How to Write a GRADE Summary of Findings Table

A Summary of Findings (SoF) table is the single most-read part of many systematic reviews — it condenses your entire evidence base for each key outcome into one scannable table, paired with a GRADE certainty rating.

What a Summary of Findings table includes

• Outcomes — typically limited to your review's most important, pre-specified outcomes (commonly 7 or fewer, per GRADE guidance).
• Illustrative absolute and relative effects — e.g., risk in the comparison group and the corresponding risk with the intervention, alongside the relative effect (RR, OR).
• Number of participants and studies contributing to each outcome.
• Certainty of evidence — the GRADE rating (high, moderate, low, very low) for each outcome. See our GRADE approach guide for how this is determined.
• Plain-language comments — a brief, non-technical interpretation of what the finding means.

Why outcome selection matters

Choosing too many outcomes dilutes the table's usefulness and increases assessment burden; choosing selectively to favor a particular result undermines its credibility. Outcomes should be specified in your protocol before results are known, not chosen afterward based on what looks favorable.

Common tools

GRADEpro GDT is the standard software for generating properly formatted Summary of Findings tables, and many journals expect submissions in this format directly.