ReviewBMJ open2023
Artificial intelligence in systematic reviews: promising when appropriately used.
Review in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 111 papers, 23 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
111 citing papers in PubMed, 23 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Identifying and Prioritizing Core Components of Relationship Education Programs: a Case Study of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Assisted Systematic Review.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2026Pooled it
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- Evaluation of a large language model (ChatGPT) versus human researchers in assessing risk-of-bias and community engagement levels: a systematic review use-case analysis.European journal of public health · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence and factors associated with anticholinergic medication use in community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2025Pooled it
- The effectiveness and perceived value of feedback used in cardiac arrest simulation education: a mixed-method systematic review.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Promoting healthy and sustainable diets through food service interventions in university settings: a scoping review.BMC nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- A comparative study of screening performance between abstrackr and GPT models: Systematic review and contextual analysis.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2025Pooled it
- The Evolving Landscape of Discrete Choice Experiments in Health Economics: A Systematic Review.PharmacoEconomics · 2025Pooled it
- Generative artificial intelligence use in evidence synthesis: A systematic review.Research synthesis methods · 2025Pooled it
- Bioimpedance Measurement for Monitoring Chronic Wounds: A Systematic Review.International wound journal · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Open Incision Negative Pressure Wound Therapy for Surgical Site Infection Prevention for Abdominal Surgery-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International wound journal · 2025Pooled it
- Sex as a prognostic factor for mortality in adults with acute symptomatic pulmonary embolism.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Prognostic Factors and Changes in Pain, Physical Functioning, and Participation in Patients With Hip and/or Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review.Arthritis care & research · 2025Pooled it
- How much can we save by applying artificial intelligence in evidence synthesis? Results from a pragmatic review to quantify workload efficiencies and cost savings.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Unveiling practical insights of eHealth implementation in Europe: a grey literature review on legal, ethical, financial, and technological (LEFT) considerations.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Pooled it
- Barriers and facilitators of collaboration during the implementation of vocational rehabilitation interventions: a systematic review.BMC psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Addressing cancer survivors' information needs and satisfaction: a systematic review of potential intervention components for survivors with a rare cancer type.Orphanet journal of rare diseases · 2024Pooled it
- Spaced Digital Education for Health Professionals: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- Assessing the health status of migrants upon arrival in Europe: a systematic review of the adverse impact of migration journeys.Globalization and health · 2024Pooled it
51 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSystematic reviews provide a structured overview of the available evidence in medical-scientific research. However, due to the increasing medical-scientific research output, it is a time-consuming task to conduct systematic reviews. To accelerate this process, artificial intelligence (AI) can be used in the review process. In this communication paper, we suggest how to conduct a transparent and reliable systematic review using the AI tool 'ASReview' in the title and abstract screening.
methodsUse of the AI tool consisted of several steps. First, the tool required training of its algorithm with several prelabelled articles prior to screening. Next, using a researcher-in-the-loop algorithm, the AI tool proposed the article with the highest probability of being relevant. The reviewer then decided on relevancy of each article proposed. This process was continued until the stopping criterion was reached. All articles labelled relevant by the reviewer were screened on full text.
resultsConsiderations to ensure methodological quality when using AI in systematic reviews included: the choice of whether to use AI, the need of both deduplication and checking for inter-reviewer agreement, how to choose a stopping criterion and the quality of reporting. Using the tool in our review resulted in much time saved: only 23% of the articles were assessed by the reviewer.
conclusionThe AI tool is a promising innovation for the current systematic reviewing practice, as long as it is appropriately used and methodological quality can be assured. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42022283952.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.