The SAFE Procedure: A Practical Stopping Heuristic for Active Learning-Based Screening in Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

Author:

Boetje JosienORCID,van de Schoot RensORCID

Abstract

Active learning has become an increasingly popular method for screening large amounts of data in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The active learning process continually improves its predictions on the remaining unlabeled records, with the goal of identifying all relevant records as early as possible. However, determining the optimal point at which to stop the active learning process is a challenge. The cost of additional labeling of records by the reviewer must be balanced against the cost of errors made by the current model. This paper introduces the SAFE procedure, a practical and conservative set of stopping heuristics that offers a clear guideline for determining when to end the active learning process in screening software like ASReview. Our main conclusion of this paper is that relying on a single stopping rule is not sufficient and employing an eclectic mix of stopping heuristics helps to minimize the risk of missing relevant papers in the screening processThe SAFE procedure combines different heuristics to avoid stopping too early and potentially missing relevant records. The SAFE procedure takes into account the model's accuracy and uncertainty, as well as the cost of continuing to label records. This procedure for using active learning in systematic literature review screening provides a practical and efficient approach that can save significant time and resources while ensuring a conservative approach to determining when to end the active learning process. The proposed stopping heuristic balances the costs of continued screening with the risk of missing relevant records, providing a practical solution for reviewers to make informed decisions on when to stop screening. The proposed method can assist researchers in identifying relevant records early, which can ultimately lead to improved evidence synthesis and decision-making in many fields.

Publisher

Center for Open Science

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3