Overview review type

Upcoming subheading changes

From 17 November 2025, subheading changes will be implemented for the following review types: DTA, methodology, overview, QES and prognosis. Although these subheadings are new, they reflect much of the content already in your review or protocol. For example, subheadings may be renamed or moved but still include the same content.

See Warnings and errors for empty text sections by review type for more information.

Timeline for adopting subheading changes:

Review Type 

Editorial process* started 

Protocols, reviews, and updates 

Overview

No 

If the submission deadline is before 1 May 2026, authors may continue to use the old subheadings or can decide to switch to the new subheadings.  
If the submission deadline falls on or after 1 May 2026, authors should use the new subheadings.

*All new protocols, reviews and updates will use the new subheadings from 1 May 2026 onwards.

Yes 

Authors should continue to use the old subheadings. The switch to new subheadings will happen on publication or rejection.

* Editorial process is defined as manuscripts that have already been submitted to Editorial Manager, until publication or rejection; resubmissions and manuscripts in revision are also considered as having already started the editorial process.

Level 1 heading	H1
Level 2 heading	H2
Level 3 heading	H3
Level 4 heading	H4

Note: High-level headings that do not have a corresponding text field are not validated. These are highlighted in light blue.

New Overview review subheadings	New Overview review subheadings validation  Error = section cannot be empty Warning or No validation = optional but check template for reporting guidance		Old Overview review subheadings	Old Overview review subheadings validation  Error = section cannot be empty Warning or No validation = optional but check template for reporting guidance
(H1) Title			(H1) Title
(H1) Abstract			(H1) Abstract
(H2) Rationale	Error		(H2) Background	Error
(H2) Objectives	Error		(H2) Objectives	Error
(H2) Search methods	Error		(H2) Methods	Error
(H2) Eligibility criteria	Error
(H2) Outcomes	Error
(H2) Risk of bias	Error
(H2) Synthesis methods	Error
(H2) Included studies	Error
(H2) Synthesis of results	Error		(H2) Main results	Error
(H2) Authors' conclusions	Error		(H2) Authors' conclusions	Error
(H2) Funding	Error		(H2) Funding	Error
(H2) Registration	Error		(H2) Registration	Error
(H1) Plain language summary	Error		(H1) Plain language summary	Error
(H1) Plain language summary title	Error		(H1) Plain language summary title	No validation
(H1) Summary of findings	No validation		(H1) Summary of findings	No validation
Summary of findings tables			Summary of findings tables	No validation
(H1) Background	No validation		(H1) Background	No validation
(H2) Description of the condition	Warning		(H2) Description of the condition	Error
(H2) Description of the intervention and how it might work	Warning		(H2) Description of the interventions	Error
			(H2) How these interventions might work (text moved to ‘Description of the intervention and how it might work’)	Error
(H2) Why it is important to do this overview	Error		(H2) Why it is important to do this overview	Error
(H1) Objectives	Error		(H1) Objectives	Error
(H1) Methods	No validation	(H1) Methods
(H2) Differences between protocol and review	Error
(H2) Criteria for considering reviews for this review	No validation		(H2) Criteria for considering reviews for inclusion	No validation
(H3) Types of reviews	Error
(H3) Types of participants	Error
(H3) Types of interventions	Error
(H2) Outcome measures	Error
(H3) Critical outcomes	Warning
(H3) Important outcomes	Warning
(H2) Search methods for identification of reviews	Error		(H2) Search methods for identification of reviews	No validation
(H3) Electronic searches	Error
(H3) Searching other resources	Error
(H2) Data collection and analysis	No validation		(H2) Data collection and analysis	No validation
(H3) Selection of reviews	Error		(H3) Selection of reviews	Error
(H3) Data extraction and management	Error		(H3) Data extraction and management	Error
(H3) Methodological quality assessment in included reviews	Error		(H3) Assessment of methodological quality of included reviews	Error
(H3) Risk of bias of studies included in reviews	Error
(H3) Measures of treatment effect	Error
(H3) Unit of analysis issues	Error
(H3) Dealing with missing data	Error
(H3) Reporting bias assessment	Error
(H3) Synthesis methods	Error		(H3) Data synthesis	Error
(H3) Investigation of heterogeneity and subgroup analysis	Error
(H3) Sensitivity analysis	Error
(H3) Certainty of the evidence assessment	Error
(H2) Equity considerations	Error
(H2) Consumer involvement	Error
(H1) Results	No validation	(H1) Result
(H2) Description of reviews	No validation		(H2) Description of included reviews	No validation
(H3) Results of the search	Error
(H3) Included studies	Error
(H3) Excluded studies	Error
(H2) Methodological quality in included reviews	Error
(H2) Risk of bias of studies included in reviews	Error
(H2) Synthesis of results	Error		(H2) Effects of interventions	Error
			(H2) Methodological quality of included reviews (text moved to ‘Methodological quality in included reviews’)	Error
(H3) Equity assessment	No validation
(H3) Reporting biases	No validation
(H1) Discussion	No validation		(H1) Discussion
(H2) Summary of main results	Error		(H2) Summary of main results	Error
(H2) Limitations of the evidence included in the overview	Error		(H2) Overall completeness and applicability of evidence	Error
			(H2) Quality of the evidence (text moved to ‘Limitations of the evidence included in the overview’)	Error
(H2) Limitations of the overview processes	Error		(H2) Potential biases in the overview process	Error
(H2) Agreements and disagreements with other studies or reviews	Error		(H2) Agreements and disagreements with other studies or reviews	Error
(H1) Authors' conclusions	No validation	(H1) Authors' conclusions
(H2) Implications for practice	Error		(H2) Implications for practice	Error
(H3) Equity-related implications for practice	No validation
(H2) Implications for research	Error		(H2) Implications for research	Error
(H3) Equity-related implications for research	No validation
(H1) Supplementary materials	No validation		(H1) Appendices	No validation
All supplementary materials listed
(H1) Additional information	No validation		(H1) Additional information	No validation
(H2) Acknowledgements	Error		(H2) Acknowledgements	Error
(H2) Contributions of authors	Error		(H2) Contributions of authors	Error
(H2) Declarations of interest	Error		(H2) Declarations of interest	No validation
(H2) Sources of support	Error		(H2) Sources of support	No validation
(H2) Registration and protocol	Error		(H2) Registration and protocol	Error
(H2) Data, code and other materials	Error		(H2) Availability of data, code and other materials	Error
(H2) Disclosure of artificial intelligence use	Error
(H2) Published notes	No validation		(H2) Published notes	No validation
(H2) What's new	Error		(H2) What's new	No validation
(H2) History	No validation		(H2) History	No validation
(H1) References			(H1) References
			(H2) References to studies included in this review	No validation
			(H2) References to studies excluded from this review	No validation
			(H2) References to studies awaiting assessment	No validation
			(H2) References to ongoing studies	No validation
			(H2) Additional references	No validation
			(H2) References to other published versions of this review	No validation
(H1) Figures	No validation		(H1) Figures	No validation
(H1) Tables	No validation		(H1) Additional tables	No validation