ReviewAid vs Universal SLR Assistant
ReviewAid
reviewaid.github.ioUniversal SLR Assistant
sadeghanisi.github.ioSide by side
| Figure | ReviewAid | Universal SLR Assistant |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Systematic Review Software | 8.3 (#5) | 8.2 (#6) |
| AI providers | The maker lists OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek, Cohere, Z.ai, and local Ollama as supported providers. | Provider options include OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, Ollama, OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Mistral, Kimi, xAI, LM Studio, vLLM, LocalAI, and custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints. |
| Exports | Screening and extraction results can be downloaded as CSV, XLSX, or DOCX. | Workspace exports include decision CSV/XLSX files, AI and human decision logs, exclusion reasons, PRISMA-ready counts, a methods draft and a manifest. |
| Intended users | The maker says ReviewAid was built to assist researchers, especially those involved in evidence synthesis. | It is intended for PhD students, researchers, professors, evidence synthesis teams, and systematic or scoping review authors. |
| Local inference | With Ollama, inference runs locally and the maker says paper text is not sent to external servers. | Ollama and other local endpoints can keep paper text on the user's computer or local network, depending on hosting. |
| Privacy | The maker says API keys are not stored, and paper text is sent only to the selected provider; with Ollama, the text stays on the local machine. | The Web App binds to 127.0.0.1 for local use and is not intended as a public multi-user service. |
| Purpose | ReviewAid is an open-source AI tool for full-text screening and data extraction in systematic reviews. | Universal SLR Assistant supports systematic and scoping review workflows with AI-assisted screening, extraction, and reproducible outputs. |
| Support | The maker pages opened did not state a support channel. | The project directs users to the Complete User Guide, in-app Help panel, output logs, tests, and GitHub issues for support. |
Plans
In their own words
ReviewAid
ReviewAid is a free, open-source AI tool for full-text screening and data extraction in systematic reviews. Researchers can provide PICO inclusion and exclusion criteria for classifying papers, then define which fields they want extracted. The tool reports confidence scores and marks low-confidence results for manual review. Downloads are available as CSV, XLSX, or DOCX. ReviewAid supports OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek, Cohere, Z.ai, and local Ollama. When a cloud provider is selected, paper text is sent to that provider for the run; with Ollama, inference takes place on the local machine and the text remains there. The maker says API keys are not stored. Users can work in a browser-based Streamlit app or install locally with Python 3.12 or later and Streamlit on Windows, macOS, or Linux. Hosted sessions may take about 30 seconds to initialize. Submission guidance caps full-text screening at 10 articles and extraction at 20 per submission. ReviewAid is licensed under Apache 2.0 and is described as a supplementary reviewer, not a substitute for manual screening or extraction.
Universal SLR Assistant
Universal SLR Assistant supports systematic and scoping reviews with AI-assisted screening, extraction, and reproducible outputs. It provides a desktop interface and a browser-based local Web App, and imports RIS, BibTeX, CSV, and plain-text references, including exports from PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Its workflow covers abstract screening, full-text PDF processing, structured extraction, and export; likely duplicates are identified by DOI and fuzzy title matching. Workspace mode stores references, PDF metadata, review items, decisions, and audit events in a local SQLite workspace, separating AI suggestions from human decisions. Exports can include decision files and logs, exclusion reasons, PRISMA-ready counts, a methods disclosure draft, and a manifest. The project supports a range of cloud and local AI providers. Cloud providers receive submitted paper text, while Ollama or another local endpoint can keep it on the user's computer or local network. AI results are assistance only: people must verify them and make final review and reporting decisions. The software is free under the MIT License; cloud AI provider API fees may apply.