CONSORT flow diagram generator
Draw the CONSORT 2025 participant flow diagram for your randomised trial as plain text — assessed, excluded, randomised, allocated, followed up and analysed, per arm, with counts at every box. It renders on your device, so unpublished trial numbers never leave it.
One step per line. Indent two spaces to branch beneath the line above.
The CONSORT 2025 flow diagram, briefly
CONSORT is the reporting guideline for randomised trials, and its flow diagram shows how participants moved through the four phases of a two-group trial: enrolment, intervention allocation, follow-up and data analysis. The updated CONSORT 2025 statement was published on 14 April 2025, with a 30-item checklist and the revised diagram.
Compared with the 2010 diagram, the 2025 figure gives the follow-up box its own count, asks for participants lost to follow-up for the primary outcome, and asks for the number analysed for the primary outcome. The templates on this page use that 2025 wording; the three-arm example shows how to extend the same structure to more groups.
Make the numbers reconcile
Editors and reviewers check the arithmetic first. Randomised must equal assessed for eligibility minus excluded, and the excluded reasons must add up to the excluded total. In each arm, allocated equals received plus did not receive. Participants who discontinue the intervention can still be followed up and analysed, so under an intention-to-treat analysis the number analysed for the primary outcome is usually allocated minus lost to follow-up for the primary outcome minus excluded from analysis — which is how every example here adds up.
Because the diagram is text, changing a count is a one-word edit and the chart re-renders, so the figure stays in step with your final dataset.
From trial database to journal figure
Start from the blank two-arm template while recruitment runs, fill in counts once the data are locked, and keep the Mermaid source with your statistical analysis plan so the figure can be regenerated. Export SVG for a vector figure that stays sharp in a PDF, or PNG if the journal wants a raster image.
Rendering happens in your browser: recruitment numbers and exclusion reasons from an unpublished trial are never uploaded. For systematic reviews rather than trials, use the PRISMA flow diagram generator instead.
Diagram types
Frequently asked questions
What is a CONSORT flow diagram?
It is the participant flow chart recommended by the CONSORT statement for reporting randomised trials. It shows how many people were assessed for eligibility, excluded, randomised, allocated to each group, lost to follow-up, and analysed, so readers can see who dropped out where and why.
Does this follow CONSORT 2025?
Yes. The templates use the box wording of the CONSORT 2025 flow diagram published in April 2025: excluded with its three reasons, allocated with received and did not receive, discontinued intervention and lost to follow-up for the primary outcome, and analysed for the primary outcome with exclusions from analysis.
How do I draw a trial with three or more arms?
Add one box per phase for each extra arm and one more arrow from Randomised — the three-arm example shows the pattern. The phase bands stay the same.
Do the counts have to add up?
Yes. Randomised equals assessed minus excluded, each arm’s allocated equals received plus did not receive, and the analysed count should follow from allocated, losses and exclusions. Editors check this before anything else, and every example on this page reconciles.
Can I submit the exported figure to a journal?
Yes. Export SVG for a vector figure or PNG where a raster image is required; there is no watermark. Keep the text source so you can update the counts in one line if a reviewer asks.
Is my trial data uploaded?
No. The diagram renders entirely in your browser, so recruitment numbers and exclusion reasons from an unpublished trial stay on your device.