摘要：Objective The purpose of this study was to compare effectiveness of different options for de-duplicating records retrieved from systematic review searches. Methods Using the records from a published systematic review, five de-duplication options were compared. The time taken to de-duplicate in each option and the number of false positives (were deleted but should not have been) and false negatives (should have been deleted but were not) were recorded. Results The time for each option varied. The number of positive and false duplicates returned from each option also varied greatly. Conclusion The authors recommend different de-duplication options based on the skill level of the searcher and the purpose of de-duplication efforts.
