PICO Form Guide
What is PICO?
PICO stands for Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcomes. It is the standard framework for defining systematic review criteria.
Fields
- Population: Who are you studying? (e.g., "Adults aged 18+ with HER2-positive gastric cancer")
- Intervention: What treatment/exposure? (e.g., "Trastuzumab-based regimens")
- Comparator: What are you comparing against? (e.g., "Standard chemotherapy alone")
- Outcomes: What results matter? (e.g., "Overall survival, progression-free survival, objective response rate")
Additional criteria
Study design
Choose which study types to include or exclude. Options include randomized controlled trials (RCTs), observational studies, cohort studies, case-control studies, cross-sectional studies, case reports, and more. You can set this to include only certain designs or exclude specific ones.
Language policy
- Include all languages: Screen papers in any language (recommended for comprehensive reviews)
- English only: Automatically exclude non-English papers
- Flag for review: Non-English papers are flagged so you can decide manually
Date range
Restrict to papers published within a specific year range. Useful for reviews that focus on recent evidence or a defined time period.
Conference abstracts
- Include: Conference abstracts are screened like any other paper
- Exclude: Conference abstracts are automatically excluded
- Flag for review: Conference abstracts are flagged for your manual decision
Preprints
- Include: Preprints are screened normally
- Exclude: Preprints are automatically excluded
- Flag for review: Preprints are flagged for your manual decision
Existing reviews
Control how systematic reviews and meta-analyses found in your search are handled:
- Include: Treated like any other paper
- Exclude: Automatically excluded
- Categorize: Kept separately for reference (useful for identifying related reviews)
Papers with no abstract
- Exclude: Papers without an abstract are excluded (safer)
- Screen by title only: The AI will make a decision based on the title alone
Inclusion & exclusion criteria
Add custom rules in free text. Be as specific as possible, since these go directly into the AI's screening instructions. For example:
- *Include:* "Studies reporting overall survival as a primary or secondary outcome"
- *Exclude:* "Animal studies, in vitro studies, studies with fewer than 10 participants"
Screening philosophy
Choose how liberal or conservative the AI should be:
- Generous: When in doubt, include (higher sensitivity, more papers to review)
- Balanced: Default middle ground
- Strict: When in doubt, exclude (higher precision, fewer papers but may miss some)
You can also fine-tune with a slider for more granular control.
Preview
Before starting screening, you can preview exactly what the AI will use to evaluate each paper. This lets you refine your criteria until they're precise.