Using Tags in EasySLR

Using Tags in EasySLR

Tags in EasySLR are a powerful way to categorize, annotate, and organize studies, enabling quick filtering and efficient navigation throughout the review process. They work across screening stages, can be blinded between reviewers, and provide flexibility for both individual and team workflows.

Why Use Tags?
Tags allow reviewers to label articles based on key attributes, making it easy to group, filter, and analyse studies without repeatedly searching through large datasets.

Common Tag Examples:
  • Study Type: cost-effectiveness, burden of illness, quality of life, clinical trial, real-world evidence
  • Geography: U.S., EU5, Asia-Pacific, global
  • Model Type: Markov model, decision tree, discrete event simulation
  • Population Subgroup: elderly, pediatric, comorbidities, high-risk, post-surgery
  • Funding/Source: industry-sponsored, government-funded, independent
  • Methodology: double-blind, open-label, meta-analysis
Benefits of Using Tags:
  • Quick Filtering: Instantly retrieve subsets of studies during screening or final analysis.
  • Better Organization: Keep large datasets structured and manageable.
  • Efficient Collaboration: Enable teams to work on shared datasets without confusion.
  • Improved Reporting: Tags can be exported for use in presentations, reports, or analysis.
Blinded Tags Between Reviewers

In EasySLR, tags can be applied to articles during screening to categorise or annotate them for easier tracking and analysis. To maintain independence and avoid influencing each other’s decisions, tags are blinded between reviewers during the screening process.

  • If Reviewer 1 selects a tag on an article, that tag will not be visible to Reviewer 2 during their review.
  • Once all reviews for an article are completed (including conflict resolution), the final tags at that stage become the union of all tags selected by different reviewers.
Tags in QC
During Quality Control (QC), tags selected by all reviewers will be pre-selected by default. The person performing QC can add or remove tags as needed. Once QC is completed, the tags set at QC will become the final tags for that stage, overwriting any previously applied tags.

Tag Visibility Across Screening Stages
Tags are stored separately for each screening stage to allow more accurate reporting and stage-specific insights.
  • Final tags from Title–Abstract screening are visible to reviewers during Full-Text screening for context.
  • Any tag changes made during Full-Text screening will not affect the tags from the Title–Abstract stage.
  • Both Title–Abstract tags and Full-Text tags are saved independently in the system, enabling detailed reporting and comparisons between stages.
Benefits of This Approach:
  • Prevents reviewer bias by keeping tags blinded until all reviews are complete.
  • Preserves the integrity of tags at each stage for better data analysis.
  • Supports transparent QC with the ability to adjust tags in one place.
  • Allows for stage-specific reporting and tracking of changes over time.
Exporting Tags
  • All tags can be exported along with article data and reviewer decisions.
  • Tags from different stages are exported in separate columns, making it easy to compare patterns across Title–Abstract and Full-Text stages.

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