No. 12 of 28 ·Literature Review Software

Synthesis

Windows · Mac · Linux

Freedom report

Two barsScore 5.5

Free tierNo free tier on record
Open codeNo open-source code on record
Runs widely3 of 6 device platforms
DocumentedPlans, terms and facts published

Synthesis is ranked #12 of 28 in literature review software on Freedom251. It runs on Linux, macOS, Windows. A free trial is offered.

Compared on literature review software

Discovery tools: search
Screening workflow: Yes
Full-text management: Yes
Systematic review tools: Yes
Collaboration: Yes

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The record

Purpose: Synthesis is software for conducting scoping, systematic, and regular literature reviews.
Reference management: It organizes references and PDFs and supports keyword and phrase searches across abstracts and full-text PDFs.
Automated de-duplication: Synthesis automatically de-duplicates imported references; the support page reports externally validated sensitivity of 98% and specificity of 99%.
Analysis: Features include AI-assisted topic clustering, word clouds, metadata extraction, and charts.
Search sources: Embedded search is listed for PubMed, PubMed Central, IEEE, arXiv.org, and US Patents, with imports from bibliographic databases including Ovid, Web of Knowledge, and ProQuest.
PDF downloading: Synthesis can automatically download many full-text PDFs available through open access or institutional access.
Dual reviewers: It supports primary and secondary reviewers screening abstracts and full text, with kappa scores calculated for both.
Exports: References and data can be exported as RIS and CSV, including for use with citation managers such as EndNote or RefWorks.
Trial limits: The trial allows unlimited projects, but each project can import only 50 references and uses a slower, non-professional PDF viewer.
Orders and downloads: The maker says orders and downloads are temporarily suspended while it develops a new release.
License binding: The maker says a license is tied to an individual computer.
Support: The support page offers an online reference manual, a help sheet, and YouTube tutorials.
Intended users: The maker describes use by academic research universities, hospitals, government agencies, private corporations, and nongovernmental organizations.
Company: Synthesis Research Inc. describes itself as a software development company focused on literature management and analysis.

Where it ranks on Freedom251

Best Literature Review Software in 2026#12 of 28

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Sources

synthesis.info/support.html· checked 4 Oct 2026
synthesis.info· checked 4 Oct 2026
synthesis.info/features.html· checked 4 Oct 2026
synthesis.info/request.html· checked 4 Oct 2026
synthesis.info/order.html· checked 4 Oct 2026
synthesis.info/download.html· checked 5 Oct 2026