How to Build a Meta-Analysis Data Extraction Form from a PICO
Extraction forms invent OR and n=. Leave fields empty as FILL FROM PAPER. No pooled effects.
The matching generator is the Meta-Analysis Data Extraction Form from a PICO (No Invented Numbers) prompt. Browse related cards in the PromptDig library (Browse more prompts). When a filled run survives, share the version you actually use (Share a prompt).
Print the not-medical-advice banner
Build a meta-analysis data extraction form from a PICO. Never invent effect sizes, sample sizes, or DOIs. Start by filling Inputs, not by asking the model to remember last week's run. If a field is blank, write NONE or NOT IN INPUTS and leave it blank through Generate. The card is built so the model cannot honestly invent a number, owner, URL, or command that you did not paste.
Paste these fields before you hit run:
PICO paste: [PICO]
Outcomes I lock: [Outcomes]
Words I must not use: [Banned]
What I must never invent: [Never]
Output format: [Format]
Language: [Lang]
Banner I require: [Banner or Not medical advice]
That inventory is the honesty ledger. Anything that does not appear there is forbidden in the draft. If you catch yourself adding a nice-to-have after the run, you are no longer using the card. You are ghostwriting. Put the extra fact in Inputs and run again.
Lock PICO fields from Inputs
Generate is numbered on purpose. Do not skip a step because the first paragraph looked done. The early steps exist to stop later prose from smuggling claims.
Walk the Generate list in order:
- Honesty ledger: PICO nouns, Outcomes, Banner, Lang.
- Banner line.
- Form sections: Study ID, Design, P/I/C/O fields, N arm, Effect fields left blank as FILL FROM PAPER.
- Never pre-fill numeric results.
- Coding notes: how to mark NOT REPORTED.
- Refuse: inventing pooled OR/RR, inventing DOIs, inventing heterogeneity stats.
- Dual-extraction note: SECOND EXTRACTOR NOT IN INPUTS if unnamed.
- Compliance pass: Banned and Never. Format as Format.
If a step asks for a version lock, quote the version from Inputs in the output. If a step asks for a refuse list, keep the refuse list in the published artifact, not in a sidebar you delete. Reviewers should see what the model was not allowed to do.
Leave numeric results as FILL FROM PAPER
Most failures are the same shape: a missing field gets a confident fill. A conversion rate appears. A Gradle task appears. A flash point appears. A caption appears on a job that asked for slide text only. Your review is to search the draft for numbers, names, and commands, then grep Inputs. No match means cut.
Honor the constraints as hard stops, not vibes:
- Form from PICO+Outcomes only. Not a calculator and not medical advice.
- Never invent numbers or DOIs.
- Keep Banner visible.
- No emojis.
When the card says not legal advice, not certification, not an exam dump, or not a caption engine, that sentence belongs at the top of the output. Deleting it to look more finished is how you inherit risk.
Refuse invented DOIs and I2 stats
Finish with the compliance pass the prompt already asks for. Quote the banned-word hits. Cut them. Print character counts when the job has a cap. Print word counts when the job has a budget. List gaps as gaps. Five missing facts are more useful than one smooth paragraph.
Tags on the card (meta-analysis data extraction form, pico no invented numbers, systematic review extraction sheet) are a reminder of the job shape, not an invitation to wander into a neighboring cluster. If you need a different surface, open a different PromptDig card rather than stretching this one.
Fill the card, then run
Replace every bracket. Run on ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. Read the ledger first, then the artifact. If the model invents a commit, KPI, DOI, PEL, bid, or logo, discard the run. Tighten Inputs. Run again. Share the filled card that survived, not the first draft that sounded done.