The development and evaluation of an online application to assist in the extraction of data from graphs for use in systematic reviews.

Wellcome Open Research
Fala CramondJames Thomas

Abstract

Background: The extraction of data from the reports of primary studies, on which the results of systematic reviews depend, needs to be carried out accurately. To aid reliability, it is recommended that two researchers carry out data extraction independently. The extraction of statistical data from graphs in PDF files is particularly challenging, as the process is usually completely manual, and reviewers need sometimes to revert to holding a ruler against the page to read off values: an inherently time-consuming and error-prone process. Methods: To mitigate some of the above problems we integrated and customised two existing JavaScript libraries to create a new web-based graphical data extraction tool to assist reviewers in extracting data from graphs. This tool aims to facilitate more accurate and timely data extraction through a user interface which can be used to extract data through mouse clicks. We carried out a non-inferiority evaluation to examine its performance in comparison with participants' standard practice for extracting data from graphs in PDF documents. Results: We found that the customised graphical data extraction tool is not inferior to users' (N=10) prior standard practice. Our study was not designed to show ...Continue Reading

References

Jun 13, 2006·Journal of Clinical Epidemiology·Nina BuscemiTerry P Klassen
Jul 20, 2007·Annals of Internal Medicine·Kaveh G ShojaniaDavid Moher
Feb 22, 2014·PLoS Medicine·Julian H ElliottRussell L Gruen
Jul 10, 2014·Systematic Reviews·Guy TsafnatEnrico Coiera
Jan 13, 2015·Lancet Neurology·Nanna B FinnerupMark Wallace
Jan 19, 2016·Journal of Clinical Epidemiology·Antonia Jelicic KadicLivia Puljak
May 14, 2016·International Journal of Epidemiology·Ann WilliamsGlyn Hewinson
Sep 16, 2017·Journal of Clinical Epidemiology·James ThomasUNKNOWN Living Systematic Review Network

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Citations

Feb 9, 2021·Research Synthesis Methods·Stevie Van der MierdenCathalijn H C Leenaars
Jan 25, 2020·Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise·Chenxi CaiMargie H Davenport

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
flow cytometry

Software Mentioned

Universal Desktop Ruler
WebPlotDigitizer
EPPI
DistillerSR
Covidence
Adobe measuring tool
SyRF
- Reviewer
CAMARADES
JS

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