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Systematic Reviews and Meta Analysis

A resource for finding data sources, filters, and standards to support systematic searches of the biomedical literature.

Software and Tools

Covidence

Covidence is Web-based to for managing the review workflow. Tools for screening records, managing full-text articles, and extracting data make the process much less burdensome. Covidence currently is available for Harvard investigators with a hms.harvard.edu, hsdm.harvard.edu, or hsph.harvard.edu email address. To make use of Harvard's institutional account:

  1. If you don't already have a Covidence account, sign up for one at:
    https://www.covidence.org/signups/new
    Make sure you use your hms, hsph, or hsdm Harvard email address.
  2. Then associate your account with Harvard's institutional access at:
    https://www.covidence.org/organizations/58RXa/signup
    Use the same address you used in step 1 and follow the instructions in the resulting email.

Once your account is linked to the Harvard account, you will have access to the full range of Covidence features and can create unlimited reviews. You can do this when logged in to your individual Covidence account by going to your account dashboard page and clicking the 'Start a new review' button. This will take you to a new page where you can select the Harvard account to set up the new review.

Rayyan

Rayyan is an alternative review manager that has a free option. It has ranking and sorting option lacking in Covidence but takes more time to learn. We do not provide support for Rayyan.

Other Review Software Systems

There are a number of tools available to help a team manage the systematic review process. Notable examples include Eppi-ReviewerDistillerSR, and PICO Portal. These are subscription-based services but in some cases offer a trial project. Use the Systematic Review Toolbox to explore more options.

Citation Managers

Citation managers like EndNote or Zotero can be used to collect, manage and de-duplicate bibliographic records and full-text documents but are considerable more painful to use than specialized systematic review applications. Of course, they are handy for writing up your report.

Need more, or looking for alternatives? See the SR Toolbox, a searchable database of tools to support systematic reviews and meta-analysis.

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