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Hi Jo, Practically, I have all reference management software as a step in the right direction, but the not the final answer for systematic reviewers. It is a nice place to store you references, to combine search results from multiple databases (e.g. MEDLINE, EMBASE, etc.) and to perform the initial deduping. From experience, I have found that EndNote is more efficient in deduping than Reference Manager, but neither is perfect. Also I would not advise using either program for screening, but they are essential when writing the manuscript. For a while I was working on creating an algorithm in vba to help with the deduping but have had to put the project on hold. I hope that I will be able to complete it soon because it would really be helpful to get this stage to become more efficient. With projects containing up to 20,000 refids, deduping becomes a project on its own. If you find anything interesting, please feel free to contact me off list. Good luck. Ahmed Ahmed M. Abou-Setta, MD, PhD Post-doctoral Fellow/ Project Co-ordinator University of Alberta Evidence-based Practice Centre (UA-EPC) Alberta Research Centre for Health Evidence (ARCHE) University of Alberta Aberhart Centre One, Room 8412 11402 University Avenue Edmonton, Alberta CANADA T6G 2J3 Tel: (780) 492-6248 Fax: (780) 407-6435 E-mail: [log in to unmask] Website: http://www.ualberta.ca/ARCHE/ -----Original Message----- From: Evidence based health (EBH) [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jo Jordan Sent: January 13, 2011 3:28 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Reference Management Software 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/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------