Minutes of meetings of the

Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group

Khon Kaen, Thailand

24-26 April 2006

 

[These minutes were approved by the Steering Group Executive on 6 June 2006,
and amended on 24 July 2006.]

 

Topic

Item no.

Access to background documents for Steering Group meetings

27.1

Advisory Group budget requests for 2006-2007

6.1.3; 6.3

CENTRAL Vision Group

8

Centre Directors’ meeting

21.1

Chief Executive Officer’s report

5

Co-Chair, nomination for

10

Co-Chairs’ report

4

Cochrane review, cost of a

3.12

Cochrane reviews of diagnostic test accuracy

14

Cochrane reviews, commissioning

3.3.4

Cochrane reviews, pilot project to facilitate updating of

19.1; 27.2.3

Cochrane reviews, progress report on umbrella

3.23

Cochrane reviews, quality of

27.2.2

Cochrane reviews, short versions of

4.3

Cochrane reviews, ‘updatedness’ of

19.1.2

Cochrane reviews, updating of

19.1.1; 27.2.3

Colloquia, offers to host in 2009 and 2010

21.1

Colloquia, policy on commercial sponsorship of

21.2

Colloquium Manager software

6.1.4

Commercial sponsorship policy, Funding Arbiter’s audit re compliance with

24

Commercial sponsorship for Methods Groups

20

Contact Information Working Group

3.3.13.13

Co-ordinating Editors’ executive, report of Khon Kaen meeting

27.2

Cost of a Cochrane review

3.12

CRGs, guiding principles for editorial teams

3.15.1.1

CRGs, Cochrane editors and industry sponsored reviews

19.3

CRGs, proposed name change for Review Group Co-ordinators

19.2

Declarations of interest by Steering Group members and staff

2; 19.3

Developing countries initiative

15

Diagnostic test accuracy, Cochrane reviews of

14

Discretionary Fund expenditure

6.5

Elections Working Group

12

Ethics statement, proposed

Evidence Aid, possible lessons to be learned

18

Fields, proposal to improve interactions with and support for CRGs

22

Finance, proposed budget for 2006-2007

6.2

Finance, proposal for a Cochrane opportunities funding programme

6.4

Finance, current financial position and cash flow forecast

6.1.1

Funding Arbiter’s report on the audit of The Cochrane Library

24

Funding Arbitration Panel

17

Information Management System, licensing costs

7.2

Information Management System, Support Team

7.1

Methods Groups, commercial sponsorship for

20

Mid-year meetings of Centre Directors and Steering Group

21.1

Monitoring and Registration Group budget

6.3

New Interface Working Party

4.2

Priority setting

3.8.1; 27.2.4

Secretariat staff salary arrangements

4.1

Steering Group and Centre Directors’ mid-year meetings

21.1

Steering Group, access to background documents for meetings

27.1

Steering Group, five-year review of

11

Steering Group, recommendations of Elections Working Group

12

Strategic Plan, progress and priority setting for the next four years

3.3.8.1

Strategic review of The Cochrane Collaboration

13

Trading Company Directors, issues raised by

23

Treasurer, replacement

6.1.3

Umbrella reviews progress report; budget for working group

3.23; 6.3

Updating reviews, pilot project to facilitate

19.1.1

Website, pilot survey; evaluation and review; budget proposal

16.1-16.3

Wiley, John and Sons Limited

9


 


Present (Steering Group members shown in bold): Godwin Aja, Gerd Antes (member of CENTRAL Vision Group; for item 8 only), Lorne Becker (for items 10 and 22 only), Lisa Bero, Mark Davies (Co-Chair; chaired the discussion of items 1-9, 11-16, 19.1, 19.2, 20, 22), Jon Deeks (Treasurer), Zbys Fedorowicz, Donna Gillies, Adrian Grant, Dymphna Hermans, Jini Hetherington (Company Secretary; minutes) (absent for item 4.1); Monica Kjeldstrøm (Director, Information Management System), Steff Lewis (Co-Chair; chaired the discussion of items 17, 18, 19.3, 21, 23-28), Alessandro Liberati (Chair of Steering Group Review Panel, for item 11 only), Jordi Pardo (chaired the discussion for item 10), Deborah Pentesco-Gilbert (John Wiley and Sons, for items 9 and 16 only), Nick Royle (CEO) (absent for item 4.1), Rob Scholten, Haluk Soydan (The Campbell Collaboration, except for items 7.2 and 11), Peter Tugwell, Janet Wale, Liz Waters, Narelle Willis and Hans van der Wouden.

1.          Welcomes, apologies, and approval of the agenda
Mark welcomed everyone to the meeting, which was Dymphna Hermans’ first Steering Group meeting as representative of the Trials Search Co-ordinators. Apologies for absence had been received from Lorne Becker and Sally Green. Arrangements had been made for Lorne Becker to participate in the discussion of items 10 and 22, and for Alessandro Liberati to participate in the discussion of item 11. The agenda was approved; Mark described the changes to the order of discussion of the agenda items.

