
Rayyan - Detailed Review
Research Tools

Rayyan - Product Overview
Introduction to Rayyan
Rayyan is an AI-driven research collaboration platform that significantly streamlines the process of conducting systematic literature reviews and other large-scale literature reviews. Here’s a breakdown of its primary function, target audience, and key features:Primary Function
Rayyan is designed to help researchers save time and increase efficiency during systematic reviews and literature reviews. It uses advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing to analyze and filter large volumes of research articles, making it easier to identify relevant studies and extract necessary information.Target Audience
Rayyan is primarily aimed at researchers, including master students, PhD candidates, and academic staff. It is also used by information specialists, librarians, and anyone involved in evidence-based decision-making. With over 450,000 users, it caters to a global research community across various disciplines.Key Features
Reference Import and Management
Rayyan allows users to import references from various reference managers like EndNote, Zotero, and Mendeley. It supports multiple file formats and can handle large datasets, including compressed files.De-Duplication
The platform features an advanced de-duplication tool that accurately identifies and removes duplicate references, ensuring a clean and organized dataset.Relevance Ranking
Rayyan learns from user decisions and provides a 5-star relevance ranking for articles, helping researchers quickly identify the most relevant studies.Collaboration Tools
It enables multiple users to screen references independently (blinded) and collaborate on reviews. Users can invite collaborators, track progress, and communicate through a built-in chat feature.Intelligent Search and Filtering
The platform includes an intelligent search bar and keyword highlighting, which help in quickly finding relevant articles. It also detects PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome) elements with high confidence levels.PRISMA Compliance
Rayyan generates pre-set PRISMA flowcharts, which are essential for systematic reviews, ensuring adherence to PRISMA guidelines and enhancing the reproducibility of research.Mobile App
The Rayyan mobile app allows researchers to work on reviews on-the-go, even offline, turning fragmented time into productive hours.Time-Saving
Studies have shown that using Rayyan can reduce the time spent on title/abstract screening by up to 46%, with high sensitivity and accuracy in identifying relevant references. Overall, Rayyan is a powerful tool that simplifies and accelerates the systematic review process, making it an indispensable resource for researchers worldwide.
Rayyan - User Interface and Experience
User Interface Overview
The user interface of Rayyan, an AI-driven research collaboration platform, is crafted to be intuitive, efficient, and highly user-friendly, particularly for researchers conducting systematic literature reviews and evidence synthesis projects.Customization and Accessibility
Rayyan offers several customization options to enhance user comfort and accessibility. Users can choose from different interface themes, including Light, Dark, and Color Blind modes, allowing them to select the theme that best suits their preferences.Font and Screen Adjustments
Additionally, the font size can be adjusted to ensure comfortable reading and reduce eye strain during extended review sessions. The screen alignment can also be set to either Horizontal or Vertical, providing flexibility in how users view the interface.Streamlined Workflow
The platform simplifies the review process through a series of streamlined features. Users can easily create a new review, upload and manage references, and invite collaborators in a simple 1-2-3 step process. The ability to copy references within reviews and export results in various formats facilitates smooth collaboration and report generation.Efficient Decision-Making
Rayyan’s improved relevance rating system allows users to evaluate article relevance more accurately. The system provides a comprehensive relevance ranking, enabling users to sort articles by the most or least relevant, thus prioritizing content effectively. The inclusion and exclusion decisions tab is conveniently located above the list of reference articles, keeping the review process organized.Collaboration and Offline Work
The platform supports real-time collaboration, allowing multiple researchers to work together on reviews from anywhere, even offline. The Rayyan Mobile App enables users to download their reviews, work on the go, and sync their progress when they reconnect online. This feature is particularly useful for researchers who need to manage their time efficiently and work in various settings.Filtering and Labeling
Rayyan’s filters are redesigned for ease of use, allowing users to track and access them easily. Users can apply Boolean operators (AND and OR) to filter combinations, increasing the control and accuracy of search results. The ability to add and remove multiple keywords and phrases for inclusion or exclusion further enhances the filtering process.User Feedback and Support
The platform is developed with continuous feedback from its users. Rayyan’s team actively seeks input from members to improve the platform, ensuring it meets the diverse needs of its community. The Help Center provides extensive resources, including tutorials, FAQs, and support articles, along with a built-in chat feature for immediate assistance.Overall User Experience
Users have consistently praised Rayyan for its ease of use, intuitive interface, and significant time-saving benefits. The platform is described as “very seamless, easy to use, and expedites the review process” and has been credited with saving researchers “countless hours” by streamlining the systematic review process.Conclusion
In summary, Rayyan’s user interface is designed to be highly accessible, efficient, and user-friendly, making it an invaluable tool for researchers conducting systematic literature reviews. Its customizable features, streamlined workflow, and robust collaboration tools ensure a positive and productive user experience.
