ARC: an Automated Review Companion Leveraging User-Centered Design for Research Integration

Systematic literature reviews are foundational for advancing knowledge across research domains, yet their labor-intensive nature often limits their accessibility and efficiency. As a result, researchers may resort to less structured approaches, which can compromise the rigor and reliability of findings. Current solutions are limited in scope, adaptability, and ease-of-use, particularly within the computing domain. To address this gap, we introduce ARC (Automated Review Companion), an open-source tool designed to automate and facilitate various aspects of Systematic Literature Reviews while preserving high standards of transparency and reproducibility. ARC is developed following a user-centered approach, iteratively refining it through interviews with a group of 20 diverse computing researchers. Our study also identifies key design principles that improve the usability and effectiveness of research-oriented tools, contributing to a more streamlined and reliable research pipeline. ARC fosters an accessible and efficient research ecosystem by supporting FAIR principles and encouraging open, reproducible research practices.