2.     Declarations of interest of CCSG members, IMS Director, and staff
Mark drew attention to the declarations of interest that had been circulated with the agenda material. Monica was attending the meeting to represent the Trading Company Directors in addition to her role as Director of the Information Management System. Steering Group members had no additional declarations of interest to mention.

 

3.     Matters arising from minutes of the CCSG meeting, Melbourne, 2005:

Item 3.4 - Canvassing Co-ordinating Editors and Review Group Co-ordinators about commissioning systematic reviews:
Adrian agreed to annotate the slides he had presented during the brainstorming session, and circulate them to the Steering Group.
Action: Adrian

Item 3.8.1 - Progress and priority setting for the next four years:
Nick said he was awaiting input on new or revised activities from several Steering Group members for certain items in the Collaboration’s Strategic Plan (http://www.cochrane.org/admin/stratplan.htm); he would be following this up within the next few weeks. He expressed concern about some initiatives underway which are not widely known about, and asked that Steering Group members aware of such initiatives inform him of them so that they can be annotated in the Strategic Plan. He explained that he was using a new piece of software to help administer the Strategic Plan, and would shortly be contacting Steering Group members about the items in the Plan for which they were responsible, and describing how the software worked.
Action: Nick, Everyone

Item 3.13.13 - Contact Information Working Group:
Monica reported on the recommendations of the small working group deputed to consider issues pertaining to access to contact information on people within The Cochrane Collaboration. Entity representatives on the Steering Group should be invited to join this temporary working group, which could be disbanded after it had made its recommendations to the Steering Group. Monica said that a privacy policy for the Collaboration is under development. Nick confirmed that legal advice had been sought and, since members’ contact details are password protected, there are legally no data protection issues. Mark asked entity representatives to send Jini, within two weeks, the name of the person who would represent their constituency’s views on this group.
Action: Everyone

Item 15.1.1 - Guiding principles for CRG editorial teams:
Narelle agreed to take over from Davina Ghersi in drafting a set of guiding principles for CRG editorial teams, taking note of the guiding principles for Centre Directors and Staff in section 3.3.1 of The Cochrane Manual.
Action: Narelle

Item 12 - Cost of a Cochrane review:
Jon reported that he had not yet given feedback to Miranda Mugford about her paper on the cost of a Cochrane review. He confirmed that he had received the required input from Hans and Nick on the paper. He would contact Miranda very shortly and report to the Steering Group at its next meeting in Dublin in October 2006.
Action: Jon

Item 22.2.3 - Qualitative reviews:
Jon explained that no proposal for the Collaboration to undertake qualitative reviews had been brought to this Steering Group meeting. Previous questions raised by Steering Group members concerning methodology, implications for review groups and software, and the feasibility of this type of review had been very helpful to the Qualitative Methods Group in thinking through the issues they needed to address before a full proposal could be submitted, which they still planned to do. An example qualitative review was being prepared to see what problems might arise. Liz reported that a meeting on the methodology of systematic reviews of qualitative research was to take place in Australia in July 2006, and the Steering Group agreed to review a progress report from the Qualitative Methods Group after that meeting. Liz agreed to work with Jennie Popay at the July meeting to encourage the group to attend to the outstanding issues regarding the scope and methods of the role of qualitative research in reviews.
Action: Jon, Liz

Item 23 - Umbrella reviews:
Mark reminded everyone that Lorne’s progress report had been e-mailed to them a week before this meeting (on 13 April). The potential importance of umbrella reviews was strongly endorsed. Uncertainty was expressed on the status of Wiley’s involvement in this area; such reviews should be seen as part of The Cochrane Library rather than a parallel product. 

4.       Report from the Co-Chairs:

4.1           Salary arrangements for Secretariat staff: Jini and Nick left the meeting for discussion of this item. Mark reported that the staff of the Secretariat had recently been put on UK National Health Service pay scales, to enable automatic inflationary pay increases, and a structure for increases above inflation, while current employment arrangements remain unchanged. The principles outlined in the background document were agreed to.

4.2           New Interface Working Party: Mark reported that the new online interface of The Cochrane Library had become available within the last few days, and invited feedback to be sent to him after the meeting.
Action: Everyone

4.3           Short versions of Cochrane reviews: Mark reported that in consultation with others the Publishing Policy Group is currently considering several different options for the type of information that should be included in short versions of Cochrane reviews, in consultation with others. The added benefit of producing short versions was pointed out, because translations of these would require less resources than the full versions and would therefore be more achievable. 

5.       Report from the Chief Executive Officer      
Nick reported on the progress of negotiations with regard to a Europe-wide licence for The Cochrane Library. He highlighted the impact of this initiative on translation issues, and also on the increase in visibility of The Cochrane Collaboration. Nick also reported on the status of negotiations for the licence to England for the National electronic Library for Health; the impact of the outcome of these negotiations could have an effect on national licence providers in other countries.               

