What is PROSPERO?
PROSPERO is an international prospective register of systematic review protocols, managed by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) at the University of York, UK. Registration is free and provides a unique registration number (CRD42XXXXXXX) that journals and readers can use to verify that your review was planned a priori.
Why Register?
Registration on PROSPERO reduces duplication of effort (others can check if a similar review is already planned), promotes transparency by documenting your planned methods before you see results, is increasingly required by high-impact journals, strengthens the credibility of your findings, and provides a dated record of your original protocol.
Eligibility
PROSPERO accepts systematic reviews that have a health-related outcome (broadly defined). Scoping reviews, literature reviews, and reviews that have already completed data extraction are generally not eligible. The review must not have started data extraction at the time of registration.
The Registration Form
The PROSPERO form has 22 mandatory and several optional fields. Key fields include:
- Review title: Descriptive title following PICO structure
- Anticipated start date: When you plan to begin searching
- Stage of review: Must not be past data extraction
- Named contact and team members: All reviewers with affiliations
- Review question: Clearly stated using PICO framework
- Searches: Which databases you plan to search
- Types of study to be included: RCTs, cohort, case-control, etc.
- Condition/domain: The health condition being studied
- Participants/population: Who is included/excluded
- Intervention/exposure: What is being studied
- Comparator: The comparison group
- Primary and secondary outcomes: What you will measure
- Data extraction: How data will be extracted and by whom
- Risk of bias assessment: Which tool will be used
- Strategy for data synthesis: Narrative, meta-analysis, or both
Tips for Faster Approval
- Be specific — vague entries are the most common reason for revision requests
- Include your full search strategy for at least one database
- Name at least two reviewers for screening and data extraction
- Specify the risk of bias tool by name (RoB 2.0, ROBINS-I, NOS)
- State whether you plan to conduct a meta-analysis and under what conditions
- Check for existing registrations on similar topics to differentiate your review
After Registration
Once approved, you will receive a CRD registration number. Include this in your manuscript, typically in the Methods section. If your methods change during the review, update your PROSPERO record — transparent amendments are acceptable and expected.
