Rayyan supports four roles. Each role defines what a member can see and do within a review. This article covers what each role can do, which roles require a paid seat, and how a Collaborator's access is shaped by the review owner's plan.
Roles overview
| Role | Best for | Seat required? |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | The person who created the review — has full control over all settings, members, and the review lifecycle | No |
| Collaborator | Core team members who need access beyond screening — including data management, deduplication, and advanced workflows | Yes — paid seat required on Individual plans (see below for Institutional) |
| Reviewer | Team members focused on screening and assessment — can screen, label, and add notes, but cannot manage the review | No — free on all plans |
| Viewer | Supervisors, advisors, or stakeholders who need read-only visibility into the review | No — free on all plans |
What each role can do
| Permission | Owner | Collaborator | Reviewer | Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access review | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Screen references (Include, Exclude, Maybe) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Apply labels and exclusion reasons | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Add user notes | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Use Filters Panel (10+ facets) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Run Compute Ratings | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Import and export references | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Upload and attach PDFs | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Detect and resolve duplicates | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Copy references between reviews | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Access Data Extraction and Risk of Bias | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Generate PRISMA diagram | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Create samples | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Invite members | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Toggle Blind Mode | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Edit review settings | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Archive or delete the review | ✓ | — | — | — |
How a Collaborator's access is determined by plan
A Collaborator's access to features is not fixed — it depends on the plan held by the review owner. The Collaborator inherits the feature set available under the owner's plan. Seats are purchased by the review owner as part of their Individual plan — for details see Seats & Collaboration. Under Institutional plans, feature access for Collaborators works differently — see the section below.
| Feature | Essential | Advanced | Institutional |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Reviewer permissions | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Import and export references | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Upload and attach PDFs | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Detect and resolve duplicates | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Auto-Resolver | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Copy references between reviews | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Generate PRISMA diagram | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Access Data Extraction and Risk of Bias | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Create samples | 1 per review | ✓ Unlimited | ✓ Unlimited |
| PICO AI | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| ResearchPilot™ Suite | — | — | Subject to institution's contract |
If you purchased a seat but cannot invite a new Collaborator, an existing seat may already be in use — including seats held by Collaborators in archived reviews. To manage your seats, go to Administration from your profile icon dropdown. From there you can see all members you have invited, identify which ones have paid Collaborator access, and revoke their access to free up a seat. If you want to keep a member's access but free the seat, change their role to Reviewer or Viewer instead.
How Institutional plans handle Collaborator access
Under Institutional plans, access is license-based rather than seat-based. The review owner still chooses the role for each member they invite — Viewer, Reviewer, or Collaborator. Licensed members within the institution can be invited as Collaborators at no additional cost. External members outside the institution's license can also be invited as Collaborators — they join as guests on those specific reviews and receive full institutional feature access, including all premium features available under the institution's plan. If the institution's plan includes ResearchPilot™, those external Collaborators will have access to it as well on the reviews they are invited to.
| Scenario | Viewer / Reviewer | Collaborator |
|---|---|---|
| Institutional review owner → licensed member (same institution) | ✓ Free | ✓ Free — no seat required |
| Institutional review owner → external member (outside institution's license) | ✓ Free | ✓ Allowed — receives full institutional feature access on invited reviews |
| Individual review owner → anyone | ✓ Free | Seat purchase required |
Continue to: How to Use Blind Mode in Rayyan