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Evidence Synthesis Review Guide

A guide to performing systematic reviews and requesting assistance from a librarian.

Tools for Systematic Review

Performing a systematic review is an arduous and time-consuming process. In the past several years, however, several digital tools and software have become available to facilitate different steps of the systematic review process. 

Abstrackr (free): Title/abstract screening.

Covidence (free for WSU affiliates, sign up here): De-duplication, title/abstract and full-test screening, data extraction, and quality assessment. 

DistillerSR ($): De-duplication, title/abstract and full-test screening, data extraction, meta-analysis, and data visualization. 

Colandr (free): De-duplication, title/abstract and full-test screening, and data extraction. 

Endnote (discounted $ for WSU faculty, students, and staff): De-duplication, title/abstract and full-test screening, and bibliography creation. 

EPPI-Reviewer ($): Deduplication, title/abstract and full-test screening, data extraction, meta-analysis, and data visualization. 

Excel ($): De-duplication, title/abstract screening, data extraction, and data visualization. 

JBI-SUMARI ($): Title/abstract screening, data extraction, quality assessment, meta-analysis, data visualization, report writing, and bibliography creation. 

Mendeley (free or $): De-duplication, title/abstract and full-text screening, and bibliography creation. 

OpenMeta[Analyst] (free): Meta-analysis and data visualization. 

Rayyan (free): De-duplication and title/abstract and full-text screening. 

RevMan5 (free) Data extraction, quality assessment, meta-analysis, data visualization, report writing, and bibliography creation.

RefWorks (free for WSU faculty, students, and staff): De-duplication, title/abstract and full-text screening, and bibliography creation. 

SRDR (Systematic Review Data Repository) (free): Data extraction. 

Zotero (free): De-duplication, title/abstract and full-text screening, and bibliography creation

Covidence software for WSU affiliates

WSU affiliates have free, unlimited access to Covidence software, which streamlines record de-duplication, title/abstract screening, and full-text screening. Request an invitation to join WSU's Covidence account, and see how to get started using Covidence!

Systematic Review Toolbox

 

The Systematic Review Toolbox is a community-driven, searchable, web-based catalog of tools that support the systematic review process across multiple domains.