Buhos review
A free, end-to-end workspace for individual and collaborative systematic reviews.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Buhos is open-source software for developing and managing systematic literature reviews. It supports both individual and group-based reviews, making it suitable for researchers who need a structured process from literature discovery through reporting. The workflow includes search, reference importing, duplicate detection, title and abstract screening, full-text review, information extraction, quality assessment, and report generation. It runs on the web and supports Windows, macOS, and Linux. The BSD 3-Clause license also allows it to be installed locally or deployed online on an independent web server.
Its ecosystem fit is a notable strength for research teams working across established literature databases and reference managers. Buhos supports imports from BibTeX, RIS, PubMed/NBIB, JSON, and CSV, and connects with Crossref, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCOhost, SciELO, Lilacs, and ProQuest. Crossref-based DOI deduplication and reference lookup support the early stages of review work. During screening, reviewers can record decisions, comments, tags, and inclusion or exclusion criteria. Internal messaging and reviewer assignment add coordination within the review workspace.
The product’s depth extends beyond screening: repositories support PDF and ODF files with online viewing, while custom forms cover information extraction and quality assessment. PRISMA flow diagrams and process, extraction, and decision reports support review documentation, with exports to BibTeX, Excel, and GraphML. This breadth makes Buhos a strong fit for teams seeking a free, end-to-end systematic review environment. It is less suitable for researchers wanting a narrowly focused screening tool or a managed service without responsibility for local installation or independent-server deployment.
Buhos pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Covers screening, extraction, quality assessment, reporting, and full-text review
- Imports BibTeX, RIS, PubMed/NBIB, JSON, and CSV references
- Supports collaboration with reviewer assignments, comments, tags, and messaging
- Where it doesn't
- Local or independent-server deployment requires technical setup
- Focused on systematic literature review workflows rather than broader research work
- Export options are limited to BibTeX, Excel, and GraphML
Buhos fact sheet, pricing and score →
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