6.       Report from the Treasurer:    


6.1           Current financial position and cash flow forecast:

6.1.1        Income and expenditure: Jon showed several graphs, the first of which was of Wiley’s income over the past year, indicating a very healthy rate of increase of over ten per cent, which is in excess of both Wiley’s and the Collaboration’s projections. He highlighted that central running costs have not changed very much; rather, money is being spent on new initiatives, including sponsored Colloquium registration fees and complimentary subscriptions to The Cochrane Library for authors and Cochrane entities. The main funded initiatives were IT-related ones such as IMS Development, IMS Support, the Collaboration website, ‘Colloquium Manager’ and MeerKat. The committed budgets approved for other kinds of initiatives had been underspent in the year for various reasons. Nick drew attention to the difference on the cash flow forecast between expectations versus actual commitments. Narelle highlighted the fact that it had been previously agreed that part of the cost of the IMS is a central service to the Collaboration rather than an ‘initiative’, but Jon reported that attempts to separate costs of maintenance and development for both the IMS and the website had not been successful. Nick pointed out that considering the costs of the central administration of the Collaboration, expenditure should be viewed as a proportion of overall income, not just as a proportion of the amount of royalties. Jon showed additional graphs and spoke to several apparent over- and under-spends, all of which had reasonable explanations.

6.1.2        Carry-over of working group budgets: Jon’s suggestion was agreed to, of working groups carrying over their budget to the following year if they wished. He would liaise with Jini about advising the working groups of this decision. Budgets for advisory groups to and subgroups of the Steering Group would continue to be renewed annually. It was agreed that unspent budgets that had been approved for finite tasks could also be carried over, but that all such budgets should have an end date. Jon, Nick and Jini would categorise the items on the appropriate worksheet to indicate the status of each approved budget.
Action: Jini, Jon, Nick

6.1.3        Replacement Treasurer: Jon advised that he would be stepping down as Treasurer at the Annual General Meeting in Dublin in October 2006, due to other commitments; anyone interested in taking on this responsibility should speak to him about the skills and time commitment required, and express their interest to one of the Co-Chairs.
Action: Any CCSG member
 
6.1.4        Colloquium Manager: It was agreed to support the development of the ‘Colloquium Manager’ software for the Brazilian Colloquium in 2007. Jini was asked to advise the Colloquium organisers of this decision, and to prompt the Norwegian branch of the Nordic Cochrane Centre to request the necessary funds from the Executive of the Steering Group.
Action: Jini

6.2           Proposed budget for 2006-07: Jon explained that he had developed the proposed annual budget for the Collaboration for the new financial year with Nick and Jini. There were no queries and the budget was approved.

 

6.3           Advisory Group and MRG requested budgets for 2006-2007: Jon pointed out that all the Steering Group’s advisory groups had spent less than their approved budgets for the year 2005-2006. The Steering Group approved the budgets requested by the Advisory Groups, the Monitoring and Registration Group for 2006-2007; Jini was asked to advise the relevant Co-Convenors.

Action: Jini

 

6.4           Proposal for a Cochrane opportunities funding programme: Jon provided some background to the skeleton proposal he had put together at the request of the Steering Group, for creating a budget to which Cochrane entities could bid for funds. It was agreed that entities are more likely to buy into new ideas if there is a fund to which they can apply for a particular project, so this proposal was welcomed and approved in principle; however, more thought needed to be given as to whether this was the most appropriate way of distributing income throughout the entities. A working group of Donna, Lisa, Liz, Narelle and Nick was convened to help Jon revise the draft, omitting the option of applying for funds to support an entity through a funding crisis, and making it clear that applications should fit with the goals of the Strategic Plan. The revised document will be brought to the Steering Group Executive for approval, with the idea of announcing in Dublin in October 2006 a one-year pilot of this funding programme, with a total budget of £100,000.  Nick will add this amount to the cash flow forecast for this initiative. It was agreed that the Steering Group should always have the Strategic Plan in front of them when funding issues are discussed. The Secretariat should therefore ensure that the Plan is included with the background documents for all Steering Group meetings in future.
Action: Jon, Lisa, Liz, Narelle, Donna, Nick, Jini

 
6.5           Discretionary Fund table of expenditure: This table was included in the background papers for information, showing that the maximum amount of £15,000 for the financial year April 2005 to March 2006 had been claimed from this Fund.

