ActiveSLR review
A free web-based review workflow with AI screening support and dual-review reconciliation.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
ActiveSLR is a web-based platform for systematic literature reviews, aimed at individuals as well as institutional and commercial research teams. It covers reference management, title and abstract screening, full-text PDF screening, quality checks, data extraction and reporting. Its workflow is particularly relevant to teams coordinating multiple reviewers: screening supports conflict reconciliation, while customizable exclusion criteria and extraction tables let teams shape parts of the review process. AI features include PICO extraction from PDFs, searchable text parsing and screening suggestions.
All three published plans are free. Explorer is for individuals and includes up to 2,000 citations, 2 active reviews and a maximum of 3 users. Scholar is for research institutions and universities, while Corporate is for commercial organizations; both offer unlimited citations, active reviews and users, subject to identity verification. The plans share screening, AI-driven PICO and data extraction. Corporate is described as providing full functionality. This structure suits teams that can meet the relevant eligibility requirements, while individuals with larger projects may need to consider the institutional or corporate options.
The strongest fit is a review team that needs a coordinated PDF screening process, duplicate handling, AI-assisted extraction and direct PubMed importing. Full-text screening can retrieve open-access PDFs automatically, and reports can be exported to Excel. The listed integration is PubMed, and Excel is the stated export format, so teams dependent on other research-system connections or export formats should assess that constraint before choosing ActiveSLR. It is available on the web, with email support and documentation listed. Choose it for its focused review workflow and free plans; look elsewhere if broader integrations or export choices are central to the process.
ActiveSLR pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Dual-review screening includes conflict reconciliation.
- PDF screening supports automatic open-access retrieval and searchable text.
- AI PICO extraction, screening suggestions and PubMed import are included.
- Where it doesn't
- Explorer is limited to 2,000 citations and 2 active reviews.
- Excel is the listed export format.
- PubMed is the listed integration.
ActiveSLR fact sheet, pricing and score →
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