TraceSynthesis

We don’t just extract — we explain.
A transparent, automated data extraction tool for research synthesis.

What this tool does

TraceSynthesis reads the PDF articles from your systematic review and fills in your coding sheet for you. For every answer it also shows where the answer came from: the exact sentence from the article and the page number. The tool then checks each quoted sentence against the PDF itself, so you can see at a glance which answers are well supported and which ones deserve a closer look. You always make the final call: accept each answer, or type your own.

How to use it (about 10 minutes for your first study)

  1. Get an AI key and paste it in Step 1 on the Run Extraction page. The key is like a prepaid phone card for the AI company; see below for how to get one.
  2. Upload your files in Step 2: your coding sheet (an Excel file whose column headers are your coding items) and the PDF article(s). A background document is optional.
  3. Pick an AI model in Step 3 (the default is a good, inexpensive choice) and press Start Extraction in Step 4.
  4. Review the table: tick Accept when an answer is right, or type your own answer in Human Verified. Then press Download Results (Excel).

Download a sample coding sheet

Video walkthrough

Add your walkthrough video here: open index.html and replace this box with your video embed code (YouTube’s Share → Embed gives you the code).

Getting an AI key (one-time, about 3 minutes)

The tool talks to an AI company of your choice. You create an account with that company, add a small amount of credit (a few dollars is plenty to start; extracting one article typically costs a few cents), and copy your personal key:

Your key and your files stay private. This page runs entirely in your browser. Your key is kept only in this browser tab and is sent directly to the AI company you chose — it never passes through the website that hosts this page. Your PDFs are read on your own computer. Closing the tab clears the key.

Advanced mode

The switch at the top right turns on Advanced mode. It adds, for each answer: the evidence-check details (which page the quote was really found on, and how closely it matches), how consistent the AI was across repeated reads, a confidence score, and a calibration tool for large projects that tells you which answers are safe to accept without checking. Nothing about your data or workflow changes when you switch it on or off.

TraceSynthesis

We don’t just extract — we explain.
A transparent, automated data extraction tool for research synthesis.

Waiting to start...
Tip: Advanced mode (switch at the top right) adds evidence-check details, agreement across repeated reads, and a calibration tool for large projects. Nothing about your data changes when you turn it on.

Quick Visualize

Merge the results of several studies, look at the distributions, and export for analysis.

Step 1: Upload result files

Upload the Excel files you downloaded from the Run Extraction page (one per study, or several at once). Files you already uploaded are skipped automatically.


  


  

    
Step 2: Merged table

    

      

    

    

      
      
      
    

    

      
      
      
    

  


  

    
Step 3: Visualization