Abstract
BackgroundReference management software programs enable researchers to more easily organize and manage large volumes of references typically identified during the production of systematic reviews. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which authors are using reference management software to produce systematic reviews; identify which programs are used most frequently and rate their ease of use; and assess the degree to which software usage is documented in published studies.MethodsWe reviewed the full text of systematic reviews published in core clinical journals indexed in ACP Journal Club from 2008 to November 2011 to determine the extent to which reference management software usage is reported in published reviews. We surveyed corresponding authors to verify and supplement information in published reports, and gather frequency and ease-of-use data on individual reference management programs.ResultsOf the 78 researchers who responded to our survey, 79.5% reported that they had used a reference management software package to prepare their review. Of these, 4.8% reported this usage in their published studies. EndNote, Reference Manager, and RefWorks were the programs of choice for more than 98% of authors who used this software. Comments with respect to ease-of-use issues focused on the integration of this software with other programs and computer interfaces, and the sharing of reference databases among researchers.ConclusionsDespite underreporting of use, reference management software is frequently adopted by authors of systematic reviews. The transparency, reproducibility and quality of systematic reviews may be enhanced through increased reporting of reference management software usage.
Highlights
Reference management software programs enable researchers to more organize and manage large volumes of references typically identified during the production of systematic reviews
Various software programs have been adopted by, and developed for, authors of systematic reviews. These tools range from statistical software to comprehensive systematic reviews programs, such as the Cochrane Collaboration’s Review Manager (RevMan) software
Reasons for exclusion were: an inability to determine or verify the email address of the corresponding author (n = 30); study authors only searched 1 electronic database to identify studies to include in their systematic review (n = 8), or no electronic databases were searched (n = 3)
Summary
Reference management software programs enable researchers to more organize and manage large volumes of references typically identified during the production of systematic reviews. All programs facilitate the capture, organization, and elimination of duplicate records from electronic database searching, they vary with respect to cost, overall functionality, and networking capabilities. Products such as EndNote, Papers, and RefWorks are licensed or sold outright, while others (e.g.: Mendeley and Zotero), are available at little or no cost to the user. While some, such as EndNote and Reference Manager, run on single-station computers, many others, including RefWorks, Mendeley and Zotero, are web-based. Web-based programs provide users with enhanced networking functions that readily support the sharing of records among researchers [3,5]
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