> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs-evisyn.grabmywork.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Workflow Overview

> The 13-step PRISMA 2020 workflow that powers every EviSyn review

EviSyn guides you through a structured, sequential workflow aligned with the **PRISMA 2020** reporting framework. Each step has built-in validation gates — you can't skip ahead until the current step is complete.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/ravian/YwBZFdlBbtQ_-NDF/images/project-overview-full.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=YwBZFdlBbtQ_-NDF&q=85&s=69e017a6d9cc933c2a0272d4aa2e692d" alt="Full project overview with all 13 steps" width="2002" height="1762" data-path="images/project-overview-full.png" />

## Identification & Screening

These first five steps take you from a research question to a finalized set of relevant papers.

| Step | Name                                           | What happens                                                                        |
| ---- | ---------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 1    | [Search Strategy](/user-guide/search-strategy) | AI decomposes your question into PICO terms and generates database-specific queries |
| 2    | [Import Files](/user-guide/importing-papers)   | Search PubMed directly or upload RIS/BibTeX/CSV from any database                   |
| 3    | [Deduplication](/user-guide/deduplication)     | 4-layer duplicate detection: DOI, title, fuzzy, and semantic                        |
| 4    | [TiAb Screening](/user-guide/ai-screening)     | AI screens every title & abstract with confidence + PICO evaluation                 |
| 5    | [Human Review](/user-guide/human-review)       | Reviewers verify AI decisions, resolve conflicts                                    |

## Analysis & Export

Once your paper set is finalized, these steps handle deep analysis and output generation.

| Step | Name                                                   | What happens                                                   |
| ---- | ------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 6    | [Full Paper Download](/user-guide/full-text-screening) | Auto-retrieve PDFs from PMC, Unpaywall, Semantic Scholar       |
| 7    | [Full-Text Screening](/user-guide/full-text-screening) | AI reads entire papers and scores relevance section-by-section |
| 8    | [Tabular Extraction](/user-guide/data-extraction)      | AI extracts structured data into custom-defined tables         |
| 9    | [Quality Assessment](/user-guide/quality-assessment)   | AI-assisted RoB2 and GRADE with evidence citations             |
| 10   | [Meta-Analysis](/user-guide/meta-analysis)             | Forest plots, effect sizes, risk of bias visualization         |
| 11   | [AI Writer](/user-guide/manuscript-writer)             | AI manuscript agent for drafting Results & Discussion          |
| 12   | [Export & Report](/user-guide/export-and-reporting)    | PRISMA flow diagram, BibTeX/RIS/CSV, activity log              |

## Progress Tracking

The **Workflow at a Glance** sidebar on your project dashboard shows live stats:

* **Total** papers in your library
* **Duplicates** detected
* **AI Included / AI Excluded** from screening
* **Finalized** papers for analysis

<Tip>
  The blue **"Continue Your Review"** banner always tells you the recommended next step. Follow it for the smoothest experience.
</Tip>

## Validation Gates

EviSyn enforces quality through **validation gates** between stages:

* You can't start screening until papers are imported
* You can't finalize until human review conflicts are resolved
* You can't run quality assessment until papers are finalized
* Each stage must be explicitly marked complete before the next unlocks

This prevents incomplete work from propagating through your review.