Add a Figure

Figures in focused review format 

Figures within the main article should include: 

• PRISMA flow diagram
• Visual representation of syntheses for each outcome, such as forest plots
• Other figures that support the outcomes in the Summary of findings table(s).
• Others as appropriate, such as funnel plots 

All syntheses and subgroup and sensitivity analyses will be included in the ‘Analyses’ supplementary material and should not be duplicated in the main article unless they support the outcomes in the Summary of findings table(s). 

All Figures must be linked to from within the main article text. 

Figures in previous review format 

Figures within the main article should include: 

• PRISMA flow diagram
• Others as appropriate, such as funnel plots  

Figures in Appendices 

Figures that are part of data/analysis are automatically included in the review and will be duplicated if they are linked in an Appendix. Other figure types not automatically included, will not be duplicated if linked in an Appendix. 

Figure validation 

The maximum recommended number of figures is 6. You will see a validation warning if you exceed this. 

Add a figure

In the 'Figures' section, click on the 'Add Figure' button.

Select the figure type

You can select one of 4 or 6 figure types, depending on which risk of bias method is used in the review: Forest plot, Funnel plot, Risk of bias graph (rob1 only), Risk of bias summary (rob1 only), Flow diagram and Other figure.

Select the outcome and data to be displayed

For the Forest plots and Funnel plots, select the outcome you want presented. Select which data you want to display by checking or unchecking the boxes under 'Options'.

Showing study names

The options available to display data in Funnel plots also include showing study names. This option is turned off by default due to instances where study names overlap. If this is not the case, authors can decide if they want to turn the feature on. 

Please note that how study names are displayed in the figure in RevMan corresponds to how they will appear in the review version downloaded for submission. 

Add a caption (i.e. figure title)

All Figures have a Caption box so you can give the Figure a title/description. This box for giving the figure a title is located at the bottom of the figure, as it is published below the figure on the Cochrane Library.

Import an external figure

Select 'Other figure' to upload an image.