Research Screener: a machine learning tool to semi-automate abstract screening for systematic reviews.

Journal: Systematic reviews
Published Date:

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses provide the highest level of evidence to help inform policy and practice, yet their rigorous nature is associated with significant time and economic demands. The screening of titles and abstracts is the most time consuming part of the review process with analysts required review thousands of articles manually, taking on average 33 days. New technologies aimed at streamlining the screening process have provided initial promising findings, yet there are limitations with current approaches and barriers to the widespread use of these tools. In this paper, we introduce and report initial evidence on the utility of Research Screener, a semi-automated machine learning tool to facilitate abstract screening.

Authors

  • Kevin E K Chai
    Curtin Institute for Computation, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
  • Robin L J Lines
    School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
  • Daniel F Gucciardi
    School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
  • Leo Ng
    School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia. leo.ng@curtin.edu.au.