Web-Based Software Tools for Systematic Literature Review in Medicine: Systematic Search and Feature Analysis

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Evidence Synthesis
• Systematic Review Methodology

Background:

• Systematic reviews (SRs) are vital for therapy evaluation but are resource-intensive.
• Existing software tools for SRs often do not cover the entire process.
• Transparency and replicability in SRs depend on adherence to best practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare web-based software tools supporting systematic reviews (SRs) on a feature-by-feature basis.
• To provide a foundation for selecting appropriate SR software.
• To identify gaps in current SR tool functionalities.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive search identified 53 SR tools, with 24 meeting inclusion criteria (functional, no coding required).
• Features were assessed based on previous reviews and identified best practices, totaling 30 features across 6 classes.
• Two reviewers independently assessed tools, with disagreements resolved by a third reviewer.

Main Results:

• Giotto Compliance (90%), DistillerSR (87%), and Nested Knowledge (87%) offer the most features.
• Significant gaps exist: only 42% support direct search, 29% offer dual extraction, and 54% support living reviews.
• Many tools (7 out of 24) support fewer than half of the assessed features.

Conclusions:

• DistillerSR, Nested Knowledge, and EPPI-Reviewer Web provide a high density of SR-focused features.
• Transparent comparison aids the medical community in selecting SR software.
• Future development should prioritize features enhancing transparency, replicability, and support for living reviews.