Basics of Systematic Reviews

A guide to evidence synthesis

Automation Tools for Systematic Reviews

A number of tools exist to help researchers automate the systematic review process while preserving the review's quality. These range from screening tools previously mentioned, such as Covidence and Rayyan, to platforms that assist in developing methods sections for SRs.

Further reading:

Tools to support the automation of systematic reviews: a scoping review (article)
An article published in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology that outlines the reliability and validity of available SR automation tools, their limitations, and recommendations to further improve the use of these tools.
Semi-automated Tools for Systematic Searches (article)
This article provides an overview of semi-automated tools used in the systematic review search process.

Systematic Review Automation Tools

The Evidence Review Accelerator (TERA)
This site features a collection of automation tools to expedite the process of evidence synthesis projects. Tools include: The Methods Wizard, a Word Frequency Analysis tool, a Deduplicator, and others.
The PubMed PubReminer
This tool can be used to harvest common keywords and subject headings (MeSH) terms through inputting PubMed unique identifiers (PMIDs). The ReMiner will determine the most frequently used keywords and MeSH terms from a set of articles. Additionally, this tool can be used to identify potential journals for publication and high-impact authors in a field.

AI in Systematic Reviews

Innovative AI tools are being developed to assist with systematic reviews throughout different stages of the workflow. While adoption of these tools is still being evaluated and discussed in various academic disciplines, they offer the possibility of expediting the systematic review process. Below is a video from the National Library of Medicine that covers the best practices for incorporating AI into systematic reviews for interested researchers.

Further guidance for the adoption of AI tools for systematic reviews centered on healthcare can be found below:

The Cochrane Handbook: Automating the Selection Process (Chapter 4.6.6.2)
This section from the Cochrane Handbook covers guidance for automating the study selection process through artificial intelligence. The chapter provides examples of tools currently being used, as well as areas where it is not recommended. Covidence has already incorporated several recommended tools into its platform.
2020 Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)
PRISMA 2020 guidance clearly states that authors should describe how any automation tools within specific steps were used. These include: search strategy design/translation, study selection process, data collection process, and the study risk of bias assessment.