This page brings together many elements of the guide that are relevant for a researcher completing a systematic review. The elements are presented roughly in the same order as you would need them as part of a systematic review process.
The steps in this guide have been informed by the PRISMA flow diagrams (see link below)
We've also provided links to the University of South Australia's very comprehensive systematic reviews guide for more information
Because systematic reviews require you to record the amount of results you are getting from each database you use, it's a good idea to learn how to use groups and group sets. A group set is a heading under which groups are filed. For example, the group set could be named for your research topic, and the groups could be named for the databases you are using.
Later, you can run the 'Find Duplicates' function on the group set to locate duplicates across the various databases used in your research
To add a reference or references, select them and then either drag them to the group or right-click on the selected references and choose Add References To.
For more detailed information on groups, see our 'Using Groups' page (linked below)
UTS Library has prepared a guide showing you how to download large amounts of records from health related databases to EndNote.
For additional information on downloading records from databases, see our Exporting References from Databases page (linked below)
As part of your systematic review, you may want to collect grey literature, including information from websites. To do this you will have to enter some information into EndNote manually.
The guide below shows you how to manually enter information into EndNote to make APA 7th references, using the library's APA 7th style.
If you need to manually input references for a different referencing style, please consult the Adding References Manually page or contact the library using the link below.
A key feature of a systematic review is removing duplicate papers that have been found in the various databases you are using. This deduplication can be done in EndNote either on a paper-by-paper basis or all at once.
Ideally it is recommended to deduplicate on a paper by paper basis as you can select the record with the best data (ie: a record with a DOI number), but if the amount of references in your initial search prevents this, you can delete all at once. Both methods are detailed below:
If you have a large number of duplicates and don't want to go through them one by one, you can highlight and delete all the duplicates at once. To do this, simply click Cancel in the Find Duplicates window.
The window will close, and a temporary folder named Duplicate References will be created. You will now see all the Duplicate References highlighted in green in your EndNote library.
You can now go to References > Move References to Trash to move the highlighted references.
After you have deduplicated your results, you will need to screen the remaining papers for suitability at the abstract level. To facilitate this, researchers often export their results to screening software like Covidence.
To export from EndNote to Covidence follow these steps:
1. Highlight the references you wish to export from your EndNote library. If you want to select all of them, be sure to select all in your EndNote library before exporting.
2. Click on File > Export
3. Select your file type and export style.
You can export to RIS or XML. Both should work with Covidence
4. Click Save
Watch the video below (Importing Citations into Covidence from EndNote):
Once you have screened the papers you've selected at the abstract level, you will then need to find the full text of the papers remaining and read those before screening again. EndNote can facilitate the finding of full text, so researchers will often take their screened results from a service like Covidence and export them back into EndNote for this reason.
To export from Covidence to EndNote
1. (Covidence) Dashboard>export
2. Choose Full Text review from Category, and EndNote as referencing manager, then click on export. A RIS file will be created.
3. Go back to EndNote and create a new Group Set with a name of Full Text Review, and a new group under Full Text Review
4. Download data, and import to EndNote, then add the references into the new group
5. Create a backup after importing and include Full Text Review into the file name
Find Full Text searches UTS Library databases (and the web more generally) for PDFs of the articles in your EndNote library. You are restricted to searching for 250 full text records at a time.
Setting Find Full Text Preferences
Running Find Full Text
If the full text is not found in this way, then you can manually check if it's available from the library collection:
At various stages along the way in your systematic review, it's a good idea to archive your work by making a backup library. Making a compressed library is a good idea because it keeps both the references and the groups (and attachments, if applicable) in your library together in one file.
To create a compressed library in EndNote do File > Compressed Library.
More information can be found via our Creating and Backing Up LIbraries page (linked below)
A key feature of systematic reviews is working with a team. To facilitate the review process with different team members, sharing a group from your EndNote library may prove useful (EndNote prefers to share at the group, rather than at the library level)..
If you want to share your references. you will need EndNote Web. To learn how to sign up for EndNote Web, please see our EndNote Web page linked below.
A word of caution about this: Sharing an EndNote group requires your EndNote library to sync with EndNote Web first. This may prove disastrous to your research if your EndNote Web library contains references that have nothing to do with your Systematic review work.
So, if you want to share with a colleague:
Sharing your Library with others
You can choose the level of access (read only, edit) for each of your collaborators
Using a Library someone has shared with you.