New reviews will default to the Extraction 2 template. Our instructions for the original Extraction 1 forms are preserved at the bottom of each box below.
To view or edit which extraction version is enabled for your review simply go to your review’s Settings page to select your preferred data extraction template. Be sure to save any changes you make. Note: any data collected in one template cannot be converted to the other.
Not sure which extraction template to choose? View the Covidence article How to decide when to use Data Extraction 1 vs Data Extraction 2.
Covidence now has customizable quality assessment forms in addition to the standard Cochrane Risk of Bias form.
To access your template, select Quality assessment template. Publishing a quality assessment template is optional.
The default QA template is Cochrane’s Risk of Bias (RoB). If you want to use a different tool, select I want to start from scratch in the Editor to delete the RoB domains and start with an empty template. If you don’t want to do quality assessment in your review, don’t publish your QA template and QA will not appear for the extractors of your review.
Note: You cannot use multiple tools per review, but you can include domains from multiple tools within your quality assessment form.
To add a domain, select the Add (+) button above where you want to add the domain and choose one of the following options:
Each domain starts with three judgements. You can add a judgement in the same way as you’d add a new line in Word. Move your insertion point to the end of one of your judgements and then press ENTER on your PC keyboard or RETURN on your Mac keyboard.
You’ll need to press Save in the upper right corner to retain any changes you’ve made to your template. If your template isn’t published yet, press Publish and reviewers will be able to start extracting their first study. To start extraction, you must publish a data extraction template, however quality assessment is optional.
Note: If you start extracting a study, you will not be able to change the form for that study. If you're unsure about whether you'll need to make changes, pilot your form outside of Covidence first.
To find more information on this method of extracting data in Covidence, check out the Covidence Knowledge Base.
Once you have completed full text screening, included articles will be moved to the Extraction portion of the review, where you can extract data from each study and rate its quality. To assess quality, Covidence has built in the Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB) template. You can choose to use the Cochrane tool (which is designed for rating RCTs and cannot be used for other study types), or you can customize the questions available for Risk of Bias to create your own template.
You must choose either the Cochrane RoB or a custom RoB. If you choose the custom RoB, you cannot change your selection back to Cochrane.
Regardless of whether you choose the Cochrane tool or another RoB tool, make sure you are using a validated critical appraisal tool. You can find a short list of critical appraisal tools in the box below, but there are other tools available. Just remember to use a tool that is appropriate for the study design or study designs that have been included in your review.
Covidence has updated their extraction features! You can use the editor to add fields to your extraction templates, or you can create your own from scratch.
Extraction 1 is designed specifically for intervention reviews. They recommend it for Cochrane reviews because it has an export pathway to Review Manager (RevMan).
For all other projects, including scoping reviews and qualitative reviews, they recommend Extraction 2. This tool was developed through extensive consultation with our user community and is designed to be flexible and fully customizable to the needs of your project.
Not sure which extraction template to choose? View the Covidence article How to decide when to use Data Extraction 1 vs Data Extraction 2.
When you begin data extraction, you will see a screen like the one shown below. The center pane shows the general areas of data extraction and allows for quick navigation between each.
Note that the data extraction form has been designed to follow your PICO format. This format works best with interventional study designs, but it can be used with other study designs as well.
The first study you begin data extraction for in each review will become your "Review Template." The tables set up here will be carried over to subsequently started extractions, where they can be individually edited if needed. Only the first reviewer can edit the template; the first reviewer can be changed at any time by clicking "Manage reviewers" on the study's pane Extraction page.
To find more information on extracting data in Covidence, check out the Covidence Knowledge Base.
For general data extraction principles and instructions, check out the resources in the Data Extraction Guides box.
To access extraction, from the Review Summary screen, select the number of studies you have to extract.
To access your template, select Data Extraction Template, located above the included study list.
The Editor is in the center. You can fully edit the template in the Editor.
The Preview is on your right. It’s a preview of what the extraction form will look like. When you change something in the Editor, the change will be reflected in the Preview.
The Item settings are on your left. Select an item in the Editor to change its settings, such as instructions to extractors.
To add an item, select the Add (+) button above where you want to add the item and choose one of the following options:
Text fields, single choice items, checkboxes, and tables allow you to communicate item specific instructions to your extractors. For example, for a single choice item, you might want to communicate to your extractors that they should only select an option if specific criteria are met. To add instructions, select the item, and then add the text in Item settings. The text will appear in the extraction form under the item’s label.
You’ll need to press Save in the upper right corner to retain any changes you’ve made to your template. If your template isn’t published yet, press Publish and reviewers will be able to start extracting their first study. To start extraction, you must publish a data extraction template, however quality assessment is optional.
Note: If you start extracting a study, you will not be able to change the form for that study. If you're unsure about whether you'll need to make changes, pilot your form outside of Covidence first.
To find more information on this method of extracting data in Covidence, check out the Covidence Knowledge Base.
Once you’ve published your data extraction template, a Begin extraction button will appear for each study. Select Begin extraction to start extracting. The study's PDF should appear on the left. PDFs need to be uploaded during full text review. On the right side is the data extraction or quality assessment form. Use the tabs to switch between them. You can change the relative width of the PDF panel and the extraction panel by clicking ad dragging the divider.
Each text field and single choice item has a comment. Select the comment icon to enter a comment. This will be visible during consensus, but not to the other reviewer.
To access the QA tool for a study, select the Quality Assessment tab. Quality assessment is optional. If there's no Quality Assessment tab, then the quality assessment template hasn't been published.
Select Save periodically and when you leave the extraction screen. Once you’ve finished data extraction and quality assessment for that study, press Send for Consensus. At the moment, once you’ve sent the form to consensus, this can’t be undone
Once two reviewers have extracted data, you will need to compare their data and come to consensus. It is consensus data which will be exported later on. You can access comparison and consensus from the summary section in the Data Extraction navigation pane.
If a reviewer has not collected certain data points, the cell will be outlined in red. Missing data will be greyed out.
A review is automatically assigned to the reviewer that selects Save or Send to consensus first within the study.