Rayyan - Key Features and Functionality
Rayyan Overview
Rayyan is an AI-powered research collaboration platform that significantly streamlines the process of conducting systematic reviews, literature reviews, and evidence synthesis projects. Here are the main features and how they work, along with their benefits and the integration of AI:Importing References
Rayyan allows you to upload references from various sources, including up to 10 files of 100MB each in industry-standard file formats, as well as directly from Mendeley’s vast repository of over 100 million reference articles. This feature simplifies the initial step of gathering references for your review.De-Duplication
Rayyan’s advanced de-duplication feature automatically identifies and removes duplicate references, ensuring you don’t waste time reviewing the same article twice. This feature is highly accurate and sensitive, detecting both exact matches and potential duplicates.Collaboration
You can invite an unlimited number of collaborators, reviewers, or viewers to work on your review. This collaborative feature allows team members to work together from anywhere, at any time, via the web or the mobile app. Collaboration is enhanced by the built-in chat feature, which facilitates communication among team members.Annotation and Decision Making
Users can make inclusion decisions, assign labels, provide reasons for exclusion, and add notes to references. All decisions and annotations are automatically recorded and can be exported. The platform also allows you to toggle between inclusion and exclusion decisions easily, keeping your review process organized.Blind Mode
To eliminate human bias, Rayyan offers a Blind Mode feature. This mode hides journal and author information while screening articles, ensuring unbiased decision-making throughout the review process.Relevance Ranking
Rayyan uses AI to learn from your decisions and provide a 5-star relevance ranking for all remaining articles. This ranking helps you prioritize articles based on their relevance, making the review process more efficient.Keywords and Intelligent Search
You can enter precise keywords for inclusion and exclusion, filter by these keywords, and use keyword highlighting to quickly spot relevant articles. The intelligent search bar returns relevant articles, including word variations, to help you find all pertinent studies faster.PICO Elements Detection
Rayyan detects all PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome) elements with a 70% confidence level or higher, highlighting them to help you identify relevant articles quickly. You can use PICO filters with truncated search terms to find all relevant articles efficiently.PRISMA Flowchart
The platform generates a pre-set, ready-to-use PRISMA flowchart, saving you the labor of creating one from scratch. This feature ensures adherence to PRISMA guidelines and enhances the reproducibility of your research.Mobile App
Rayyan’s mobile app allows you to work on reviews on-the-go or offline, turning fragmented time into productive hours. You can perform various tasks such as making inclusion decisions, adding labels, and filtering references, all from your mobile device.Data Extraction and Customization Logs
Rayyan facilitates smooth data extraction and provides customization logs that record all decisions, labels, and exclusion reasons. This log helps in tracking all actions and customizations made during the review process.Theme Customization and Accessibility
The platform offers theme customization options, including Light, Dark, and Color Blind modes, as well as font size adjustment and screen alignment (horizontal or vertical). These features ensure comfortable reading and reduce eye strain during long review sessions.Auto-Scroll and Filter Management
Rayyan’s auto-scroll feature saves time by automatically scrolling to the next article after making a decision. The redesigned filters allow you to track and access them easily, and you can view Boolean operators (AND and OR) applied to your filter combinations, increasing control and accuracy of search results.Export Results
You can export your review results in various formats, enabling smooth collaboration and report generation. This feature helps in organizing and presenting your findings efficiently.Conclusion
In summary, Rayyan integrates AI through features like relevance ranking, PICO elements detection, and intelligent search, which learn from your decisions and help streamline the review process. These features, combined with its collaborative tools and mobile accessibility, make Rayyan a powerful tool for researchers conducting systematic reviews and literature reviews.
