Write the main review question in plain language. Examples of text you could use:
What are the benefits and risks of intervention for [treating] condition?
Intervention a or intervention b: which works better to treat condition?
See Guidance for writing a Cochrane Plain language summary (III.S2 Supplementary material of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions).
Key messages
Add at least 2 and no more than 3 bullet points that summarise the main findings and implications of the review. Explain any technical terms that appear in the key messages. The key messages will likely be read first, and they might be the only part of the summary that some people read. Do not use any terms that your readers might not understand. Even if you explain those technical terms later in the summary, you should also explain them in the key messages. Do not make any recommendations about whether or not a treatment should be used.
Tailored heading: for example, What is epilepsy?
Replace the heading for this section with heading(s) tailored to the review. Briefly explain what the review is about and why it is important. Make sure that you: avoid acronyms and abbreviations (or introduce and explain them if you need to use them); and define any technical terms you use.
Example of text you could use:
What is [condition]?
Condition is a [common/rare] condition that affects relevant part of the body. It is caused by [brief explanation of cause]. People with condition [can] experience symptoms.
Optional tailored heading: for example, How is epilepsy treated?
Add another section to explain something else if necessary. For example:
How is [condition] treated?
Treatments for [condition] include: [intervention a] and [intervention b].
What did we want to find out?
Briefly explain the review aims. Example of text you could use:
We wanted to find out if intervention a was better than intervention b to improve: outcome 1 and outcome 2.
We also wanted to find out if intervention a was associated with any unwanted effects.
What did we do?
Briefly mention the review methods (for example, that the review involved searching for studies with specific characteristics, summarising their results and evaluating the evidence). Example of text you could use:
We searched for studies that looked at/investigated/examined intervention a compared with intervention b in population.
We compared and summarised the results of the studies and rated our confidence in the evidence, based on factors such as study methods and sizes.
What did we find?
Write about the main characteristics of the studies that were included in the review. Example of text you could use to report study characteristics:
We found X number of studies that involved XX number of people with condition and lasted for study duration.
Also write about the main results of the review (those presented in the summary of findings table(s) and the Abstract). Reminder: do not report summary statistics and confidence intervals or use ‘low-/moderate-/high-certainty evidence’.
Optional heading: Main results
Add another heading to present your results if you need to.
What are the limitations of the evidence?
Mention the main limitations of the evidence.
Reminder: do not use technical phrases like ‘risk of bias’ or ‘low-certainty evidence’. See full guidance for ways to express the limitations of the evidence in plain language.
How up to date is this evidence?
State the month and year when studies were searched for. Example of text you could use:
[This review updates our previous review.] The evidence is up-to-date to month and year of search.
Read the full abstract
Objectives
PRISMA 2020 for Abstracts guidance #2: Provide an explicit statement of the main objective(s) or question(s) the review addresses.
Include reference to the population(s), health conditions, and intervention comparison(s). The objective in the Abstract should match the objective in the Review exactly.
Recommended structures:
Standard: To evaluate the benefits and harms of [intervention] for [health issue/problem] in [population] comparing [comparisons]
Head-to-head comparison: To evaluate the benefits and harms of [intervention] versus [comparator] for [health issue/problem] in [population]
Multiple comparisons: To evaluate the relative benefits and harms of [multiple interventions] for [health issue/problem] in [population]
Search strategy
PRISMA 2020 for Abstracts guidance #4: Specify the information sources (e.g. databases, registers) used to identify studies and the date when each was last searched (month and year).
Recommended structure:
We used CENTRAL, MEDLINE, xx other databases and xx trials registers, together with reference checking, citation searching and contact with study authors to identify studies that are included in the review. The latest search date was x/xx. [Add key limitations, if present].
Authors' conclusions
PRISMA 2020 for Abstracts guidance #10: Provide a general interpretation of the results and important implications.
State the key conclusions and implications for practice and/or research including the magnitude and direction of effects, together with an indication of the certainty of the evidence. Recommendations for practice should be avoided.
Recommended structures:
[Intervention X] probably reduces/increases the risk of [outcome A] at [time point] by a clinically significant amount.
There may be little to no difference between [Interventions X] and [Intervention Y].
The available data are of very low certainty, and so we are not able to draw conclusions about the effects of [Intervention X].
No studies evaluated [outcome A].
No data are available relating to [outcome A].
We found no [useable data] for[outcome A].
There are inadequate data [to allow us] to draw conclusions about the effects of [Intervention X] compared to [Intervention Y] on [outcome A].
For adverse effects: It was not clear if these were monitored and reported in the included studies.
Funding
PRISMA 2020 for Abstracts guidance #11: Specify the primary source of funding for the review.
Recommended structures:
This Cochrane Review was funded (in part) by XXX.
This Cochrane Review had no dedicated funding.
Registration
PRISMA 2020 for Abstracts guidance #12: Provide the register name, registration number and /or DOI to the published Protocol.
Recommended structures:
Registration: [Register name], [Registration number] via DOIXXX.
Protocol [and previous versions] available via DOIXXX, [DOIXXX and DOIXXX].
Applicable to Protocols only: Not registered
