Research Guides: Knowledge Synthesis: Systematic, Scoping & Other Reviews: Tools

AI and Machine Learning

PRISMA 2020 requires reporting of any use of automation tools in a review. If you use a tool, consider:

How will it affect the transparency of your review? Do you know exactly what the tool is doing? What biases might it introduce?
How will it affect the reproducibility of your review? Can someone else get the same results using your input? Is the tool likely to exist or work the same way in a year, or two, or ten?

Responsible AI in Evidence Synthesis (RAISE)
Draft guidance on using AI tools in evidence synthesis, developed by experts from Cochrane, Campbell and other organizations.
Development of an Evaluation Instrument on Artificial Intelligence Search Tools for Evidence Synthesis
Includes an evaluation tool developed by Canada's Drug Agency, as well as an inventory of 51 tools which may be useful in knowledge synthesis.
Automation tools to support undertaking scoping reviews
2024 article from Research Synthesis Methods which reviews several tools that may be used to partially automate tasks in a scoping review.

Search Automation Tools

Ovid Search History Launcher
This tool allows you to enter a multi-line Ovid search history and run it in one of UBC's subscribed databases. Note: you must be on a UBC network computer or on VPN for the search to work.
SR-Accelerator: Polyglot Search Translator
Enter a PubMed or Ovid MEDLINE search and convert search for use in Web of Science or CINAHL. Note: the tool only changes the commands and formatting, it does not translate subject headings from one database to another, so further editing of the search is needed. Also: the version of PsycINFO in the tool is Ovid PsycINFO - UBC has EBSCO PsycINFO.
Yale MeSH Analyzer
Specific to health and biomedicine. Enter the PubMed ID numbers of known relevant articles and create an HTML or Excel file indicating the MeSH headings used to index those articles.

Keep Track of Your Research

Keep Track of Your Searches

Recording information about your searches and search results is essential and will keep you from unnecessary repetition and provide critical information to anyone you ask for assistance with your search.

Here's an example:

Database	Date	Search Terms	Limits/Filters	Results & Comments	Database Terminology	Database Term Search	Results & Comments
Web of Science	01/03/18	Chocolate and blood pressure	none	405 results – expected more	blood-pressure; chocolate; dark chocolate; cocoa; cocoa intake	(chocolate OR cocoa OR "dark chocolate" OR "cocoa intake") AND "blood-pressure"	542
PubMed, etc.