Once you have completed full text screening, included articles will be moved to the Extraction portion of the review, where you can extract data from each study and rate its quality. To assess quality, Covidence has built in the Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB) template. You can choose to use the Cochrane tool (which is designed for rating RCTs and cannot be used for other study types), or you can customize the questions available for Risk of Bias to create your own template.
You must choose either the Cochrane RoB or a custom RoB. If you choose the custom RoB, you cannot change your selection back to Cochrane.
Regardless of whether you choose the Cochrane tool or another RoB tool, make sure you are using a validated critical appraisal tool. You can find a short list of critical appraisal tools in the box to the right, but there are other tools available. Just remember to use a tool that is appropriate for the study design or study designs that have been included in your review.
When you begin data extraction, you will see a screen like the one shown below. The center pane shows the general areas of data extraction and allows for quick navigation between each.
Note that the data extraction form has been designed to follow your PICO format. This format works best with interventional study designs, but it can be used with other study designs as well.
The first study you begin data extraction for in each review will become your "Review Template." The tables set up here will be carried over to subsequently started extractions, where they can be individually edited if needed. Only the first reviewer can edit the template; the first reviewer can be changed at any time by clicking "Manage reviewers" on the study's pane Extraction page.
To find more information on extracting data in Covidence, check out the Covidence Knowledge Base.
For general data extraction principles and instructions, check out the resources in the Data Extraction Guides box to the right.
This LibGuide is based on one originally created by the Health Sciences Library at the University of North Carolina. We are grateful that they allowed us to use their guide as a template.