Buhos vs Litmaps

Buhos is web-based software for conducting systematic literature reviews, with tools for reference screening, full-text management, collaboration, analysis and reporting. Reviews can be individual or group-based, with internal messaging for personal and review-related communication. The workflow has defined stages, but stages can be changed at any point. Buhos imports bibliographic records in formats including BibTeX, RIS, PubMed/NBIB, JSON and CSV, from sources such as WoS, Scopus, EBSCOhost, SciELO, PubMed, Lilacs and ProQuest. Crossref supports deduplication and reference information retrieval; Scopus and PubMed can supply missing abstracts and metadata when API credentials are available. A repository provides online viewing of PDF and ODF files. Other tools include customized forms, data analysis, reports and exports. English and Spanish are listed as available languages. Buhos runs on Linux, Windows and macOS; the project links to deployment guidance and API documentation. Its documentation says it fully supports the conducting phase of a review, partly supports report formatting, and omits some planning and reporting activities. Buhos is free.

Litmaps is a web-based research tool that uses citation networks and advanced search to help researchers find papers and conduct literature reviews. Its search catalogue contains more than 270 million papers. A Litmap visualizes connections among articles through citations and references; users can annotate papers and change how the map is arranged. Topic monitoring sends automatic emails when new articles appear, and maps can be shared as images, public links, or with selected email addresses. The free plan costs nothing and includes basic search, up to 20 inputs and 100 articles, one Litmap, and a monthly summary, but no collaboration. Pro (Education) costs $10 a month, billed $120 / year - save 20%; it adds advanced search, unlimited inputs, articles, and Litmaps, plus daily or configurable alerts, and requires an academic email address. Litmaps Pro syncs Zotero collections with Litmaps Tags in both directions. Articles can also be imported from BibTeX, RIS, or PubMed files and exported in BibTeX, RIS, or CSV formats. Open Access PDFs are available to all users; other PDF access requires institutional access through LibKey.