If you have exported your search results from a database into Zotero (reference management software) or an Excel spreadsheet, you will probably want to check whether you have any duplicate records, particularly if you are completing a systematic literature review.
In Zotero:
- Click "duplicate items" under "My Library" on the left hand side of your Zotero screen
- Zotero will identify and group the duplicate records together
- If you are happy they are genuine duplicates, click "merge" on the right hand side of the screen
In Excel:
- Open the spreadsheet containing your search results
- Select the relevant data in your spreadsheet
- Click the "data" tab at the top of the screen
- Under "data tools", click "remove duplicates"
- Select which column(s) you want Excel to check - usually the article title
- Click "OK"
Excel will remove exact duplicates. You will see a dialog box informed you how many duplicates have been removed, and how many unique records remain.