To access the Rapid PDF Upload page, click Reports > Rapid PDF Upload. If you are a user (e.g. Viewer) with access to Rapid PDF Upload, your dashboard will have a Rapid PDF Upload button.
In Rapid PDF Upload, you will see the following information:
Dashboard: Provides a general overview of the full-text PDF status for all records that have been included in title/abstract screening and need full-text screening. If your university or institution has LibKey access, you can add it here. See LibKey Integration below for more information.
Smart PDF Upload: PICO Portal’s Smart PDF Upload system allows direct addition/upload of retrieved PDFs and automatic matching to included studies that are missing PDFs.
Pending Retrieval: Indicates citations that need full-text PDF retrieval.
Pending Requests: Presents all records for which a loan request has been submitted (you can also select this if the retrieval is pending for another reason).
Retrieved Reports: Indicates which citations have successfully had a PDF retrieved, either by PICO Portal or manually by the user.
Reports not Retrieved: Reports that have been excluded because no full-text PDF could be found or accessed.
LibKey Integration #
LibKey seamlessly integrates with popular library discovery platforms. If you are a licensed user and your institution supports LibKey, you can use this feature to access full-text PDFs of included articles.
To add your university or institution, navigate to Reports > Rapid PDF Upload and search for it in the drop-down menu.
If your institution is not on the list, please contact support@picoportal.org and provide the 3 to 4 digit library code.
Pending Retrieval #
All of the citations that do not have a PDF are listed under the Pending Retrieval tab of the Rapid PDF Upload page. PICO Portal will try to automatically retrieve PDFs for Open Access articles and will match them with the citation based on the title, authors, DOI, and other information. Any articles that cannot be retrieved, even if they are Open Access, will be displayed in the Pending Retrieval tab.
Note: Some Open Access articles are not automatically retrieved due to a firewall, CAPTCHA, or other process put in place to prevent automatic downloading.
Some citations will display an upload option called Magic PDF Upload. This is available where an Open Access link exists. Click on the link to have the system automatically retrieve and upload the PDF. If the host website blocks automatic download, you will have the option to manually download the article and upload it to the citation in PICO Portal.
Citations that do not have the Magic PDF Upload option will instead have Manual PDF Upload. Here, you can manually upload the PDF. If possible, PICO Portal will provide a direct link to Google Scholar.
The Pending Retrieval tab displays a list of pending and completed citations in a grid format. The grid has the following columns:
Citations: Displays the title and other information of the citation, including the author(s), DOI, etc. Click on “Show more” to reveal this information.
Access PDF: Provides a link to Magic PDF Upload or Manual PDF Upload.
Completed: Provides a drop-down list to select a status for the citation. See Selecting a Status further down this page for more information.
CiteID: Displays the PICO Portal identifier for the citation.
Author: Displays all authors.
Year: Displays the publication year.
Smart Upload #
The Smart Upload tab allows you to batch upload your retrieved PDFs instead of manually attaching them one-by-one to the individual citations listed in Pending Retrieval. This feature allows for both single and multiple file uploads, and only supports PDF files – uploading other formats, such as Word or JPEG, is not supported.
There are no file naming requirements – the PICO Portal system will automatically upload and match the PDFs to their respective citation based on title, abstract, author(s), DOI, etc. Any articles that cannot be matched will be displayed in the Pending Retrieval tab for you to add the PDF manually.
Note: Upload times may vary based on your Internet connection and speed, as well as file size. Upon completion, you’ll receive an email notification confirming the match. For large collections, consider dividing them into separate batches to enhance the process (we recommend batches of 10 to 20 PDFs at one time).
To batch upload, click the Upload PDF(s) area, select your file(s), and then click Upload Files. You can also drag and drop your file(s) into the Upload PDF(s) area and click Upload Files.
To manually upload a PDF, see Upload a PDF to Individual Citation below.
Upload a PDF to Individual Citation #
In addition to Rapid PDF Upload, you can upload full-text PDFs directly to each individual citation when in Abstract Screening or Full-Text Review.
For citations where a PDF can be uploaded, the page will display an Upload Full-Text PDF button under the title and author information.
To upload a PDF to an individual citation:
- Click the Upload Full-Text PDF button. The Add Full-Text dialog box appears.
- Click the Upload Full-Text PDF section and select the required file. Alternatively, you can drag and drop your file into the Upload Full-Text PDF section.
- Click the Upload File button. The PDF should now appear in the screening window.
For citations that have Open Access, there will be a View Open Access PDF button under the title and author information that opens the full-text PDF in a new tab.
Replacing a PDF #
If you have uploaded an incorrect PDF and want to replace it, click on Reports > Rapid PDF Upload.
- Click the Retrieved Reports tab, and then click on the Replace PDF button.
- Click the Upload full-text PDF link and select the PDF that you want to upload. Alternatively, you can drag and drop the file in the Upload full-text PDF box.
- After you have selected the PDF, click on the Upload File button. The new PDF is now uploaded, and the citation stays in Retrieved Reports.
You also have the ability to replace a PDF during Full-Text Review, or by navigating to Reports > View Articles and searching for the CiteID you would like to replace the PDF for.
Selecting a Status #
There may be scenarios where you have requested the PDF or the PDF is not available for Full-Text Review. In such cases, you can click the Select Status drop-down list under the Completed column and select one of the following statuses:
Loan Requested: Select this option if you have requested the PDF in Interlibrary Loan (ILL) or are awaiting its purchase or retrieval. The article will remain pending, but will move from the Pending Retrieval list to the Pending Requests tab.
Skip – Include the article for review: Select this option if no full-text PDF exists or is retrievable, but the citation should still be included based on the abstract alone.
Exclude – Omit articles from review: Select this option if no full-text PDF exists or is non-retrievable, and/or the citation should be excluded.
Access to Rapid PDF Upload #
The Rapid PDF Upload page is important for a project’s Owner, Co-Owner, or Librarian. However, any team member can have access to Rapid PDF Upload by enabling this feature on their role.
To enable access to Rapid PDF Upload, scroll down to the Team Members section of the main project dashboard and click on the modify icon to the right of their name and information. Next, click on the switch beside Access to Rapid PDF Upload to enable or disable the feature for the user. Then click Save.
You can also enable access to Rapid PDF Upload when inviting team members by toggling the switch to ON when selecting their role(s).
Additionally, as a project Owner or Co-Owner, you can invite other users and add them with a Librarian role. A Librarian assists the Owner or Co-Owner in managing the files of the project. In this scenario, a Librarian can assist the Owner in uploading PDFs. When a Librarian is invited, the Rapid PDF Upload tab is made available on the dashboard.
See User Roles and Inviting Members for more information.
Assigning an Existing Member with Librarian Role #
If you would like to assign the role of Librarian to an existing member of the project, you can do so by modifying the user’s role.
See Modifying User Roles for more information.