 

7.              Information Management System
               
7.1           IMS Support Team: Monica explained that the contracts of the four members of the IMS Support Team (who are all based within Cochrane Review Groups) come to an end on 31 March 2007. She requested a continuation of their funding for a further two years, as indicated in the cash flow forecast. Nick spoke to the benefits that had already been experienced by the recipients of this support. The Steering Group approved this request, and asked Monica to take the necessary steps to have these contracts extended.
Action: Monica

7.2           Licensing costs of the Information Management System (IMS): Haluk Soydan, representing The Campbell Collaboration at this meeting, left the room for discussion of this item. Monica reminded everyone that she is an employee of Rigshospitalet which owns the copyright of the IMS software. She reported that she had received two expressions of interest in purchasing the IMS. Royalty income would accrue to the Collaboration from such purchases, so it would be important to set the licensing fee for the product at a level that is attractive both to the Collaboration and to potential purchasers, particularly those of which it is supportive and with which it has close relations. Jon said that these expressions of interest highlighted that the Collaboration should be grateful to the developers of the IMS for producing such a worthwhile product. The Steering Group expressed support to Monica in whatever way she chooses to move forward on this issue, and Nick said he would be happy to provide assistance in any negotiations. It was agreed to be wary of diverting resources to new developments at a crucial time in the development of RevMan 5.
Action: Monica

8.              CENTRAL Vision Group (CVG) progress report
As members of the CVG, Adrian led the discussion and Gerd Antes attended the meeting for this item only. Adrian reminded everyone that the CVG had been set up as a time-limited group. He acknowledged the input of Karen Robinson and Gail Higgins on this group; their input had been extremely valuable and their hard work was greatly appreciated. Changes in CRGs' specialised registers and the results of handsearching were last incorporated into CENTRAL in Issue 2, 2006; MEDLINE and EMBASE updates are continuing as usual. A survey of Trials Search Co-ordinators (TSCs) is in progress (32 have responded so far); a simpler survey will shortly be issued to other key members of the Collaboration and users of CENTRAL. Wiley may assist with an online external survey. An intermediate arrangement was discussed, of another party taking over the functions formerly performed by the US Cochrane Center. Dymphna expressed the disappointment of some TSCs if no interim measure were put in place. MEDLINE and EMBASE are not the only databases from which material is gleaned. Wiley had informally expressed a strong interest in producing CENTRAL. Monica said the Nordic Cochrane Centre might also have an interest in doing so if specialised registers are integrated with the IMS. Update Software had also previously expressed an interest, and others might be interested too. The absence of handsearching results could have an effect on the preparation of reviews, although there is always a time lapse before they appear in CENTRAL. It was agreed not to rush into putting into place any additional interim measures. Long-term quality issues will take some time to address. It was agreed to discuss further with Wiley how the current interim measure might be expanded to address concerns raised by stakeholders, but only to pursue this if it did not deflect the CVG from their remit. Nick offered to work with the CVG in exploring possibilities with Wiley. It was stressed that CRGs’ specialised registers are a most valuable resource, and although they are not currently being added to CENTRAL, they are still being updated within CRGs, and are available for authors within CRGs to use. Gerd clarified that the CVG planned to draft a strategic plan by the end of August, and that a version of this would be submitted for discussion during the Dublin Colloquium. The Steering Group would revisit the issue of interim measures at that time. Mark thanked the CVG for their efforts to date, and asked them to continue in this initiative.
Action: Adrian, Nick

9.              Report from John Wiley and Sons                             
Deborah Pentesco-Gilbert from John Wiley and Sons attended the meeting to present this item.

9.1           Royalties: Deborah described the healthy level of growth in income to the Collaboration in royalties during the past year. Renewals of national provisions accounted in part for this growth; increased sales of The Cochrane Library on Wiley InterScience, and also of partnerships (e.g. OVID, EBSCO), were other contributory factors.

9.2           Usability audit of The Cochrane Library: Deborah explained the intention to conduct an annual usability audit, working with an independent consultant, which would drive Wiley’s development programme. This audit would both take advice from The Cochrane Collaboration but also from users of The Cochrane Library.

9.3           New interface of The Cochrane Library online: Deborah showed a screenshot of the new interface of the online version of The Library, which gives more prominence to the product and less to the publisher than previously. She explained the increase in productivity with Wiley now taking on the full data conversion process, and thanks to interaction with members of the Collaboration. She drew attention to the increase in the number of published reviews.

9.4           The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews: Deborah confirmed that the Cochrane Database of Methodology Reviews (CDMR) would be integrated with the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), as would umbrella reviews and diagnostic test accuracy reviews as appropriate, which would affect the impact factor.

9.5           Licensing of translations: Deborah said that the licensing of translations in Germany and Japan is in progress, and French Canadian and Chinese translations are also a strong possibility.

Mark thanked Deborah and her colleagues for the hard work that had resulted in the healthy growth in income to John Wiley and Sons, and therefore in royalties to the Collaboration. He noted the good working relationships that the publishers had established with members of the Collaboration.

10.          Nomination for Co-Chair of the Steering Group      
Jordi chaired the discussion of this item. Jon spoke on behalf of Sally Green and himself as to the background, experience and qualities of Lorne Becker, in support of their nomination for him to replace Mark as Co-Chair of the Steering Group in October 2006. Lorne’s nomination had been the only one received.
 
