PRISMA Flow Diagram Generator for Systematic Reviews
Describe your screening counts in plain text and get a PRISMA 2020 flow diagram you can drop into a thesis, protocol, or manuscript.
PRISMA Flow Diagram Generator
Aspect Ratio
Quality
Free trial: 5 credits, 2K resolution with watermark
Sign in to start creating your own PRISMA flow diagrams
Example PRISMA Diagrams
How to Make a PRISMA Flow Diagram in Three Steps
Your counts in, a labeled figure out.
You already have the numbers in your screening spreadsheet. The slow part is redrawing the boxes and arrows every time a reviewer sends the counts back. Paste the numbers as a sentence and let the generator lay out the three phases.
Write Out Your Screening Counts
Type the numbers in plain English: records identified, duplicates removed, records screened and excluded, reports sought and not retrieved, full texts assessed, exclusions with reasons, and studies included. Name your databases if you want them listed.
Get the Three-Phase Layout
The generator arranges Identification, Screening, and Included as stacked bands, routes the main flow downward, and sends every exclusion to a box on the right — the structure the PRISMA 2020 statement specifies.
Check the Numbers, Then Export
Read the rendered counts against your spreadsheet before you use the figure. Download PNG at 300 DPI for Word and journal submission, or SVG when you need to scale it for a poster.
Who Needs a PRISMA Diagram
Students · Researchers · Methods teachers
A PRISMA flow diagram is a reporting requirement, not a design choice. These are the three groups that hit that requirement most often.
Thesis and Dissertation Students
First systematic review, hard deadline
Your supervisor asked for a PRISMA diagram and you have never drawn one. You know your counts; you do not know which box the 'reports not retrieved' number belongs in. Start from a correct layout instead of a blank canvas.
- Three-phase structure comes pre-arranged — no guessing box order
- Redraw in seconds when your screening counts change
- Free credits on sign-up, no payment details needed
Systematic Reviewers and Meta-Analysts
Submission-ready figures, fast revisions
Reviewer 2 asked you to split the database column from citation searching, and your counts shifted after the update search. Regenerate the whole figure from a revised sentence rather than nudging boxes in PowerPoint.
- Two-column variant for databases plus other methods
- Exclusion-with-reasons box handled as its own branch
- SVG export for journals that ask for vector figures
Methods Instructors and Librarians
Teaching evidence synthesis
You teach search strategy and screening to cohorts who have never seen a flow diagram. Produce a blank template for a worksheet, then a filled example with realistic counts, without opening drawing software.
- Blank template variant with empty count boxes
- Worked examples at any scale, from 40 records to 4,000
- Consistent look across every handout in a course
PRISMA Flow Diagram Examples
Six review designs
Each figure below was generated from the text shown underneath it. Reuse an example as a starting point and swap in your own counts.
Standard PRISMA 2020
Databases and registers only, single column, three phases
Databases Plus Other Methods
Two-column PRISMA 2020 with citation searching on the right
Scoping Review
PRISMA-ScR style with grey literature and charted sources
Meta-Analysis
Tracks the split between narrative synthesis and pooled effect sizes
Multiple Databases Broken Out
Per-database record counts listed inside the identification box
Blank Template
Empty count boxes for a worksheet or thesis appendix
What This PRISMA Flow Diagram Generator Does
Built around the 2020 statement
The PRISMA 2020 flow diagram has a fixed anatomy: three phases, a downward main path, and exclusions branching right. This generator starts from that anatomy instead of a blank drawing canvas.
Three Phases, Correctly Ordered
Identification → Screening → Included
Phase labels run down the left edge as bands, the main flow moves top to bottom, and every exclusion count branches to a box on the right. That is the layout the PRISMA 2020 statement specifies, and it is the default here.
Start free, upgrade when you need more
Every account gets free credits on sign-up, enough to draft your first PRISMA flow diagram. Upgrade for higher resolution, no watermark, and more generations while you iterate through screening rounds.
Student or teacher? Apply for an education discount
How Researchers Use It
Feedback from people who had to put a PRISMA flow diagram into a thesis, a protocol, or a submission.
