PICO Portal

Abstract

PICO Portal is a Web-based systematic review management tool launched in September 2020 to better facilitate collaborative knowledge synthesis in biomedical research. Most notably, it uses machine learning and Natural Language Processing algorithms to continuously refine the screening process by analyzing decisions as made by the review team. PICO Portal was evaluated by researchers with the Health Assessment Technology team at the University of Calgary, who routinely undertake PICO-based systematic reviews, currently using an in-house manual system. The team appreciated many aspects of PICO Portal and felt it held considerable promise to better support the review process. At the same time, they found it wasn’t as user-friendly as expected and would benefit from additional refinement if it is to appeal to a wider range of users, particularly those less familiar with the systematic review process.