Peter raised several concerns as to how Co-Chairs of the Steering Group are selected. Mark said that whilst concerns had been expressed by the Co-ordinating Editors’ executive regarding the selection process, they had never formally suggested an alternative in writing. He pointed out that experience of the review production process is not the primary requirement, as Co-Chairs represent all members of the Collaboration. It was agreed that the current selection process should be maintained, pending the results of the current five-year review of the Steering Group. Mark requested that Peter encourage the Co-ordinating Editors’ executive to produce a draft alternative process for Co-Chair selection and a discussion document for the next Steering Group meeting in Dublin. It was suggested that the Co-Chairs ought to receive a stipend for fulfilling this role, but it was pointed out that Steering Group members are trustees of the charity and, as such, they are not permitted under UK charity law to receive remuneration for their services. However, Jon agreed to investigate the matter further in consultation with the Secretariat and the Collaboration’s legal advisors. Nick asked people to send their comments on the Co-Chair electoral process and eligibility criteria to Alessandro Liberati, chair of the panel conducting the review of the Steering Group.
Action: Peter, Jon 

Lorne Becker was then connected to the meeting by telephone. He explained his reasons for being prepared to take on the role of Co-Chair of the Steering Group. The Steering Group approved Lorne fulfilling this role for two years from October 2006. Jordi thanked him for being prepared to take on this responsibility, which would come into effect at the Annual General Meeting in Dublin in October 2006. 

11.          Steering Group five-year review
Alessandro Liberati, chair of the panel conducting the five-year review of the Steering Group, was connected to the meeting by telephone for this item only. Alessandro reported that there had been clear terms of reference for this review, which had been adhered to. He had received 70 out of 120 potential completed questionnaires, but disappointingly only 28 of the 50 Review Groups had replied. Funding was mentioned most frequently as an issue of concern, as were the quality of reviews and the challenge of updating them. The panel’s final report was due by the end of July, but Alessandro asked whether this timescale could be extended. It was agreed that the final report should be included on the agenda for the next Steering Group meeting in Dublin in October 2006, the deadline for which is 25 September 2006. Peter and Adrian offered to work with Alessandro in trying to obtain a one hundred per cent response rate from Cochrane Review Groups, by means of a personal approach to Co-ordinating Editors and Review Group Co-ordinators of the CRGs which had not yet responded to the questionnaire. In the meantime, Alessandro would send a list of the non-responders to the relevant entity representatives to enlist their support in obtaining more responses. He apologised for not having yet acknowledged receipt of completed questionnaires and would do so as soon as possible. There was general agreement with Alessandro’s proposal to contact several external organisations and canvass their views about the Steering Group. An increase in the approved budget, from 7000 to 9100 Euros, was approved for the functioning of this review panel. Lisa offered to give Alessandro feedback on a draft approach to external organisations, with a request to interview them by telephone. Mark thanked Alessandro and the other members of the panel for their hard work in conducting this review. After Alessandro left the meeting, the Steering Group discussed the length of the questionnaire and the difficulties of obtaining a consensus response from entities. Mark asked Steering Group members to e-mail him their concerns about surveying external organisations so that he could feed these back to Alessandro.     
Action: Peter, Adrian, Everyone

12.          Elections Working Group recommendations           
The proposed changes to the election process described in the background document were approved in principle, with the primary aim of reducing entities’ workload. The issue of how to deal with voting in more than one entity needs more thought, as duplicate entries for individuals make it impossible to aggregate votes. It was agreed that eventually, once the majority of duplicate entries have been resolved, the Secretariat would be able to send out the voting papers rather than entity electoral officers, to relieve entities’ workload. It was reaffirmed that the ranking and number of points received by each candidate should continue to be made public, as the number of votes would only be an indication of ranking if there were no aggregation. It was reiterated that people performing the role of Trials Search Co-ordinators (TSCs) in all types of entity should be eligible to nominate, stand and vote for the TSC representative on the Steering Group. Authors of registered titles of new reviews are ineligible to nominate, stand and vote for the CRG author position; however, authors of published protocols as well as of published reviews are eligible to do so. The ‘at large’ position should remain labelled as such, pending completion of the review of the Steering Group. The process for electing Centre representatives should continue as at present, pending completion of the review of the Steering Group. It was agreed that “active member” should be inserted under the description of the Methods Group representative position. The Elections Working Group should re-convene after completion of the Steering Group review and possible re-structure, to ensure that the description of the election process is still valid. Monica clarified that the aggregation of votes would be done by the Secretariat in future, rather than by the entity electoral officers.
Action: Jini, Monica

