Hi Roberta,
Thanks for getting in touch!
Qualitative data extraction is one of the areas where EPPI-Reviewer flexibility shows all its strength.
The key concept is that users can design and tailor their own data-extraction codesets to represent a structure that closely follows the key questions addressed by a particular review. Thus, a common pattern is to organise a code-tree in a "question and answers" pattern, such as:
(parent node - non selectable) Study type
(children codes - selectable) Randomised study, Non randomised intervention, Observational (long term), Observational (short term), Other(please specify).
This kind of small pattern can then be organised in larger areas, so you could have a code-set divided in sections (first level nodes) such as "Population" "study kind", and so forth. The above is a general description, but the fact that EPPI-Reviewer lets you organise a code-tree in virtually any possible way should allow to represent and capture any arbitrary hierarchy of concepts.
Additionally, one can assign additional text to further specify why or how a given code applies to a study via the info-box. It is also possible to link text from the reference PDF directly to a given code.
Sometimes adding new codes while data-extracting is also useful, as it allows to capture concepts that weren't anticipated at the protocol stage. However, naturally I can't really say whether this possibility applies to your particular review or not.
In short: if the templates for data-extraction provided by the "configure review" wizard do not suit your need, it is always possible to either modify them or create your own custom data-extraction codeset. Once a codeset is designed appropriately, you will be able to copy it into other reviews whenever suitable.
Codes of outcome, intervention, comparison and Outcome Classification types are specifically designed to aid extracting numeric data and then conducting Meta Analyses, if your review only concerns qualitative data, you can safely ignore them (more details are in the user manual, of course).
The RIS Export currently supports only two specific CSV file formats, thus it's probably not going to work for your file (I assume you've tried already). We are always happy to try extending the range of supported formats, so please send us an example file to eppisupport@ioe.ac.uk. We will look at it and see whether it can be used to produce a new export filter. Please note that this normally requires a few days of work, and we probably won't be able to start working on your file before next Tuesday. Also: not all file formats can effectively be "digested" by a machine, we can only make an assessment after seeing your particular file.
Best wishes,
Sergio