 372: n71

Transparet Reporting of Systematic.

Reviews and Meta Analyses. ()

The PRISMA statement: A guideline for systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Journal of Pediatric Health Care. 25: 1-2Biography

Martha K. Swartz, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Pediatric Health Care, Yale School of Nursing, Yale University, West Haven, CT

Article InfoFootnotes

Conflicts of interest: None to report.

Identification

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2021.04.011

Copyright

Copyright © 2021 by the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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