Full Text Retrieval & Automatic PDF Fetching in EasySLR

Full Text Retrieval & Automatic PDF Fetching in EasySLR

EasySLR is designed to streamline the evidence synthesis workflow by automatically retrieving full-text PDFs whenever possible, reducing the manual effort involved in locating, downloading, and uploading articles for Full-Text screening.

Using a combination of DOI-based retrieval and PubMed Central Open Access integration, EasySLR automatically attempts to identify and fetch accessible PDFs as studies progress through the review workflow.
This functionality helps teams move more efficiently from Title & Abstract screening into Full-Text screening and data extraction.

What is Automatic PDF Retrieval?
Automatic PDF Retrieval is a project-level setting that enables EasySLR to automatically search for and retrieve accessible full-text PDFs for imported citations.
Instead of manually locating and uploading PDFs, EasySLR performs this process in the background whenever sufficient article metadata is available.

This is particularly useful for:
  • Large-scale systematic reviews
  • Rapid reviews
  • Targeted literature reviews (TLRs)
  • Evidence mapping projects
  • Reviews involving thousands of citations
  • Teams working under tight timelines

How PDF Retrieval Works
When Auto Fetch PDF is enabled, EasySLR automatically attempts to retrieve PDFs using available article identifiers.

These may include:
  • DOI
  • PMID
  • PMCID
  • PubMed URL
  • PubMed Central URL
The retrieval process occurs automatically as citations move into the Full-Text stage.

EasySLR will:
  1. Identify available article identifiers
  2. Search supported retrieval sources
  3. Locate accessible PDF files
  4. Retrieve the PDF
  5. Attach the PDF to the corresponding citation
The process runs automatically in the background and requires no manual intervention.

DOI-Based PDF Retrieval
One of the mechanisms used by EasySLR is DOI-based retrieval.

When a citation contains a valid DOI, EasySLR attempts to identify accessible full-text PDFs associated with that article.
This is particularly effective for:
  • Open-access publications
  • Publisher-hosted PDFs
  • Articles with publicly accessible full-text versions
Tip
Including DOIs within imported citation records significantly improves PDF retrieval success rates.

PDF Retrieval Using PubMed Central
EasySLR also integrates with PubMed Central (PMC) Open Access to further expand PDF retrieval coverage.

This is especially valuable for:
  • Medicine
  • Healthcare
  • Biology
  • Life Sciences
  • Clinical Research

When an article contains a DOI, PMID, PMCID, PubMed URL, or PMC URL, EasySLR can:
  1. Search the PubMed Central Open Access dataset
  2. Detect valid PDF locations
  3. Retrieve available open-access PDFs automatically
This enhancement significantly increases the number of articles for which EasySLR can automatically retrieve full texts.

Where Retrieved PDFs Appear
Successfully retrieved PDFs are automatically attached to the article and become available within:
  • Full-Text Screening
  • PDF Viewer

These articles appear directly within the review workflow and are ready for screening.

What Happens If a PDF Cannot Be Retrieved?
If EasySLR is unable to locate an accessible PDF, the article will appear within the No PDF section.

This commonly occurs when:
  • The article is behind a paywall
  • Publisher access restrictions exist
  • Institutional login is required
  • The article is not open access
  • DOI or metadata is missing
  • Publisher systems do not support retrieval
  • The article is available only in HTML format
  • The article is stored in unsupported repositories

What Types of PDFs Can Be Retrieved?
EasySLR can retrieve PDFs that are publicly accessible or available through supported retrieval mechanisms.
​
Examples include:
  • Open-access journal articles
  • PubMed Central publications
  • Publicly available research articles
  • DOI-linked PDFs
  • Freely accessible publisher-hosted PDFs

Retrieval success depends on:
  • DOI availability
  • Citation metadata quality
  • Publisher permissions
  • Repository availability
  • Organizational access rights

What Types of PDFs May Not Be Retrieved?
Some content may not be automatically retrievable.

Examples include:
Restricted or Paywalled Content

Articles requiring:
  • Journal subscriptions
  • Institutional access
  • Manual authentication
  • Publisher-specific permissions

Missing Metadata
If important metadata is unavailable, such as:
  • DOI
  • PMID
  • Publisher information
  • Journal identifiers
retrieval success may be limited.

Unsupported Sources
Certain repositories and publisher systems may not support automated retrieval workflows.

Non-PDF Content
Articles available only as:
  • HTML pages
  • Dynamic content
  • Unsupported formats
may not be retrievable automatically.

How to Enable Auto PDF Retrieval

Step 1: Open Project Settings
Navigate to:Project Settings → Workflow

Step 2: Locate Auto Fetch PDF
Find the Auto Fetch PDF toggle.

Step 3: Enable the Setting
Turn the toggle ON.

Once enabled:
  • EasySLR automatically attempts PDF retrieval
  • Retrieval runs in the background
  • Retrieved PDFs are attached automatically
  • Full-Text screening can begin sooner

Alternative PDF Upload Methods
If a PDF cannot be retrieved automatically, EasySLR supports several bulk upload options.
These include:
  • Individual PDF upload
  • Drag-and-drop upload
  • RefID-based bulk PDF upload
  • Supplementary file uploads
This provides flexibility for organisations using custom document management workflows.

Important Copyright & Access Information
EasySLR provides the infrastructure required to locate and retrieve accessible PDFs.
However:
  • PDF availability depends on publisher permissions
  • Retrieval success depends on organisational access rights
  • Organisations remain responsible for copyright compliance
  • Automatic retrieval availability may vary between publishers and institutions

Benefits of Automatic PDF Retrieval
  1. Faster Full-Text Screening: Reduce the time spent locating articles manually.
  2. Improved Reviewer Efficiency: Provide reviewers with immediate access to available full texts.
  3. Reduced Administrative Overhead: Minimize repetitive downloading, matching, and uploading tasks.
  4. Better Scalability: Support large evidence synthesis projects more efficiently.
  5. Expanded PDF Coverage: Combining DOI-based retrieval with PubMed Central integration increases the number of PDFs that can be retrieved automatically.
  6. Flexible Workflow Management: Teams can enable or disable PDF retrieval depending on project requirements.
Summary

EasySLR's Automatic PDF Retrieval functionality combines DOI-based retrieval, PubMed Central integration, and supported PDF discovery mechanisms to automatically locate and attach accessible full-text articles whenever possible.

By reducing the manual effort involved in collecting PDFs, teams can move more quickly from citation screening to full-text review and evidence extraction, improving efficiency across the entire evidence synthesis workflow.

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