Thoth: A Web-based Tool to Support Systematic Reviews

Background: Systematic Reviews (SR) are crucial for collecting evidence related with a particular field or area. Hence, there are different protocols for conducting SR in software engineering. There is also several tools designed to provide support for these protocols. Aims: We understand that there is still a lack of a web-tool, fully integrating the features considered important for SR. Implementing such a tool would be a great contribution to the field. Method: We analyzed several studies discussing features for tools supporting SR. We defined design decisions based on these features. Results: We created Thoth, a web-based tool for SR. In this study we present a first version, containing a set of features. Before moving forward with the implementation, we conducted a quasi-experiment for evaluating and comparing Thoth with a similar tool. Conclusion: Despite being in the right direction for achieving our goal, the results of the quasi-experiment provided us with important evidence for improving Thoth.