Importing Records into the Screening Tool

Supported file formats

The free tier imports RIS, PubMed .nbib and MEDLINE, CSV, TSV, and Excel files. The Pro plan adds BibTeX and EndNote or PubMed XML. Click Upload files in the import section and select one or more files; you can add further files later and everything merges into a single project with automatic de-duplication across batches.

There is also a plain-text path: click Paste, drop raw RIS or PubMed MEDLINE text into the text area, and click Import pasted text. This is handy when a database gives you a citation block on screen rather than a downloadable file.

Search seven free databases directly

The Search a database button runs your query against seven free databases without leaving the tool: PubMed, Europe PMC, OpenAlex, Crossref, ClinicalTrials.gov, Semantic Scholar, and DOAJ. It is free on every plan, you only need to be signed in. Results are normalized, tagged with their source, and de-duplicated against everything already in the project.

PubMed searches support the full PubMed syntax including MeSH terms, field tags, and Boolean operators. OpenAlex offers the broadest free coverage across every discipline, and ClinicalTrials.gov captures registered and unpublished trials, an important grey-literature source.

The results panel shows how many records your search really found, so you can see whether you have all of them. PubMed retrieves up to 500 results at a time: click Load the next to keep going. For a large search, export the full set instead (in PubMed: Save, All results, Format PubMed) and upload the file. For the other databases, export the search from the database and upload the file when you want every result.

1. Click Search a database in the import section.
2. Pick a source, enter your query, and set a result limit.
3. Run the search, untick anything you do not want, and click Import. Retrieved records import like any other batch and de-duplicate automatically.
4. Repeat per database. Each record keeps its source label so your PRISMA identification counts stay traceable.

Citation chasing (snowballing)

Citation chasing finds studies your database searches missed by following the reference network. Click Citation chasing, paste one or more seed DOIs (typically your included studies), and choose backward chasing (the references those papers cite), forward chasing (newer papers that cite them), or both. The tool walks OpenAlex for the citation links and imports the results as a normal batch, tagged Citation chasing.

Fetch missing abstracts

Records without abstracts hurt relevance ranking, because the ranker can only see their titles. When your project has such records, the import section shows how many and offers a Fetch missing abstracts button. It looks each record up in OpenAlex by DOI or title and fills in any abstract it finds, then reports how many were added. Re-run Rank by relevance afterwards so the ranker can use the new text.

Replace one file after refining a search

If you change a search, you do not need to start again. In step 1, Files in this review lists each file you imported in this browser. Remove the old file, then upload the new one: the other files and their decisions stay as they are. The list is kept in your browser and is not saved to your account, so it covers files imported on this device.

Add newer results with Update my search

When you rerun a search later, Update my search adds the newer export to your existing review, keeps every decision you have made, and leaves you to screen only what is new. It is a Pro feature.

Subscription databases: export guides

Subscription databases such as Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL cannot be searched directly, because they require an institutional login. Instead, click Export from a database for step-by-step export instructions per database, including Google Scholar. Each guide shows exactly which export menu and file format to choose so the file imports cleanly.