Description

This Master Prompt develops the prospective methodological plan for an umbrella review, connecting the research objectives with explicit eligibility criteria, information sources, screening procedures, extraction rules, appraisal methods, overlap assessment and synthesis decisions. It addresses protocol preparation, registration status, version control, team responsibilities, search planning, outcome prioritization, handling of mixed evidence sources, review updates and documented amendments. The supplied papers provide examples of registered and unregistered reviews, rapid reviews with pragmatic restrictions, quantitative syntheses, evidence maps and framework-oriented investigations. These examples support critical methodological planning rather than automatic replication of every reported procedure. Particular emphasis is placed on specifying decisions before findings are known, distinguishing planned procedures from completed work, preserving the difference between independent duplicate assessment and extraction with verification, and defining how missing information, overlapping studies and incompatible estimates will be handled. The framework aims to make the eventual review auditable, feasible and consistent with its stated purpose.