colrev search¶

In the colrev search operation, the SearchSource is added to the project settings, and record metadata are retrieved. SearchSources keep track of the associated queries, as well as the search results files in the data/search directory (see SearchSources). Two steps are necessary to add a SearchSource and run a search:

# Add a new SearchSource interactively
colrev search --add

# Run search for all SearchSources in the settings
colrev search

# Run search for selected SearchSources
colrev search --select

Updating the search is very easy: simply run colrev search again. API searches will be updated automatically, and instructions will be given to update DB searches.

The following table provides an overview of the different types of SearchSources, linking to the list of SearchSources below. The development of additional SearchSources is tracked in the SearchSource roadmap).

Type	Description	Retrieval	Query
DB	Traditional search in an academic database: Manually execute the search and export results from database Add search results to data/search Add query to data/search Run colrev load (a heuristic method automatically identifies the database) See overview of DB searches	Manual	Mandatory
API	Automated API search: Run colrev -a colrev.XXX to interactively add the SearchSource including the query Run colrev search to automatically retrieve records based on query Run colrev search again for new search iterations and updates of record metadata See overview of API searches	Automated	Mandatory
BACKWARD	Backward citation search: Run colrev -a colrev.XXX to interactively add the SearchSource including parameters (if any) Run colrev search to execute backward search Manual addition of search results is possible See overview of BACKWARD searches	Automated or manual	Optional
FORWARD	Forward citation search: Run colrev -a colrev.XXX to interactively add the SearchSource including parameters (if any) Run colrev search to execute forward search Manual addition of search results is possible See overview of FORWARD searches	Automated or manual	Optional
TOC	Table-of-content search: Run colrev -a colrev.XXX to interactively add the SearchSource including parameters Run colrev search to retrieve all records from the selected journal(s) or conference(s) See overview of TOC searches	Automated or manual	Mandatory
OTHER	Non-systematic lookup searches or complementary searches: Papers suggested by colleagues, or serendipituous look-up searches Add search results to data/search Run colrev load See overview of OTHER searches	Manual	Optional
FILES	Extraction of metadata from files: Run colrev -a colrev.XXX to interactively add the SearchSource including parameters (if any) Metadata is extracted from files (e.g., PDFs) in a selected directory (see colrev.files_dir) See overview of FILES searches	Automated	Optional
MD	Metadata SearchSource: Record metadata are retrieved to amend existing records as part of the prep operation No additional records are added See overview of MD searches	Automated	NA

DB searches¶

SearchSource packages	Identifier	Status
ABI/INFORM (ProQuest) (instructions)	colrev.abi_inform_proquest
ACM digital Library (instructions)	colrev.acm_digital_library
AIS electronic Library (AISeL) (instructions)	colrev.ais_library
EBSCOHost (instructions)	colrev.ebsco_host
Europe PMC (instructions)	colrev.europe_pmc
GoogleScholar (instructions)	colrev.google_scholar
JSTOR (instructions)	colrev.jstor
PsycINFO (instructions)	colrev.psycinfo
Pubmed (instructions)	colrev.pubmed
Scopus (instructions)	colrev.scopus
Springer Link (instructions)	colrev.springer_link
Taylor and Francis (instructions)	colrev.taylor_and_francis
Transport Research International Documentation (instructions)	colrev.trid
Unknown SearchSource (instructions)	colrev.unknown_source
Web of Science (instructions)	colrev.web_of_science
Wiley (instructions)	colrev.wiley

API searches¶

SearchSource packages	Identifier	Status
AIS electronic Library (AISeL) (instructions)	colrev.ais_library
arXiv (instructions)	colrev.arxiv
CoLRev projects (instructions)	colrev.colrev_project
Crossref API (instructions)	colrev.crossref
DBLP API (instructions)	colrev.dblp
ERIC API (instructions)	colrev.eric
Europe PMC (instructions)	colrev.europe_pmc
GitHub API (instructions)	colrev.github
IEEEXplore (instructions)	colrev.ieee
LocalIndex (instructions)	colrev.local_index
OpenAlex API (instructions)	colrev.open_alex
OSF (instructions)	colrev.osf
PLOS API (instructions)	colrev.plos
Prospero (instructions)	colrev.prospero
Pubmed (instructions)	colrev.pubmed
Semantic Scholar API (instructions)	colrev.semanticscholar
Springer Link (instructions)	colrev.springer_link
SYNERGY Datasets (instructions)	colrev.synergy_datasets
Unpaywall (instructions)	colrev.unpaywall

TOC searches¶

SearchSource packages	Identifier	Status
AIS electronic Library (AISeL) (instructions)	colrev.ais_library
Crossref API (instructions)	colrev.crossref
DBLP API (instructions)	colrev.dblp
Unknown SearchSource (instructions)	colrev.unknown_source

BACKWARD_SEARCH searches¶

SearchSource packages	Identifier	Status
Backward search extracting references from PDFs using GROBID (instructions)	colrev.pdf_backward_search
Unknown SearchSource (instructions)	colrev.unknown_source

FORWARD_SEARCH searches¶

SearchSource packages	Identifier	Status
Forward search based on OpenCitations (instructions)	colrev.open_citations_forward_search
Unknown SearchSource (instructions)	colrev.unknown_source

FILES searches¶

SearchSource packages	Identifier	Status
Files directories (PDFs based on GROBID) (instructions)	colrev.files_dir

OTHER searches¶

SearchSource packages	Identifier	Status
Unknown SearchSource (instructions)	colrev.unknown_source

MD searches¶

SearchSource packages	Identifier	Status
Crossref API (instructions)	colrev.crossref
DBLP API (instructions)	colrev.dblp
Europe PMC (instructions)	colrev.europe_pmc
LocalIndex (instructions)	colrev.local_index
OpenAlex API (instructions)	colrev.open_alex
OpenLibrary API (instructions)	colrev.open_library
Pubmed (instructions)	colrev.pubmed