Rayyan - Performance and Accuracy
Performance and Accuracy of Rayyan
The performance and accuracy of Rayyan, an AI tool designed for systematic literature reviews (SLRs), have been evaluated in several studies, highlighting both its strengths and limitations.
Performance Metrics
- Sensitivity: Rayyan has shown high sensitivity across various outcomes, ranging from 79% to 100%. This is particularly high for clinical (88%-96%) and humanistic outcomes (96%-100%).
- Specificity: While sensitivity is high, specificity is generally lower, ranging from 8% to 62%. This indicates that while Rayyan is good at including relevant references, it may struggle with excluding irrelevant ones.
- Positive Predictive Value (PPV) and Negative Predictive Value (NPV): PPV is relatively low, ranging from 3% to 44%, whereas NPV is high, ranging from 90% to 100%. This suggests that Rayyan is more reliable in excluding irrelevant references than in accurately identifying all relevant ones.
- Accuracy: The overall accuracy of Rayyan varies widely, from 10% to 64%, reflecting the tool’s mixed performance in balancing sensitivity and specificity.
Time Savings
- Using Rayyan can result in significant time savings, particularly when combined with human reviewers. For example, in one study, the use of one AI-assisted reviewer and one human reviewer reduced the time spent on title/abstract screening by 50% for clinical outcomes.
- The time savings are more pronounced with larger training sets. A 20% training set resulted in a 46% decrease in hours spent on TIAB screening compared to human reviewers alone.
Limitations
- Training Set Dependency: Rayyan’s performance is heavily dependent on the quality and size of the training set. If the training set lacks sufficient references that meet the SLR eligibility criteria, Rayyan may not effectively identify relevant literature.
- Full-Text Screening: Currently, Rayyan is limited to title/abstract screening and does not support full-text screening due to challenges such as interpreting tables and figures.
- Quality Checks: It is recommended to dedicate time to quality checks of references excluded by AI to ensure accuracy, as AI-assisted screening may not always be perfect.
Areas for Improvement
- Specificity Improvement: The low-to-moderate specificity values limit the full potential of time-saving benefits. Further research is needed to enhance Rayyan’s ability to differentiate between relevant and irrelevant references more accurately.
- Validation Across Different Reviews: The current studies are based on a limited number of SLRs. Future research should validate Rayyan’s performance across various types and sizes of literature reviews to ensure generalizability.
Conclusion
In summary, Rayyan demonstrates high sensitivity and potential for significant time savings in the title/abstract screening phase of SLRs. However, its specificity and overall accuracy need improvement, and it requires careful validation and quality checks to maintain methodological rigor.

Rayyan - Pricing and Plans
Rayyan.ai offers a structured pricing structure with various plans to cater to different needs of researchers and institutions. Here’s a breakdown of the available plans and their features:
Free Plan
- This plan is free of charge and includes several essential features.
- Users can have up to three active reviews at a time.
- It supports unlimited reviewers for each review.
- Features include industry-leading duplicates detection, a workbench with over 15 facets and filters, AI-powered relevance ratings, and standard support.
- Collaborators must have their own Rayyan accounts to participate in reviews.
Student Plan
- This plan is priced at $4.99 per month when billed annually.
- It includes all the features from the Free plan.
- Additional features include:
- Unlimited active reviews
- PRISMA Flow Diagram Generator
- Auto Resolve Duplicates
- PICO Highlighting & Filtering
- Relevance Rating Filters
- Multi-Select & Bulk Actions
- Create Randomized Samples
- Mobile App Access
- Programmable Keyboard Shortcuts
- Dark Theme
- Standard Support.
Professional Plan
- This plan costs $8.33 per month when billed annually.
- It includes all the features from the Student plan.
- Additional features include:
- Priority Support
- High Priority Support is emphasized for this tier.
