What is review management software and what does it do?
Review management software are tools that are specifically tailored to the needs of knowledge synthesis teams. In addition to reference management, some of these tools can also help with reference screening, data extraction, perform meta-analysis, track team progress, and facilitate communication between members.
Some tools are freely available while other tools are fee-based or have subscriptions for full use of the tool. You should bear in mind that not every tool is appropriate for every kind of synthesis or review - be sure to choose the right fit for your project. See below for some of the options available to you to help you with your project.
Dalhousie Libraries is excited to offer an unlimited institutional license to Covidence for members affiliated with Dalhousie University!
What is Covidence?
Covidence is a web-based software platform that streamlines the production of systematic reviews. It supports citation screening, full text review, risk of bias assessment, extraction of study characteristics and outcomes, and the export of data and references.
From the Dalhousie Libraries page in Covidence you will be directed to use your Dalhousie email in order to request an invite to Dalhousie's institutional account for Covidence. You will then receive an email asking you to accept the invite which you can do by signing up for a Covidence account using your Dalhousie email or logging in to an existing account if you had already made an account using your Dalhousie email.
How do I set up a new review with the Dalhousie unlimited account?
Once you are associated with the Dalhousie account, you will see the option to use the organizational access to create a new review. There are step-by-step instructions on creating new reviews and using Covidence through Dalhousie's institutional subscription on the Dalhousie page in the Covidence Knowledge Base.
Help! I didn't realize Dalhousie had an institutional subscription, and I started a review using Covidence's free trial. Can I migrate my current review to the Dalhousie institutional subscription?
Please connect with reference support at the W.K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library via Microsoft Teams chat and/or video (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) or email us at kellogg@dal.ca for more information about migrating reviews.
I am starting a review with colleagues from other institutions. Can we use the Dalhousie institutional account for this inter-organizational review?
Yes, any Dalhousie-affiliated person connected to the Dalhousie institutional account may create new reviews and invite unlimited reviewers from anywhere in the world. However, due to copyright laws and licensing restrictions, there are restrictions on sharing full text of articles with individuals who are not affiliated with Dalhousie University. Be sure to check if you have any questions - see below.
Who do I ask or direct people to for more information about Covidence or the Dalhousie institutional account?
Please connect with reference support at the Kellogg Library via Microsoft Teams chat and/or video (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) or email us at kellogg@dal.ca. We will be happy to answer any questions you have!
You can also check out the Covidence Knowledge Base which has video and text support materials for many aspects of the functions available through Covidence including FAQs.
Please note that Dalhousie reviewers are cautioned to NOT upload the full text of articles obtained through Dalhousie Libraries' subscriptions or document delivery to Covidence due to licensing and copyright restrictions, especially when working with team members outside of Dalhousie. Full text of publicly available articles may be uploaded.
Please contact the Copyright Office (copyright.office@dal.ca) with any questions regarding sharing licensed intellectual property.
Follow the guide below and learn how to use RIS files to import large sums of files into your Covidence reviews quickly and easily.
Below are a few articles that review and compare software such as Covidence, Rayyan, CADIMA, Colandr, and JBI SUMARI.
Article comparing CADIMA to other SR management tools by Kohl et al. (2018)
Covidence and Rayyan product review (2018)
Article comparing SR management tools by van der Mierden et al. (2019)
