Identifying and removing duplicate records from systematic review searches

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare effectiveness of different options for de-duplicating records retrieved from systematic review searches. Methods: Using the records from a published systematic review, five de-duplication options were compared. The time taken to de-duplicate in each option and the number of false positives (were deleted but should not have been) and false negatives (should have been deleted but were not) were recorded. Results: The time for each option varied. The number of positive and false duplicates returned from each option also varied greatly. Conclusion: The authors recommend different de-duplication options based on the skill level of the searcher and the purpose of de-duplication efforts.