Pro Team Plus Plan
- This plan is designed for larger teams or organizations.
- It includes all the features from the Professional Individual plan.
- Additional features focus on advanced review management and top-tier support, though specific details are not listed in the sources provided.
Key Points
- Subscription Renewal: All subscriptions are set to auto-renew at the end of each billing cycle. Users will receive a reminder 5 days before the renewal date with instructions on how to cancel if needed.
- Data Security: If a subscription is canceled, the data remains secure and accessible, but access to premium features will be lost. For the free plan, reviews exceeding the three active review limit will be switched to “read-only” mode.

Rayyan - Integration and Compatibility
Rayyan: An AI-Powered Research Collaboration Platform
Rayyan, an AI-powered research collaboration platform, integrates seamlessly with various tools and offers broad compatibility across different platforms and devices. Here are some key points regarding its integration and compatibility:Compatibility with Citation Managers and File Formats
Rayyan is compatible with several industry-standard file formats, including EndNote (.enw), RIS, CSV, and PubMed XML. This allows users to import references from citation managers like RefWorks or EndNote, making the process of uploading records efficient.Integration with Mendeley
Users can search Mendeley’s repository of over 100 million reference articles and import their saved collections directly into Rayyan. This feature simplifies the process of gathering references for literature and systematic reviews.Web and Mobile App
Rayyan offers both a web application and a mobile app, ensuring users can work on their reviews from anywhere, at any time. The mobile app is available for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, allowing for real-time collaboration and offline work capabilities.Real-Time Collaboration
The platform enables unlimited collaborators, reviewers, or viewers to work together via the web or mobile app. This real-time collaboration feature facilitates teamwork and ensures all decisions and actions are recorded and accessible.Offline Capabilities
The Rayyan mobile app allows users to download their reviews and work offline, which is particularly useful for those who need to work on the go or in areas with limited internet connectivity.PRISMA and PICO Elements
Rayyan generates pre-set, ready-to-use PRISMA flowcharts and detects PICO elements with a high confidence level, which helps in maintaining adherence to systematic review guidelines and streamlining the review process.Additional Features
The platform includes features like de-duplication, auto-resolver for duplicates, annotation, and intelligent search, all of which enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the review process. It also includes a built-in chat feature for team communication and support.Conclusion
In summary, Rayyan’s integration with various citation managers, its compatibility with multiple file formats, and its availability on both web and mobile platforms make it a versatile and efficient tool for conducting systematic and literature reviews.
Rayyan - Customer Support and Resources
Customer Support Options
Rayyan, an AI-driven systematic review management platform, offers a comprehensive set of customer support options and additional resources to ensure users can efficiently utilize the tool.Help Center
Rayyan’s Help Center is a one-stop resource for all user queries. Here, you can:Search for Answers
Access How-to Articles
Refer to FAQs
Community Forum
The Help Center also includes a community forum where users can engage with each other. You can:Search Conversations
Explore Available Topics
Start a Discussion
Support Requests
Users can submit a support request directly through the Help Center. This involves:Submitting a Request
Detailing Your Query
Understanding Response Times
Additional Features and Support
Rayyan offers additional support features, especially for paid memberships:VIP Support
Live Trainings
Additional Features
Product Documentation and Guides
The platform provides extensive documentation and guides, such as information on creating reviews, uploading references, and managing studies. These resources help ensure transparency, clarity, and traceability in the selection process of systematic reviews. By leveraging these resources, users of Rayyan can efficiently manage their literature and systematic reviews, ensuring a smooth and productive experience.
