Selecting Articles

Motivation

We understand that you have your own way of selecting potential articles for a systematic review or meta-analysis. Here we would introduce you the most efficient way we use in MedisTree. We shall argue why this procedure would produce the least excruciating experience when performing a repetitive, arduous task. However, if you find your procedure to be more effective, please feel free to contact Aly Lamuri, Alvinsyah Pramono, or Delfi Mirsal through Zulip.

Preparing article database

After querying article databases (e.g. PubMed or ScienceDirect), it is best to convert our finding as an excel/csv file, which we can convert into Google spreadsheet. For some people, this procedure seems less straightforward, but curating all articles in one spreadsheet will make it easier to screen the paper.

Saving BibTeX or PMID files

ScienceDirect

1. Select all articles you found

2. Click export

3. Choose "Export citation to BibTeX"

4. Repeat the steps for all pages

PubMed

1. Click "Save"

2. In the selection dropdown, choose "All results"

3. Use "PMID" as the format

4. Create and save the file to your local machine

Converting BibTeX or PMID into spreadsheet

BibTeX

1. Visit https://www.bibtex.com/c/bibtex-to-csv-converter/``
2. Upload/copy and paste your BibTeX file content into the field

3. Choose from "BibTeX"

4. Chose to "CSV" (you may also choose "Excel")

5. Click convert

BibTeX to CSV

PMID

1. Visit https://www.bibtex.com/c/bibtex-to-csv-converter/``
2. Copy and paste your PMID file content into the field

3. Choose from "PMID"

4. Chose to "CSV" (you may also choose "Excel")

5. Click convert

PMID to CSV

After you are done converting either BibTeX or PMID file, you will obtain a spreadsheet in your desired format (i.e. csv/excel). We strongly recommend using a csv format because you will be able to do an initial inspection after converting.

Converted CSV file

Screening for title and abstract

Formatting the spreadsheet

Normally, you will get a lot of variables in your converted spreadsheet. This information is still relevant, but less important. When you format the spreadsheet, DO NOT delete these variables. Instead, you should hide those variables to ease the reviewer when selecting articles. It is desirable to have a conditional formatting as seen in the screenshot below.

Hidden variables (see that columns F-M are skipped) and conditional formatting

Filtering selected articles

Create a second sheet within your Google spreadsheet file, then you may apply the following formula: =filter('selected-articles'!B2:Q, 'selected-articles!Q2:Q). Please adjust this formula accordingly, where 'selected-articles' is the sheet name, B2:Q is the field you want to copy over, and Q2:Q is the filter (column "Selected"). Here, I directly set the column Q with a boolean value (True/False). If you set the column differently, then you should adjust the filter accordingly.

Filtering screened articles

Extracting information

Create another sheet to extract important findings. In this sheet, you need to copy paste ALL filtered articles. When you paste the cells, choose "Paste special" -> "Values only" (shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + V. Here you need to have additional columns:

• Metrics: Define what metrics in your key findings -> HR, OR, RR, mean difference, etc.

• Value: The reported values of your metrics

• Lower CI: Lower limit confidence interval (usually set as 95% CI)

• Upper CI: Upper limit of confidence interval (usually set as 95% CI)

• Note: Additional note to inform the reader about what you just extracted

Sometimes, an article has several key findings. If that is the case, you will need to add a new row and insert other findings in that cells. To suitably extract the information (key findings), you will have to read the full article.

Extracting information