13.          Proposal for a strategic review of The Cochrane Collaboration   
Nick spoke to this proposal, correcting ‘Option 2’ to ‘Option 4’ in paragraph 15(b) of his background document. Liz asked for Fields to be included in the discussion of undertaking a strategic review of the Collaboration, due to their responsibility in relation to engagement with external stakeholders. Lisa reported that the Centre Directors support this proposal, bringing in external people with business, non-profit and systematic review experience. Nick was asked to canvass the Centre Directors for names of organisations to be approached. Peter said the Co-ordinating Editors’ executive was strongly in favour of undertaking this strategic review. Nick and Donna would discuss the most appropriate way of involving Cochrane authors in this initiative. Nick said the likely timescale would be set after the appropriate consultations had taken place with stakeholders, by the time of the Dublin Colloquium. He thought the review itself should take six to twelve months in order to do the job properly. It was agreed that this review should take place, and that Nick should prepare a plan for its conduct along the lines of Option 4 in his proposal, to present to the Steering Group in Dublin, when enough time should be allowed for a thorough discussion. Liz asked for synergy between this review and the five-year review of the Steering Group. Rob reported that the Centre Directors had agreed at their meeting in Khon Kaen on the need not to be over-optimistic about the financial stability of the Collaboration.
Action: Nick, Donna

14.          Cochrane diagnostic reviews of test accuracy       
               
14.1 
Jon said that Narelle, Rob and Steff also had a particular interest in this item as they were working in Cochrane entities closely involved with the initiative. He explained that [part of the role of the original Screening and Diagnostic Tests Methods Working Group was to consider the creation of a database of reviews of test accuracy. The Steering Group had initially] rejected the suggestion to do this, because [The Cochrane Collaboration] had the higher priority of establishing review groups to cover all areas of health care; however, the Steering Group had reversed this decision in 2003 because other priorities had by then been met.
[=post hoc corrections]

14.2  Jon explained that Wiley was supportive of publishing these reviews initially as a derivative product, with the long-term aim of moving them into The Cochrane Library, and had undertaken to support this initiative to the tune of £50,000 a year, payable in advance if the reviews are published in a separate journal/derivative product. He suggested that outside funders might well find this new initiative attractive and be willing to support it. It was noted that members of the Funders’ Forum who had made this suggestion had, with one exception, failed to produce concrete support, although it was pointed out that they had not been directly approached in the last few years. Jon’s document had set out the likely costs, but he said that any amount of funding would be extremely helpful.

14.3  It was agreed to provide £100,000 per year for two years from central funds, on the understanding that Nick would actively pursue outside funding in addition. This approved sum will be used to fund the proposed Regional Support Unit for mainland Europe, to be based in the Netherlands, and any funds remaining from the £200,000 would go to part funding of the proposal to establish a Diagnostic Test Register
. This decision should be communicated in a sensitive way to entities, particularly those that are struggling financially, explaining that this is a bridging award to allow the momentum of the diagnostic test reviews initiative to be maintained while seeking other funding. The decision to provide this funding was not conditional on the likely funding of the UK-based support centre for reviews of diagnostic test accuracy.
Action: Jon, Nick

15.          Developing countries initiative (DCI): registration as an entity
The report of the meeting held in Barcelona in February 2006 was received with interest. Mark said that members of the DCI had initially applied to the Discretionary Fund for funds to hold this meeting. The Steering Group Executive had subsequently agreed to fund the meeting centrally instead. Mark said that if the DCI needs further funds they should bring a budget request to the Steering Group Executive, since the initial grant of £5000 has now been spent.
Action: Zbys

16.          Cochrane Collaboration website:
Deborah Pentesco-Gilbert from John Wiley and Sons participated in the discussion of this item.

16.1         Pilot survey of the website: Nick expressed thanks to Herb Turner of The Campbell Collaboration for his time and assistance in developing this online survey, and to Dave Booker and colleagues at the German Cochrane Centre for mounting the survey link on the website; also to members of the Consumer Network, the Italian and German Cochrane Centres and others for their assistance in piloting the survey before it went live.

16.2         Evaluation and review of the website: Nick thanked Wiley for providing prizes for a prize draw to help obtain a wide response to the recent evaluation of the website. The results showed that people were generally satisfied with the website, and work had already started to improve the ‘look and feel’, usability and search ability of the site. The general principle was reiterated that the Collaboration website exists to serve the needs both of members of the Collaboration and of people external to it. The importance of publishing abstracts and plain language summaries of Cochrane reviews on the website was reaffirmed. It was agreed that the search facility needs to be improved. There was strong support for continuation of the entity website template/builder project, but the timescale should be speeded up as there has been some frustration that the template is not yet ready for widespread use. The option was approved of maintaining the website development project at the current pace with no new major developments (Option 2 under paragraph 28), with the website development team continuing to be hosted by the German Cochrane Centre.

