Buhos is web-based software for conducting systematic literature reviews, with tools for reference screening, full-text management, collaboration, and analysis. It supports individual and group reviews, and includes internal messaging for personal or review-related exchanges. Its workflow has defined stages that can be changed at any point. References can be imported from sources including WoS, Scopus, EBSCOhost, SciELO, PubMed, Lilacs, and ProQuest using formats such as BibTeX, RIS, PubMed/NBIB, JSON, and CSV. Crossref supports deduplication and retrieval of reference details. Scopus and PubMed can retrieve missing abstracts and metadata when API credentials are available. A file repository allows online viewing of PDF and ODF documents. Other tools include customized forms, data analysis, reports, and exports. Buhos lists English and Spanish and runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS. The project documentation says it fully supports the conducting phase, partially supports report formatting, and does not support several planning and reporting activities. The software is free.
Who it is for
Buhos may suit researchers managing individual or collaborative systematic reviews who need reference screening, full-text files, and analysis tools. Its documented limits matter to teams needing support for planning or all reporting activities.
What is good
- Supports both individual and group reviews.
- Imports references in several formats.
- Crossref supports deduplication and reference retrieval.
- PDF and ODF files can be viewed online.
- Available in English and Spanish.
What to know first
- Several planning and reporting activities are unsupported.
- Report formatting is only partially supported.
- Scopus and PubMed metadata retrieval requires API credentials.
Verdict
Buhos offers a broad set of tools for conducting a systematic review, including screening, collaboration, and analysis. Its documentation describes gaps in planning and reporting, so those needs should be checked before choosing it.
Compared on systematic review software
- Free plan
- Yes
- Discovery tools
- search
- Screening workflow
- Yes
- Full-text management
- Yes
- Systematic review tools
- Yes
- Collaboration
- Yes
