PROSPERO is an international database of prospectively registered systematic reviews in health and social care, welfare, public health, education, crime, justice, and international development, where there is a health related outcome. Key features from the review protocol are recorded and maintained as a permanent record. PROSPERO aims to provide a comprehensive listing of systematic reviews registered at inception to help avoid duplication and reduce opportunity for reporting bias by enabling comparison of the completed review with what was planned in the protocol.

Registration in PROSPERO involves the submission and publication of key information about the design and conduct of a systematic review. Applications are assessed to ensure that they fall within scope and that the required data have been provided. No quality assessment or peer review is involved. Records are published on an open access electronic database. Guidance notes on how to register protocols and other reference materials to assist with registration are available. 

Registration records are permanent and registrants are asked to provide links to subsequent reports and publications. The record can be "reactivated" when a completed review is updated.

PROSPERO assigns each registered review with a unique registration number. This number can be cited in publications and reports to provide the link between the planned and completed review, as recommended by PRISMA 2009 and many publishers. (Information taken from the About PROSPERO page, accessed in September 2023.)

PROSPERO is produced by Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) at York University and funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).