Dr. Amara Okonkwo
Research Fellow, Public HealthOur update search added 400 records three weeks before submission. Regenerating the flow diagram from a revised sentence took under a minute; redrawing it by hand would have taken an afternoon.
Priya Raghunathan
PhD Candidate, NursingI could never remember whether 'reports not retrieved' sat before or after the eligibility box. Starting from a correct PRISMA 2020 layout meant I was checking numbers instead of second-guessing the structure.
Tomás Herrera
Medical LibrarianI support about thirty review teams a year. Being able to hand someone a blank template and a worked example in the same session has made the search-strategy consultations much shorter.
Dr. Amara Okonkwo
Research Fellow, Public HealthOur update search added 400 records three weeks before submission. Regenerating the flow diagram from a revised sentence took under a minute; redrawing it by hand would have taken an afternoon.
Priya Raghunathan
PhD Candidate, NursingI could never remember whether 'reports not retrieved' sat before or after the eligibility box. Starting from a correct PRISMA 2020 layout meant I was checking numbers instead of second-guessing the structure.
Tomás Herrera
Medical LibrarianI support about thirty review teams a year. Being able to hand someone a blank template and a worked example in the same session has made the search-strategy consultations much shorter.
Dr. Amara Okonkwo
Research Fellow, Public HealthOur update search added 400 records three weeks before submission. Regenerating the flow diagram from a revised sentence took under a minute; redrawing it by hand would have taken an afternoon.
Priya Raghunathan
PhD Candidate, NursingI could never remember whether 'reports not retrieved' sat before or after the eligibility box. Starting from a correct PRISMA 2020 layout meant I was checking numbers instead of second-guessing the structure.
Tomás Herrera
Medical LibrarianI support about thirty review teams a year. Being able to hand someone a blank template and a worked example in the same session has made the search-strategy consultations much shorter.
Dr. Amara Okonkwo
Research Fellow, Public HealthOur update search added 400 records three weeks before submission. Regenerating the flow diagram from a revised sentence took under a minute; redrawing it by hand would have taken an afternoon.
Priya Raghunathan
PhD Candidate, NursingI could never remember whether 'reports not retrieved' sat before or after the eligibility box. Starting from a correct PRISMA 2020 layout meant I was checking numbers instead of second-guessing the structure.
Tomás Herrera
Medical LibrarianI support about thirty review teams a year. Being able to hand someone a blank template and a worked example in the same session has made the search-strategy consultations much shorter.
PRISMA Flow Diagram Generator — Common Questions
FAQ
Your PRISMA Flow Diagram, Ready to Submit
Turn your screening counts into a PRISMA 2020 figure in about a minute. Free credits on sign-up, PNG at 300 DPI, no design software required.
Unlock all tools
One subscription unlocks every Vizcept AI diagram tool — from free body diagrams and syntax trees to biology diagrams and more.
Other tools you might like
Explore more AI diagram tools across subjects — from the same discipline and beyond.
PopularAI Diagram Maker
Describe any topic in plain English and get a publication-ready concept diagram in seconds.
NewConceptual Framework Generator
Turn variables, mediators, moderators, and hypotheses into a labeled conceptual framework for thesis and journal research.
NewGraphical Abstract Maker
Paste your manuscript abstract — get a journal-ready graphical abstract in Elsevier, Cell Press, Wiley, or ACS dimensions in under a minute.
NewBell Curve Maker
Describe your distribution parameters in plain language and get a publication-ready normal distribution graph with shading, labels, and annotations.
NewFishbone Diagram Generator
Describe any problem and get a labeled Ishikawa fishbone diagram with 6M categories and end-cause leaves — for Six Sigma DMAIC, ISO CAPAs, healthcare RCA, and software post-mortems.
NewScientific Color Palette Generator
Generate colorblind-safe color palettes for scientific figures — Okabe-Ito, Viridis, Cividis, Crameri Vik, and more — with one-click hex, Python, R, and CSS for journal-ready charts.
Free Body Diagram Maker
Turn physics problems into clean free body diagrams with forces, angles, and labels drawn for you.
NewCircuit Diagram Maker
Describe components and connections in plain English and get a clean IEEE schematic for homework, lab reports, lectures, and build logs.
