'Screen For Me': harnessing the efficiencies of machine learning and Cochrane Crowd to identify randomized trials for Cochrane Reviews

Workshop category: 

  • Education and training
Date and Location

Date: 

Monday 17 September 2018 - 11:00 to 12:30

Location: 

Lammermuir 1
Contact persons and facilitators

Contact person:

Anna Noel-Storr

Facilitators:

Noel-Storr A1, Thomas J2, McDonald S3, Dooley G4
1 Oxford University, Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group, United Kingdom
2 EPPI-Centre, UCL, London, United Kingdom
3 Cochrane Australia, Australia
4 Metaxis Ltd, United Kingdom
Target audience

Target audience: 

Cochrane Information Specialists and Review Authors

Level of difficulty: 

Intermediate
Type of workshop

Type of workshop : 

Training
Abstract

Abstract:

Background:
Machine learning and citizen science initiatives within Cochrane are transforming Cochrane's centralised efforts to identify reports of trials. The RCT Classifier and Cochrane Crowd are highly accurate at distinguishing between records that are likely to describe RCTs and those that are not. The 'Screen For Me' service enables individual Cochrane Reviews to take advantage of the efficiencies that this combination of human and machine effort offers.

Objectives:
Participants will:

- know when 'Screen For Me' is appropriate to use;
- gain a good understanding of the 'Screen For Me' workflow;
- try out the services on a training dataset;
- discuss the strengths and limitations of these new services.

Description:
This workshop is primarily aimed at Cochrane Information Specialists and Cochrane review authors. It will begin with a brief presentation of the 'Screen For Me' workflow and the pilot work conducted to date. The main part of the workshop will be hands-on. Participants working individually or in small groups will be supplied with a practice dataset representing the search results for a Cochrane Review. They will have the opportunity to send these results through the 'Screen For Me' workflow in CRS Web. Within the workflow, they will see the output from the RCT Classifier and also set up a task for Cochrane Crowd. The final 20 minutes of the workshop will be a question and answer discussion session.

Relevance to patients and consumers: 

Patients and consumers can now play an active role in helping to identify potentially relevant trials for specific Cochrane systematic reviews through a new activity called Screen For Me. Screen For Me uses the Cochrane Crowd platform and enables review teams to create their own Crowd tasks. This workshop is aimed at showing information specialists and review authors how to use Screen For Me.