Screen an article

First ask an AI assistant to build a tool using the prompt below. Then compare it with the example further down this page.

Practice material, not research evidence. The three example articles are invented. This tool records your judgement; it does not use AI to evaluate articles or make decisions for you.

The example saves your work on this browser and device when storage is available. Download a project backup to restore it on another device or if browser data is cleared. Anyone using this browser may be able to see the saved work. Do not enter patient data or confidential material. Follow local policy and check copyright before pasting article text.

1. Ask AI to build a tool

Copy this prompt into an AI assistant you already have, then save and open the HTML it creates. Test it with fictional examples. Compare it with the prepared example below. Download this example HTML to inspect its source code and run a copy locally.

Coding prompt

Build a single self-contained HTML, CSS and JavaScript webpage to help me manually screen search results for a hospital pharmacy research project. The question is: how can a pharmacist-led antibiotic review improve care for adult hospital inpatients? First suggest three clear, editable screening criteria based on the research question (population, intervention and relevant outcomes), and invite me to review and refine them. Then build the tool with those criteria displayed as named fields for every article, each with a manual Meets, Does not meet, Unclear or Not assessed response. Allow me to edit the criterion wording, and warn me to revisit existing responses if it changes. Include editable inclusion and exclusion criteria; clearly labelled illustrative sample article titles and abstracts; manual Include, Exclude, Uncertain and Unscreened decisions; fields for the reason and notes on relevance, study methods and limitations; progress counts; a form to paste an additional article; previous/next controls; CSV export of records, each criterion and its response, criteria and notes; and a reset button. Do not make automatic screening or quality claims. Make it clear that decisions require human review and that an abstract may not contain enough information. Keep all processing in the browser, make no network requests, save work in this browser with a clear privacy notice, give users a way to download and restore a portable JSON project backup, handle unavailable storage and invalid backups, and warn that browser data can be cleared. Validate backup files and protect spreadsheet exports against formula injection. Make it responsive, keyboard accessible and usable without an account or external dependencies. Explain how to save and open the HTML file, and provide a small set of tests I can perform on sample data. Do not use real patient information.

You can also ask the assistant to propose criteria for your own question first. Review and agree them before asking it to build the tool; AI suggestions are a starting point, not a protocol.

Try a challenge: ask the assistant how its tool handles missing abstracts, unexpected inputs, resetting and exporting. Test its answers independently.

2. Try the prepared example

Use the fictional articles below to compare the working tool with the one you created.

Define your criteria

These are the rules you agree in advance for deciding which search results are relevant to your question. The tool displays them for you to apply; it does not screen articles automatically. Edit the examples to suit your question. If you change them after screening, revisit your earlier decisions and criterion responses.

These editable checks are examples of criteria an AI assistant might suggest. The reviewer decides what each article says; the tool does not apply them automatically.

Criterion 1Criterion 2Criterion 3IncludeExclude

Review carefully

Use the abstract for an initial decision. Screening checks relevance; it does not establish quality. Inspect the full text and use a study-design-appropriate, established critical appraisal tool before drawing conclusions. Formal reviews may require independent reviewers. CASP offers teaching checklists for different study designs; choose a tool appropriate to your purpose.

Article review

Check each criterion

Choose a response for each criterion based on the information available. Use Unclear when the abstract does not say; these checks do not make a screening decision for you.

Your screening decisionIncludeExcludeUncertainUnscreened

Reason for your decisionRelevance, methods and limitations to check

Save and restore your project

Checking browser storage…

Your browser’s saved copy stays on this device and can be cleared by browser settings. Download a JSON backup to keep or move your project; restore it here later. CSV is for viewing results in a spreadsheet.

Restore project backup

Restoring a backup replaces the project currently on this page. Never use this browser for confidential information on a shared computer.

Export includes the article text, criteria, decision and notes. A CSV opens in spreadsheet software; it is not a substitute for your review’s screening protocol.

Add an article to review

Paste only material you are permitted to use. Added articles are saved with this project on this browser when storage is available.

Reset removes entered articles and decisions, restores the example criteria and removes this project’s saved browser copy. Download a backup first if you want to keep it.

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