colrev

CoLRev is an open-source environment for collaborative literature reviews. It integrates with different synthesis tools, takes care of the data, and facilitates Git-based collaboration.

To accomplish these goals, CoLRev advances the design of review technology at the intersection of methods, design, cognition, and community building. The following features stand out:

• Supports all literature review steps: problem formulation, search, dedupe, (pre)screen, PDF retrieval and preparation, and synthesis
• An open and extensible environment based on shared data and process standards
• Builds on git and its transparent collaboration model for the entire literature review process
• Builds on peer-reviewed libraries developed for CoLRev: search-query for loading, linting, translating, saving, improving, and automating academic search queries, and BibDedupe for bibliographic record deduplication
• Offers a self-explanatory, fault-tolerant, and configurable user workflow
• Operates a model for data quality, content curation, and reuse
• Enables typological and methodological pluralism throughout the process

For details, consult the documentation.

Demo

You can try a live demonstration of CoLRev via GitHub Codespaces: start demo.

Related work (preview)

The following shows a comparison of CoLRev with related tools.

Criteria	CoLRev	LitStudy	BUHOS	Covidence
Review types
Supports different genres of review methods	✅	❌	❌	❌
Extensibility	✅	⚠️	⚠️	❌
Process steps
Review objectives and protocol	✅	✅	✅	✅
Search	✅	✅	✅	✅
Duplicate handling	✅	⚠️	⚠️	⚠️
(Pre)Screen	✅	⚠️	✅	✅
Data extraction	✅	⚠️	✅	✅
Data analysis and quality appraisal	✅	⚠️	✅	✅
Synthesis and reporting	✅	✅	✅	✅
Process qualities
Extensibility	✅	✅	❌	❌
Extensions	111	0	0	0
Search updates	✅	❌	⚠️	⚠️
Search: APIs	✅ (19)	✅ (7)	❌	❌
Metadata preparation	✅	✅	✅	⚠️
Retract checks	✅	❌	❌	✅
PDF retrieval	✅	❌	❌	✅
PDF preparation	✅	❌	⚠️	⚠️
Status tracking	✅	❌	✅	✅
Collaboration
Large teams	✅	⚠️	⚠️	⚠️
Algorithms	✅	✅	⚠️	⚠️
Data management
Transparency	✅	❌	❌	❌
Validation	✅	❌	❌	❌
Reporting (e.g., PRISMA)	✅	❌	✅	✅
Publication of review	✅	✅	❌	❌
Platform
OSI-approved license	✅	✅	✅	❌
Peer-reviewed	⚠️ Core libraries peer-reviewed	✅	✅	❌
Technology	Python	Python	Ruby	Proprietary
Setup	Local or cloud	Local or cloud	Server	Server
Interface	CLI, Programmatic (GUI planned)	Jupyter Notebook	Web-UI	Web-UI
Contributors				NA
Commits				NA
Last commit				NA
Pull requests				NA
Forks				NA
Last release				NA
Current release				NA

Contributing, changes, and releases

Contributions, code and features are always welcome

• See contributing guidelines, help page, and GitHub repository.
• Bug reports or feedback? Please use the issue tracker and let us know.
• To get your work included, fork the repository, implement your changes, and create a pull request.

For further information, see tests, changes, and releases.

Thank You to Our Contributors

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License

This project is distributed under the MIT License the documentation is distributed under the CC-0 license. If you contribute to the project, you agree to share your contribution following these licenses.

Citing CoLRev

Please cite the project as follows:

Wagner, G. and Prester, J. (2026) CoLRev - An open-source environment for Collaborative Literature Reviews. Available at https://github.com/CoLRev-Environment/colrev. doi:10.5281/zenodo.11668338