Rayyan - Pros and Cons
Advantages of Rayyan
Rayyan offers several significant advantages that make it a valuable tool for researchers conducting systematic reviews and literature reviews:Time Efficiency
Rayyan significantly reduces the time spent on systematic reviews and literature reviews. It uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing to help researchers quickly identify relevant articles. The AI-powered 5-star relevance ranking system learns from the reviewers’ decisions, allowing for faster screening of titles and abstracts.Automated Deduplication
Rayyan’s advanced deduplication feature automatically identifies and removes duplicate references, ensuring that researchers do not waste time reviewing the same article twice. This feature is highly accurate and sensitive, making it a standout in the industry.Collaboration and Organization
Rayyan provides a centralized platform for managing, organizing, and collaborating on systematic reviews. Researchers can invite collaborators, assign roles, and track progress. The platform also allows for bulk tagging, exclusion, or inclusion of studies, which streamlines the review process.PRISMA Compliance and Transparency
Rayyan helps researchers generate pre-set, ready-to-use PRISMA flowcharts, which saves time and ensures adherence to PRISMA guidelines. The tool also documents all decisions to include or exclude studies, providing transparency, clarity, and traceability to the selection process.Mobile Accessibility
The Rayyan mobile app allows researchers to work on reviews on-the-go or offline, turning fragmented time into productive hours. This feature is particularly useful for researchers who need to work from anywhere, anytime.Integration and Import Features
Rayyan allows users to import references from various sources, including Mendeley, and supports multiple file formats. This makes it easy to integrate existing reference collections into the platform.Disadvantages of Rayyan
While Rayyan offers many benefits, there are some limitations and potential drawbacks to consider:Specificity and False Positives
Although Rayyan’s AI tool shows high sensitivity in including relevant references, it may have lower specificity, leading to a higher number of false positives. This means additional time may be required to sort through irrelevant references.Training Set Requirements
For certain features, such as the economic evaluation outcome, Rayyan requires a sufficient training set (e.g., 50 references with at least 5 included studies). If this requirement is not met, some features may not be assessable.Dual Screening Efficiency
While AI-assisted screening with Rayyan can save significant time, the time savings for dual screening (one human reviewer and one AI-assisted reviewer) are more modest. This suggests that while AI is helpful, human oversight is still necessary to ensure accuracy.Learning Curve
Although Rayyan is generally easy to use, there may be a learning curve for some users, especially those unfamiliar with AI-powered tools. However, the platform provides extensive guides and support to help users get started. By considering these advantages and disadvantages, researchers can make an informed decision about whether Rayyan is the right tool for their systematic review and literature review needs.
Rayyan - Comparison with Competitors
When Comparing Rayyan to Other AI-Driven Research Tools
Several unique features and potential alternatives stand out.
Unique Features of Rayyan
Rayyan, developed by the Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), is specifically designed for researchers conducting systematic reviews, scoping reviews, and other literature reviews. Here are some of its key features:
- AI-Powered Workbench: Rayyan uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing to help researchers quickly sift through large volumes of literature. It learns from the decisions made by the research team and provides a 5-star relevance ranking for articles.
- Advanced Filtration and Search: Users can enter precise keywords for inclusion and exclusion, filter by indices of keywords, and use keyword highlighting to spot relevant articles faster. The intelligent search bar returns relevant articles including word variations.
- PICO Elements Detection: Rayyan detects and highlights PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) elements with a 70% confidence level or higher, making it easier to identify relevant articles.
- PRISMA Flowchart Generation: It generates pre-set, ready-to-use PRISMA flowcharts, saving time and effort in creating these from scratch.
- Collaboration and Mobile App: Rayyan offers a built-in chat feature for team communication and a mobile app for on-the-go or offline review, turning fragmented time into productive hours.
Potential Alternatives
Scite
Scite is another AI tool that focuses on citation analysis. Here are some key differences and features:
- Smart Citations: Scite analyzes the context in which an article is referenced, showing whether the citing paper supports, contradicts, or mentions the earlier work. This provides deeper insights into the scientific conversation surrounding a subject.
- Citation Reports: Scite generates detailed reports on citation patterns and trends, helping users understand how often a work has been cited and how it is discussed by other researchers.
- Large Dataset: Scite is trained on over 187 million articles, books, preprints, and other datasets, making it a solid choice for those needing comprehensive citation analysis.
Consensus
Consensus is an AI-powered search engine that provides unbiased and accurate information from diverse academic sources:
- AI-Powered Academic Search: Consensus quickly analyzes millions of peer-reviewed research papers to provide comprehensive and accurate answers to users’ questions. It uses GPT-4 to generate concise summaries of the top research findings.
