Quality Check
Quality check (QC) is a post-screening audit step available in single-screening projects. After a screener completes a phase (title/abstract or full-text), a designated QC reviewer samples a subset of the screened decisions and checks whether they agree with each one. This provides a layer of validation without requiring every study to be screened twice.
QC is only available in projects configured with single screening. Double-screening projects use reconciliation instead.
What QC does
Instead of having a second reviewer screen all studies, QC draws a random sample from the completed screening decisions. The QC reviewer examines each sampled study and either:
- Agrees with the original decision - the decision stands
- Overrides the original decision - the QC reviewer's decision replaces the original
If the override rate is high, it may indicate inconsistency in the screener's decisions and prompt a broader review.
Configuring QC sampling
Project managers can configure the QC sampling rate in the project settings. Options include:
- Sampling rate - the percentage of screened studies to include in the QC sample (e.g., 10%, 20%)
- Stratified sampling - when enabled, the sample is drawn separately from included and excluded studies to ensure both decision types are represented proportionally
Stratified sampling is recommended. Without it, QC samples may be dominated by excluded studies (which are typically the majority), and included studies - where errors are more costly - may be under-represented.
When QC becomes available
QC becomes available after a screener has completed their screening phase. For title/abstract QC, this means all studies in the screener's queue have been decided. For full-text QC, the same applies to the full-text phase.
The project manager triggers the QC process from the screening phase controls, which generates the sample and makes it available to the QC reviewer.
The QC reviewer workflow
Open the QC queue
The QC reviewer navigates to the relevant screening phase page and opens the QC tab. The sampled studies are listed here.
Review each sampled study
Click a study to open the QC review interface. The original screener's decision and exclusion reason are displayed alongside the study's title, abstract, and metadata.
Accept or override the decision
Click Accept if you agree with the original decision. Click Override to change it, and select the correct decision and reason.
Complete the QC sample
Continue until all sampled studies have been reviewed. A summary of agreement rate and any overrides is displayed at the end.
Viewing QC results
After QC is complete, the results summary shows:
- Total studies sampled
- Number of agreements
- Number of overrides (with the overridden decisions and reasons)
- Overall agreement rate as a percentage
Overridden decisions are applied to the affected study records automatically. The original screener is not notified, but the override is recorded in the study's audit trail.