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

 

Check if Python is installed

Caution:  to avoid dependency errors, please install the second most recent version (Python 3.8.6) instead of Python 3.9. 

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.

First, check which version of Python is currently installed on your computer. Open your Launchpad (in your Dock) and search for the program Terminal. Open the Terminal.

Within the terminal, execute the following:

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

Caution:  to avoid dependency errors, please install the second most recent version (Python 3.8.6) instead of Python 3.9. 

To install a recent version of Python, we recommend to install Miniconda. Miniconda offers a user-friendly Python environment. Download the ‘Miniconda3 MacOSX 64-bit pkg’ from the Miniconda website and follow the default installation instructions.

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

 

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 Command prompt (CMD.exe):

pip install asreview

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

Successfully installed asreview-0.9.6

Note: if you run into an error at this step, try executing python -m pip install asreview instead. If this doesn’t fix your problems, please consult the Troubleshooting section <the Troubleshooting section`.

If you want to use our COVID-19 plugin, you can install it at this step by executing:

pip install asreview-covid19

The plugin will be available automatically upon launching ASReview.

 

Launch ASReview

Congratulations!

You are now ready to start using ASReview. Launch ASReview by executing in the Command prompt (CMD.exe):

asreview oracle

A web browser will open the ASReview user interface.

 

Please follow the steps in our Quick Tour on how to carry out your first Automated Systematic Review!