- Scientifically-Verified Results: Consensus only consults previously published, scholarly works from leading global journals and authors, ensuring reliability and accuracy.
- Consensus Meter: It provides an overall summary indicating the consensus among research findings, categorizing them as yes, no, or possibly based on supporting evidence.
HeyMarvin
HeyMarvin is an AI-powered research assistant that centralizes and analyzes data:
- Data Centralization: HeyMarvin brings together qualitative and quantitative data into one repository, making it easier to collect, organize, analyze, and share insights.
- AI Note Taker and Transcription: It summarizes lengthy interviews, makes time-stamped notes, and provides accurate transcription in over 40 languages.
- Search and Collaboration: HeyMarvin allows users to search across data quickly and collaborate in real-time, with a focus on data security and user-friendly interface.
Key Differences
- Focus: Rayyan is specifically tailored for systematic reviews and literature reviews, while Scite focuses on citation analysis, Consensus on academic search and consensus building, and HeyMarvin on data centralization and analysis.
- AI Capabilities: Rayyan uses AI to rank article relevance and detect PICO elements, Scite analyzes citation contexts, Consensus generates summaries using GPT-4, and HeyMarvin aids in data analysis and transcription.
- User Interface and Accessibility: Rayyan offers a mobile app and in-app chat, Scite provides detailed citation reports, Consensus delivers concise summaries, and HeyMarvin features a user-friendly interface with real-time collaboration tools.
Each tool has its unique strengths and is suited to different aspects of the research process, making them valuable alternatives or complements to Rayyan depending on the specific needs of the researcher.

Rayyan - Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get started with Rayyan?
To get started with Rayyan, you can begin by signing in to your Rayyan account. If you’re new, you can create an account and follow the quick start guide. You can easily create a new review, upload and manage references, and invite collaborators in a simple 1-2-3 step process.
How do I import references into Rayyan?
You can import references into Rayyan in several ways. You can upload up to 10 files at a time in various industry-standard file formats, including compressed files. Additionally, you can import references directly from Mendeley, PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO databases, and other sources like IEEE Xplore and Cochrane.
How does Rayyan handle duplicate references?
Rayyan has a highly accurate deduplication feature. It automatically deduplicates 100% exact matches and detects other possible duplicates, ensuring your reference list is clean and free of duplicates.
Can I use Rayyan on the go?
Yes, Rayyan offers a mobile app that allows you to work on your reviews from anywhere, even offline. You can make inclusion decisions, add labels or reasons, and manage your reviews on the go.
How does the relevance ranking feature work in Rayyan?
Rayyan uses AI to learn from your decisions and provides a 5-star relevance ranking on all remaining articles. This ranking helps you prioritize articles based on their relevance, making the review process more efficient. You can sort articles by the most or least relevant to focus on the most important ones first.
Can I export my review results from Rayyan?
Yes, you can export your review results in various formats. This feature enables smooth collaboration and report generation, allowing you to share your findings easily with your team or in reports.
How do I manage collaborators and their roles in Rayyan?
You can invite collaborators to your review and manage their roles within the platform. You also have the option to revoke collaborators and choose whether to preserve or delete their contributions.
Is there a blind mode feature in Rayyan?
Yes, Rayyan offers a blind mode feature that allows you to hide journal and author information while screening articles. This ensures unbiased decision-making throughout the review process.
What are the pricing plans for Rayyan?
Rayyan offers a freemium pricing model. You can use the tool for free with some restrictions, or upgrade to a paid plan. The plans include a free individual plan, a student plan at $4/month billed annually, and a professional plan at $8.25/month billed annually.
How do I add or remove keywords for inclusion/exclusion in Rayyan?
You can add or remove keywords for inclusion or exclusion in Rayyan. The platform allows you to enter precise keywords, filter by indices of keywords, and use keyword highlighting to spot relevant articles faster. You can manage these keywords within your review settings.
Can I download full-text PDFs uploaded to my review in Rayyan?
Yes, you can download the full-text PDFs that have been uploaded to your review in Rayyan. This feature is available to help you manage and access your articles more easily.
