This is a guide on how to install ASReview for MacOS (and Linux).

 

Check if Python is installed

This section explains how to install Python on your computer. The ASReview software runs with Python in the background. MacOS comes with Python version 2.7 already installed. However, ASReview requires Python 3.6 or higher and therefore, a more recent version of Python should be installed. More knowledge about Python is not necessary to run ASReview. To start ASReview you have to open the Command Line Interface (CLI). The CLI allows you to interact with your computer directly and is operated by text inputs (commands), rather than through a graphical interface with clickable buttons. If this is the first time you’re working in the CLI, don’t worry, as this tutorial will guide you through all the steps.

Step 1: open terminal

To open the CLI, open your Launchpad (in your Dock) and search for the program Terminal. Open the Terminal.

 

Step 2: check the python version

To check which version of Python is currently installed on your computer, within the terminal, execute the following command (i.e., copy-paste this line of text and press enter):

python --version

Now, if the command returns you have a Python version is 3.6 or higher, you can go to the section Install ASReview.

However, if the command returns a Python version lower than 3.6, or a message like 'python' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file, you will still have to install Python.

 

Install Python

To install Python, we recommend to install Miniconda. Miniconda offers a user-friendly Python environment.

 

Step 3: install Miniconda

Download the ‘Miniconda3 MacOSX 64-bit pkg’ from the Miniconda website and follow the default installation instructions.

 

Step 4: Reopen the Terminal

After installing Python, make sure to close and reopen program Terminal and again execute python --version.

 

 

Install ASReview

Step 5: Install ASReview

If your Python version is 3.6 or higher, you can start installing the ASReview on your computer. Execute the following in the Terminal:

pip install asreview

If ASReview was successfully installed  this command should return a bunch of text of which one of the last lines is something like:

Successfully installed asreview-0.17

If you want to use our COVID-19 plugin with thousands of Corona related papers (CORD19 database + pre-print database), you can install it by executing:

pip install asreview-covid19

The plugin will be available automatically upon launching ASReview.

 

Launch ASReview

Step 6: Open ASReview

Execute the following in the Terminal:

asreview lab

If ASReview was successfully installed this command should open a new window in your web browser (it might take a minute or two).

Congratulations!

You are now ready to start using ASReview. Proceed with initializing your first project, uploading your data and then you can start with your first AI-aided systematic review – ENJOY!!

 

Be aware the software requires the data to be in a specific format, so be prepared!

 

More info

If you want to know more about the available features, if you have questions, or if you want to know more about the technical specifications, go to our documentation.