Protocol and screening support for software-engineering reviews
Parsifal functions as a collaborative online platform that structures the systematic review process by guiding researchers through a series of interconnected steps, each designed to simplify complex tasks and enhance collaboration. Parsifal starts with a planning phase where users define research objectives, develop research questions, and outline the protocol. The tool offers templates and structured fields for recording objectives, PICOC (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, Context) elements, keywords, synonyms, and selection criteria. Additionally, researchers can collaboratively develop a search strategy and establish inclusion/exclusion criteria, which are essential for a transparent and reproducible review. The tool allows for importing bibliographic references (such as BibTeX files) from external databases, supporting reference management and deduplication to reduce redundant entries. Through integrated tools, it helps track relevant studies, manage citations, and ensure that the review contains only unique references, a common requirement in systematic reviews. The tool also facilitates the screening process, allowing researchers to apply pre-defined criteria to filter studies that meet specific inclusion or exclusion standards. It includes quality assessment checklists, enabling researchers to evaluate the methodological quality of studies and assess potential risk of bias. This step is essential for ensuring that only high-quality studies are considered. Researchers can use Parsifal's data extraction forms to systematically capture relevant details from each study, which supports later analysis and synthesis. While Parsifal does not perform statistical analysis, it organizes extracted data and annotations, making it easier to synthesize findings and draw meaningful conclusions. Throughout the process, Parsifal automatically documents each phase, offering an organized record of research decisions, protocol adjustments, and screening outcomes. The tool supports exporting documentation, which is valuable for transparency, reproducibility, and reporting to stakeholders or for publication. Parsifal is designed for geographically distributed teams, allowing multiple researchers to work on a review simultaneously, with permissions and access managed centrally. Communication tools and shared workspaces within the platform facilitate real-time collaboration, making it easier to coordinate tasks and decisions across team members.
