Revolution in literature screening

On 21 January 2025, Rens van der Schoot, Frans Folkvord and Elena Jalsovec visited the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences to present their open source tool ASReview (AI-aided Open Source Systematic Review Software) as part of the EU Horizon project IMPROVE. Rens van der Schoot, head of the ASReview group and the AI Lab at Utrecht University, presented the innovative tool as part of a workshop organised by the project.

The EU Horizon project IMPROVE (Implementing Patient-Reported Outcomes for Value-Based Healthcare), represented at the St. Pölten UAS by the Research Group Inclusive Digital Community Care (Eva Turk, Martin Ernst, Yvonne Prinzellner) of the Centre for Digital Health & Social Innovation, aims to systematically use patient-generated health data to promote value-based healthcare.

The workshop provided an exciting opportunity to gain insights into the practical application of the ASReview tool, which is also being used with great success at IMPROVE. The tool has already been used when the entire IMPROVE team screened over 12,000 articles in two days for the project in Utrecht.

ASReview: An innovative tool for systematic literature searches

The open source tool ASReview has been specially developed to identify relevant literature for systematic reviews in an efficient and targeted manner. With the help of machine learning algorithms, ASReview supports researchers in optimising their search processes and minimising time-consuming screening processes.

Ursula Trübswasser summarised her enthusiasm as follows: ‘Yesterday's workshop was a revelation for me! The fact that with ASReview you don't have to limit yourself with databases or search criteria, but on the contrary can search as broadly as possible, because the AI-supported screening can reduce the workload by up to 80%, is so fascinating that I definitely want to use the tool for reviews but also for applications!’.

The thematic focus of the workshop was on the presentation of the tool and its application in scientific practice. The innovative technology was very well received by the participants and was clearly demonstrated in interactive practical examples.

Organised by the Research Group Inclusive Digital Community Care

The workshop was organised by CDSHI. Eva Turk, STPUAS PI in the IMPROVE project, says about the organisation of the workshop: ‘When Martin and I used ASReview during the screenathon, I thought it would be fantastic to familiarise our researchers with it’ Researchers from various departments of the St. Pölten UAS took part in the event and exchanged ideas about the possibilities that ASReview and comparable technologies offer for their scientific work.

Bernhard Dumphart was also impressed: ‘I found the workshop very interesting and will certainly use ASReview for my future research, not only as a review tool, but also for general literature research.’

An informative and insightful exchange

The event was a complete success and impressively demonstrated how AI technologies such as ASReview can be integrated into research processes to efficiently achieve high-quality results. Participants particularly praised the practical presentation and application examples, which made the workshop an inspiring experience.