16.3         Website management budget proposal: The Steering Group agreed that the CEO should have operational decision-making responsibility for the website. Deborah said that the Collaboration website is a key factor in enabling people to locate The Cochrane Library. She said Wiley would like the user survey to be conducted on a regular basis, as its results had been extremely informative. There had been about 600,000 hits of The Cochrane Library last year via the site. The budget for Option 2 of Dave Booker’s website management budget proposal was approved for two years, to 31 March 2008. The amount of £95,100 would be made available from core funds in the financial year 2006-07, and the amount of £97,950 in the financial year 2007-08. Nick was asked to investigate additional sources of sponsorship for the website with the German Cochrane Centre, and to communicate the outcome of this discussion to the website development team.
Action: Nick            

17.          Funding Arbitration Panel membership
Lisa described the current membership of this Panel. One of the Panel members had been finding it difficult to participate fully, due to many other commitments. However, Lisa explained that since the last Steering Group meeting there had only been two issues for the Panel to resolve. In view of the increased workload ahead for the Panel as the result of the discussion of item 24 below (which had been discussed before this item), Lisa agreed to discuss with the Panel member whether or not it would be advisable to continue in this role.
Action: Lisa

 

18.          Some possible lessons to be learned from Evidence Aid

Mike Clarke’s report was received with interest and appreciation. Steff agreed to send it to the Co-Convenors of the Quality Advisory Group in order that any possible lessons to be learned could be taken on board. Jini was asked to e-mail the report to the Steering Group to enable entity representatives to forward it to their constituents.
Action: Steff, Jini

19.          Cochrane Review Group issues:

19.1.1      Pilot project to facilitate updating of systematic reviews: Rob spoke to the proposed pilot project to centralise the updating of reviews. The person(s) employed to undertake this work should be experienced in preparing Cochrane reviews. Rob clarified that review groups would be asked to nominate those reviews most in need of updating. Peter suggested that it should be possible to ‘close’ a review if there was no longer a need to gather further evidence, as is done in the Infectious Diseases Group. Rob explained that if the pilot project was successful, a future request for funding might be made to establish centralised updating as a regular procedure. Peter reported that the Co-ordinating Editors’ executive had expressed reservations about adopting this approach (see item 27.2(ii)). However, it was agreed to fund this as a pilot, to a maximum of 65,000 Euros, to be spent within one financial year from the start of the project. Rob was asked to rework the proposal into a project plan with deliverables and the lessons to be learned, and circulate it to the Steering Group. Comparisons should be made with similar pilot projects as part of this proposal. Adrian said that the earliest he might be able to join the working group would be after October 2006.
Action: Rob

19.1.2      ‘Updatedness’ of reviews: In the meantime, it was agreed that the ‘updatedness’ of a review needs to be more clearly presented in The Cochrane Library. Monica clarified that the future additions of the ‘Date the review was last assessed as up-to-date’ and a flag indicating that a review is stable should help to address this need; it was agreed that there needs to be very clear guidance on how to use these new fields. The Working Group had also noted that confusion exists among people reading a PubMed abstract of a Cochrane review: the review might appear to be very old but could have been updated very recently. Rob said that the working group looking at dates in reviews would make a written proposal to the Publishing Policy Group about adding a standard sentence to all abstracts of Cochrane reviews, saying that the reader should consult the latest version of the review on the online version of The Cochrane Library in order to see the most up to date information.
Action: Rob

19.2         RGC proposed name change: Narelle explained the consultation process that had gone on in order to reach the stage of proposing a name change from ‘Review Group Co-ordinator’ to ‘Managing Editor’. It was agreed that other roles within the Collaboration may need to undergo name changes if this name change is to be agreed to. Peter requested that the Steering Group should defer discussion of this item until it has been fully discussed between the RGCs and the Co-ordinating Editors during the Dublin Colloquium; Adrian supported this approach, as did Dymphna with respect to Trials Search Co-ordinators. Liz addressed the implications of name changes in terms of salary considerations, as well as the relationship to key roles within other entities such as Fields. Steff thanked Narelle for her thorough canvass of RGCs’ views. It was agreed to defer this until it had been fully discussed during the Dublin Colloquium. Liz would ensure that a member of a Field/Network was involved in such discussions.
Action: Adrian, Dymphna, Narelle, Peter, Liz      

 

19.3         Cochrane editors and industry sponsored reviews: Lisa reported that the Centre Directors had discussed the concerns expressed in the proposal that had been submitted to the Centre Directors and the Steering Group by Peter Gøtzsche on behalf of the Advisory Board of the Nordic Cochrane Centre. Although the Centre Directors did not support the proposal in its current form, they did support the recommendation that Cochrane editors and other members of CRG editorial teams should make declarations of interest in Review Group modules and keep this information updated. The Steering Group agreed in principle that declaration of interest statements for members of [CRGs (editorial base staff and editors), Methods Groups (Convenors, Co-Convenors and administrative staff), Fields/Networks (Directors, Convenors, Co-ordinators, Co-ordinating Committees, and Administrators), Centres and Centre Branches (all staff who are involved in the review process, including Centre Directors, scientific staff, administrative staff, and TSCs/Information Specialists)] should be published in their module. Lisa proposed asking editors, authors and others to provide structured declarations of interest, along the lines of the declarations of Steering Group members in The Cochrane Library. Jini would send the contact people of all entities the template used for Steering Group members’ disclosures, with the text of this minute once it has been approved. Godwin, Janet and Peter agreed to draft an ethics statement and bring it to the Executive Group, having sought the input of the recently proposed Centre Directors’ executive. Lisa also suggested that Deborah Pentesco-Gilbert be consulted about the proposed ethics statement.  
Action: Godwin, Janet, Peter, Jini
[=post hoc correction]


