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Systematic Reviews: Software and Tools

Introduction and Pathway for researchers starting a Systematic Review

General Links

Systematic Review Teams Channel

                Join the Systematic Review Teams Channel

Referencing Software

Effective use of referencing software is vital to an effective Systematic Review, it makes it easier to manage multiple references and report on your search. Lancaster University offers support for:

Endnote

Support for Endnote is via the faculty librarian team and regular training sessions. 

Mendeley

When working with multi-institution teams, external stakeholders, and NHS organisations Mendeley is often preferred due to its familiarity and cost. Support is on an ad-hoc basis, available through booking a one-to-one session with John Barbrook - Faculty Librarian.

Screening using Rayyan.ai

Rayyan is a very useful web resource that allows you to screen papers quickly, and add reasons for exclusion so you can easily produce a PRISMA flow diagram. Once you have deduplicated your results in Endnote, export your references as a .RIS file into Rayyan for effective screening. (Guidance available in the FAQ article How do I export my references from Endnote into Mendeley or Rayyan? )

Once you have screened you can export from Rayyan back into Endnote and your search and screening are complete.

Access at Rayyan.ai. If you would like some assistance please contact a member of the faculty librarian team.

Rayyan is useful as it includes Keyboard Shortcuts to allow you to quickly screen papers:

The top 4 useful Keyboard Shortcuts

I = Include

U = Undecided

E = Exclude

R = Reason Drop Down Box (Type in box to add a new reason for exclusion)

Source of all the shortcuts  Rayyan Keyboard Shortcuts