Hello Jo and all respondents,
It has been an eye-opener to read about the different software options
for managing documents but there are still two problems that you
identified that have not been commented on.
1 On the the question of searches, I don't think that any
bibliographic or document management software can do the kind of
search you need for an SR. Several allow you to search from within the
package but search strategies are limited. (I use Bookends, Mac only
software, which searches Pubmed and downloads both citation and pdf).
But I don't know of any that will search several databases and use the
customised filters you need for an SR.
2 Turning to the question of managing records, I found the best way to
do this for my recent SR was to set up a database of my own. This
permitted me to record data such as: primary/secondary ref, language,
include/exclude choice by each independent reviewer, reason for
exclusion, final decision to include/exclude, a comments box, a
checkbox (for flagging documents you want to return to) etc. This
allows you to sort, search, create lists and write reports etc, just
as any database should. I imported all the references into the data
base after de-duplication. I created the database in Filemaker, a
cross-platform software for Mac and PC. It is great but not cheap! It
also good for producing lists and reports (e.g. list of excluded
papers and the reasons, a list of papers that have been tagged for
special interest).
I can send a screen shot of the database individually to anyone
interested to know what it looks like (on the understanding you
forgive its chunky appearance - it was meant for personal use after
all - and the fact that had I known then what I know now, I would have
built it differently).
Ta Ta For Now,
Kev
Dr Kev (Kevork) Hopayian, MD FRCGP
General Practitioner, Leiston, Suffolk
Hon Sen Lecturer, School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice,
University of East Anglia
GP CPD Director, Suffolk
[log in to unmask]
www.angliangp.org
Making your practice evidence-based http://www.rcgp.org.uk/bookshop/info_1_9780850843316.html
On 13 Jan 2011, at 10:28, Jo Jordan wrote:
> My query is concerned with the practical aspects of conducting a
> systematic review.
>
> I have had another frustrating week downloading and de-duplicating
> results from a large systematic review search, using a combination of
> RefWorks and Reference Manager. As usual I have come to the conclusion
> that all these packages, while they each have their advantages, are
> not designed for doing systematic reviews or large structured searches
> that involve searching a number of databases.
>
> I have managed to find a way round these issues, but was wondering
> what software packages other people use for this task and to see if
> there is anything better out there.
>
> Many thanks,
> Jo
>
> --
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Jo Jordan
> Research Information Manager
> Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre
> Primary Care Sciences
> Keele University
> Keele, UK
> ST5 5BG
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> Website: http://www.keele.ac.uk/research/pchs/pcmrc/
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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