How it works
From search results to shortlist, with you in charge
Cidexar does the first, most repetitive read. You check its work, and you make every decision that counts.
Seven steps from search results to shortlist
- Step 01
Add your criteria.
Paste your eligibility criteria in plain text, exactly as they appear in your protocol. Every change you make is saved as a new version, so you can always report what you used.
- Step 02
Import your search results.
Upload the files you exported from your databases or reference manager. RIS, PubMed (MEDLINE), EndNote XML, BibTeX and spreadsheets all work, and Cidexar recognises the format for you. Likely duplicates across searches are flagged for you to decide on. Nothing is removed for you.
- Step 03
Get a score for every paper.
Cidexar reads each title and abstract against your criteria and scores how clearly the paper fails them. Screening runs in the background, so you can close the tab and come back.
- Step 04
Choose your setting.
Pick cautious, standard or aggressive. Papers that clearly fail are set aside as "likely exclude". They're never deleted.
- Step 05
Check it on your review.
Pull a random sample of the papers set aside and screen it yourself. If your sample turns up papers you'd keep, choose a more cautious setting or read more of the pile. You decide how far to rely on it.
- Step 06
Screen what's left, best candidates first.
Your team works through a focused queue, with the full title, abstract and your criteria side by side. Include, maybe or exclude: every final decision is yours.
- Step 07
Export and report.
Export papers, scores and decisions to Excel, get the counts for your flow diagram, and copy a ready-made paragraph for your methods section.
A first reader, not a decision-maker
Suggestions and decisions are kept apart.
Cidexar's suggestion and your team's decision are always shown separately. Yours is the one that counts.
Nothing disappears.
Papers set aside stay in your library, searchable and recoverable. Duplicates are flagged, never removed for you.
Check its work.
Pull a random sample of the "likely exclude" pile and look for yourself, before you rely on it.
Choose how cautious it is
Cautious
Sets aside only papers that very clearly fail your criteria. In our testing it kept essentially all of the papers that made it into final reviews, while still clearing about half the noise. The safest choice for a hard or unusual topic.
Standard
The recommended balance. In our testing it kept about 98% of papers that made it into final reviews and set aside about 7 in 10 clearly irrelevant ones.
Aggressive
Clears the most, for when time is tight and you'll double-check. Expect to read less and to check the set-aside pile more carefully.
Results vary by review. You can change the setting at any time. How we tested
When your criteria change
Protocols get clearer as you screen. Cidexar is built for that, so a change doesn't mean starting again.
Every version saved.
Each change to your criteria is a new version, and you can compare any two.
See what's out of date.
Cidexar shows which results came from an earlier version of your criteria.
Re-screening included.
Re-screen papers you've already screened with your new criteria, up to five times per review, at no extra cost.
What Cidexar reads, and what it doesn't
It reads titles and abstracts, the same information you'd use at this stage.
Papers without an abstract aren't scored. They're kept for a person to screen, and they don't count towards your allowance.
It doesn't read full text, and it doesn't make final decisions.
Using Cidexar in a published review?
What to report, a methods paragraph you can adapt and answers for peer reviewers.
Be first to screen with Cidexar
Cidexar is coming soon. Leave your email and we'll let you know the moment it's ready.