FREE TOOLS
Free tools for systematic reviews
PRISMA diagrams, extraction and protocol templates, a screening guide, and statistics calculators — no account and no payment.
These pages are meant to be used before (or without) a paid plan: generate a PRISMA 2020 diagram from counts you already have, fill an extraction form or protocol, practice title/abstract screening, or compute a single-study effect size. Each tool has a Save to EvidenceFlow or Start free project path into the core workspace — import, manual screening, extraction, meta-analysis, and PRISMA reporting stay available without a subscription.
PRISMA 2020 Flow Diagram
Enter identification, screening, and inclusion counts and export a PRISMA 2020 diagram as PNG or PDF.
Data Extraction Template
Structured systematic-review extraction form with PICO, 2×2 counts, continuous outcomes, and risk of bias.
Title/Abstract Screening Guide
Step-by-step dual-review workflow plus a practice worksheet for new screeners.
Effect Size Calculator
Cohen's d, Hedges' g from means and SDs, or odds ratio, risk ratio, and risk difference from a 2×2 table.
Protocol Template
PRISMA-P-style protocol covering PICO, eligibility, search, selection, bias, and synthesis.
I² Calculator
Compute Cochran's Q, I², and τ² from a list of study effect sizes and standard errors.
Forest Plot Generator
Create a forest plot with study confidence intervals and a fixed-effect pooled estimate.
Meta-Analysis Calculator
Pool study effects with fixed or DerSimonian–Laird random effects; calculate Q, I², and τ².
RoB 2 Calculator
Answer Cochrane RoB 2 signalling questions and view suggested domain and overall judgments.
Search Strategy Translator
Translate Boolean search concepts into PubMed, Embase, Scopus, CENTRAL, and Web of Science syntax.
Sample Size Calculator
Required participants per group to detect a difference between two proportions or two means.
Non-Inferiority Sample Size Calculator
Required participants per group for a one-sided non-inferiority trial against a pre-specified margin.
FAQ
Are these calculators really free?
Yes. The generators, templates, and calculators run in your browser - no account, no payment, and no usage limit. Nothing you type is required to reach a server. Start a free project only if you want screening and extraction stored on EvidenceFlow.
Which formulas do they use?
The I² calculator uses Cochran's Q and the standard DerSimonian-Laird τ² estimator. The effect size calculator uses Woolf's method with a 0.5 continuity correction for dichotomous data, and Cohen's d / Hedges' g (with the small-sample J correction) for continuous data. The sample size calculator uses the standard two-proportion and two-mean power formulas with an exact normal quantile (Acklam's algorithm) rather than a rounded table lookup.
Can I use these for a real systematic review or meta-analysis?
Yes - the formulas match the conventions used in Cochrane Review Manager and most published meta-analyses. For a full review with many studies, subgroup analysis, and forest plots, EvidenceFlow's full meta-analysis workspace builds on the same statistics with study-level tracking and reporting.
Do I need to know the underlying statistics to use them?
No. Each tool asks for the numbers you already have - study effect sizes and standard errors, group means and sample sizes, or a 2×2 event table - and returns the result with a short explanation of what it means.