How to Resolve Screening Conflicts in Rayyan

Before you begin Conflicts can only be viewed and resolved when Blind Mode is off. Only the review owner can turn Blind Mode off. Make sure all reviewers have completed their screening before starting conflict resolution.

What conflicts are

A conflict occurs when two or more reviewers make opposing decisions on the same reference — specifically when one reviewer marks it as Include and another marks it as Exclude. Maybe is treated as a tentative decision and does not trigger a conflict on its own — a conflict only occurs when there are opposing final decisions (Include vs. Exclude). Conflicts must be resolved before moving to the next stage.

How to view conflicts

1. Go to the stage where you want to review conflicts — Screening or Full-Text Screening
2. Make sure Blind Mode is off — only the review owner can toggle this
3. Click the Filter by Inclusion dropdown next to the reference list
4. Select Conflict — the list updates to show only references with disagreeing decisions

How to resolve conflicts

1. With the Conflict filter active, review each conflicting reference
2. Discuss the disagreement with your team — examine the reasons behind the different decisions, such as varying interpretations of your inclusion criteria
3. Once consensus is reached, each reviewer updates their decision accordingly:
   • If the consensus is to include — any reviewer who excluded the reference should change their decision to Include
   • If the consensus is to exclude — any reviewer who included the reference should change their decision to Exclude
4. Once all reviewers have aligned on the same decision, the reference disappears from the Conflict list automatically
5. Repeat until the Conflict filter shows no remaining references

Resolving conflicts in Full-Text Screening

The process for resolving conflicts in Full-Text Screening is identical — turn Blind Mode off, filter by Conflict, discuss with your team, and update decisions until consensus is reached. Conflicts may arise again in FTS even if they were resolved during TiAb screening — this is expected, as Full-Text Screening is an independent stage with its own set of decisions.

What to do when a reviewer is no longer available

If a conflict cannot be resolved because one of the reviewers who created it is no longer accessible — for example, a team member who has left or is not responding — you can use the following workaround:

1. Turn Blind Mode off to view the conflicting references.
2. Filter by Conflict to isolate them.
3. Use the Sampling feature to create a set from those conflicts — select Filtered as the data source when creating the sample.
4. Turn Blind Mode back on so the designated conflict resolver isn't influenced by the existing decisions, including those made by the unavailable reviewer.
5. As the conflict resolver goes through the conflicting references, have them apply a label to flag their decision — for example, Conflict - Include or Conflict - Exclude.
6. Once all conflicts are resolved, turn Blind Mode off again. Move the eligible references to the next stage using a combination of the existing decision (Included or Maybe) and the label — for example, select Included + Label (Conflict - Include).

This approach preserves the original disagreement in your review history for transparency, since the unavailable reviewer's decision is never removed or altered.

The conflict history is not preserved as a separate record after resolution. The customizations_log in your export records all decisions sequentially — if documenting your conflict resolution process is important for your protocol, keep an external record of the disagreements and how they were resolved.