Automated Deduplication Pattern

Requirements:
Microsoft Power Automate (Desktop) – for automating the multi-step deduplication process and tracking time.
EndNote 21 – using the Auto DeDuplicate feature to remove duplicates in each iteration.

Validated multi-step deduplication workflow for systematic reviews, based on the Bramer method. Designed to work exclusively with EndNote 21’s Auto DeDuplicate feature. Iteratively finds and removes duplicate citations using field combinations:
 
Author + Year + Title + Journal
Author + Year + Title + Pages
Title + Journal + Pages
Year + Title + Pages
Title + Pages
Author + Year + Journal + Pages
Author + Year + Title
Author + Year + Journal
Author + Year
Year + Title
Title
 
Tracks the total removed by citation manager and remaining records for manual review. Uses Microsoft Power Automate to execute and log each step, automatically tracking progress and time. Estimated completion time: 6–8 minutes. This approach reduces screening workload and improves accuracy in literature reviews.

References:This workflow follows the Bramer method (Bramer et al., 2016), a validated multi-step deduplication strategy for EndNote. Comparative studies (Kwon et al., 2015; Rathbone et al., 2015) show it detects more duplicates than EndNote’s default tool, while research by Qi et al. (2013) supports using varied field combinations to capture inconsistencies. The approach is further reinforced by guidance from the LSHTM Library (Falconer, 2018), which outlines a systematic, multi-phase process for removing duplicates in EndNote consistent with the Bramer framework. Fully aligned with PRISMA and Cochrane systematic review guidelines. Read full citations in Additional Info.