1. First level screening: title and abstract review

At the initial screening stage, read just the title and abstract of the studies, and make a decision to include or exclude the study from your review. Record the decision and reasons for inclusion/exclusion.

2. Second level screening: full text review

Read and critically appraise the full text of each study you selected at the first pass screening stage to determine whether you wish to include them in your discussion and analysis. Evaluate each study based on the following criteria:

Does this study address a clearly focused question?

Did the study use valid methods to address this question?

Are the valid results of this study important?

Are these valid, important results applicable to my patient or population?

Does this study meet my inclusion/exclusion criteria?

If the answer to any of these questions is “no”, you may wish to read no further and exclude the study, or you may decide to include the study to inform your discussion but not include the results in your analysis. 

Make a decision on whether or not to include the study in your review, and write your decision and reasons for inclusion/exclusion at this second level/full text review stage on the study screening form. You will summarize the reasons for exclusion on the PRISMA flow diagram.

3. Reporting your screening decisions

In the final report in the methods section the PRISMA checklist Item 9 study selection will be reported as:

How studies were screened e.g. by reading title & abstract, and how they were critically appraised e.g. by applying a standardized appraisal form appropriate for that study type.

What sort of studies were excluded e.g. letters, conference abstracts, etc.

Who reviewed/appraised the studies

What the process was for resolving disagreements e.g. reporting the level of inter-rater agreement, how often arbitration about selection was required, & what efforts were made to resolve disagreement e.g. were original authors contacted