CADIMA
CADIMA is a free web tool for planning and documenting systematic reviews, systematic maps, and other literature reviews.
What CADIMA is
CADIMA is a free web tool for planning and documenting systematic reviews, systematic maps, and other literature reviews. It supports questions from any research discipline and lets review teams work together across locations, without a stated cap on reviewers at different stages. During screening, it can allocate records automatically while accounting for independent and parallel assessment. It also removes duplicate records automatically and supports bulk PDF uploads. CADIMA records the review process, and its evidence synthesis database offers guidance and hosts synthesis data. The site describes future plans to archive review and evidence map data and modules. The Julius Kühn-Institut, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, publishes the site from Quedlinburg, Germany. Its privacy policy says access data are used for statistical purposes and are not shared with third parties. The site identifies version 2.2.4.2, dated April 2023, and invites users to express interest in online workshops.
Good
- Free plan with no topic restrictions
- No stated limit on reviewers
- Automated screening allocation and duplicate removal
- Bulk PDF upload and review documentation
- Supports collaboration and evidence mapping
Watch out
- Web platform only
- Version listed as 2.2.4.2, dated April 2023
Who it suits
CADIMA suits research teams conducting systematic reviews, evidence maps, or other literature reviews across disciplines. It is relevant to teams seeking a shared web workspace for screening and documentation.
Verdict
CADIMA brings review workflow, collaboration, and documentation tools together in a free web application. Teams should note the listed version date and that the platform is web-based.
Plans and prices
From CADIMA's own pricing page, checked 29 Sep 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | No topic restrictions · no stated limit on reviewers |
The facts
Each one read from CADIMA's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Discipline coverage
- Review questions from any research discipline can be addressed.checked 29 Sep 2026
- Documentation
- CADIMA provides detailed documentation of the review process.checked 29 Sep 2026
- Evidence database
- The evidence synthesis database provides guidance and hosts synthesis data, with plans described for archiving review and evidence map data and modules.checked 29 Sep 2026
- New projects
- The evidence synthesis page advises creating new syntheses only when the review question will be addressed by a systematic review or evidence map in the near future.checked 29 Sep 2026
- Privacy
- The privacy policy says access data are used solely for statistical purposes and are not passed to third parties.checked 29 Sep 2026
- Publisher
- The CADIMA website is published by the Julius Kühn-Institut, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, in Quedlinburg, Germany.checked 29 Sep 2026
- Purpose
- CADIMA is a free web tool for conducting and documenting systematic reviews, systematic maps, and other literature reviews.checked 29 Sep 2026
- Record management
- CADIMA supports automated duplicate removal and bulk PDF upload.checked 29 Sep 2026
- Screening
- The tool supports automated allocation of records during screening, considering potential independent and parallel assessment.checked 29 Sep 2026
- User support
- A team of scientists and software programmers handles emerging questions, and further development is informed by user feedback.checked 29 Sep 2026
- Version
- The site footer identifies CADIMA version 2.2.4.2, dated April 2023.checked 29 Sep 2026
- Workshops
- The site invites users to register interest in online workshops demonstrating CADIMA’s functionality.checked 29 Sep 2026
The company
- Headquarters
- Quedlinburg, Germanychecked 28 Sep 2026
- Teamwork
- Review team members can cooperate worldwide, with no stated restriction on the number of reviewers at different review stages.checked 29 Sep 2026
Alternatives to CADIMA
- 1
RevMan
Free planWebLinuxmacOSWindows7.8From £80 a year - 2
ASReview
Free planOpen sourceWebAPILinuxmacOS7.7Free plan - 3
LASER AI
AndroidiOSWeb7.6From $3,000 a year - 4
Rayyan
Free planAndroidiOSWebAPI7.5From $4.99 a month - 5
Sysrev
Free planWebAPISelf-hosted7.5From $50 a month - 6
Universal SLR Assistant
Free planOpen sourceWebAPILinuxmacOS7.5Free plan