20.    Methods Group issues:

Commercial sponsorship for Methods Groups: Mark chaired the meeting for this item. Jon explained the background and rationale for his proposed revision of the Cochrane Collaboration policy on commercial sponsorship pertaining to the funding of Methods Groups. He had revised the section on Methods Groups in line with the principles that he had previously circulated to the Steering Group. He explained that Methods Groups are not funded per se but that funding is often obtained for the activities of Methods Groups or their members. After some discussion the Steering Group agreed unanimously that commercial sources of funding to Methods Groups should not be prohibited, and that the proposed revision of the policy be accepted, viz:
It was agreed that funding from a commercial source [as defined in the Cochrane Collaboration policy on commercial sponsorship] for the activities of Methods Groups, or of their members, in producing Cochrane reviews of healthcare interventions or tests, or supporting individual Cochrane Review Groups, including peer review, is not permitted. Methodologists who have personally received remuneration or research funds from a commercial source in the previous five years should ensure that they have no involvement in reviews of interventions or tests in which the commercial source has a vested interest. The receipt and use of commercial funds by Methods Groups for other purposes must be declared in Methods Groups’ modules. Mark will revise the policy accordingly and forward it to Jini to include in The Cochrane Manual and notify the Collaboration via the entity mailing lists.

Lisa pointed out that any members of Methods Groups who are authors of Cochrane reviews should declare financial ties with commercial sources: Jon pointed out that this requirement was already Collaboration policy, as a methodologist acting as an author would be subject to the other clauses in the policy. There was also discussion about methodologists with interests in commercial methodological products such as software having potential conflicts when they provide methodological advice to the Collaboration, and it was agreed that a policy of declaring these potential conflicts would be followed. Nick suggested that this policy be part of the general ethics statement being planned for the Collaboration and The Cochrane Library, and Narelle agreed to take this into account in the work she would be undertaking.

Action: Mark, Nick, Jon, Jini, Narelle     

 

21.    Centre issues:

21.1         Verbal report from Centre Directors’ meeting
: Lisa was asked to request Peter Gøtzsche to submit a new invitation on behalf of the Nordic Cochrane Centre to host the mid-year meetings in Copenhagen in 2009, for consideration in Dublin alongside any other written invitations that may be extended to the Steering Group. Verbal expressions of interest had been made to host the 2009 Colloquium in China, and in 2010 in South/Central America. The Colloquium Policy Advisory Group should be requested to devise a process for receiving and dealing with invitations to host future Colloquia, in order that these and other bids might be properly assessed.
Action: Lisa, Jordi

 

  21.2         Proposed new wording for Colloquium sponsorship policy: There had been some confusion as to whether or not the Colloquium Policy Advisory Group (CPAG) had recommended a blanket ban on commercial sponsorship of Colloquia. Mark pointed out that whilst it is important to keep in mind the impact of a change in policy, the policy should be determined first and then a plan should be formulated to deal with any consequences of that policy. He also noted that to amend the policy on sponsorship of colloquia in line with the Collaboration’s overall policy on commercial sponsorship did not necessarily mean a blanket ban on commercial sponsorship, as the Collaboration’s policy did allow commercial sponsorship under some circumstances (e.g. via donations to the Foundation Fund, and funding of Methods Groups). It was agreed that Jordi, as one of the CCSG representatives on the CPAG, should ask the CPAG to revise the Colloquium sponsorship policy to make it more explicit, and should also consider and make recommendations as to how the costs of colloquia to participants might be able to be reduced.
Action: Jordi

22.     Proposal to improve Fields’ interactions with and support for CRGs: Lorne was connected to the meeting by telephone for this item. His background document was noted with interest. There was general support in principle for adding tags to titles, protocols and reviews to indicate that they are potentially of interest to Fields. Monica noted that the estimate of programmer time cited in the document was incorrect, and that a member of the IMS team would need to spend two to four weeks on the project, which could lead to delays in other projects. It was agreed that Lorne should liaise with Monica about the timing of the implementation of this proposal, and that this should be done taking current priorities into account. Lorne indicated that no detailed budget had as yet been developed for the project. He was asked to develop such a budget and resubmit the proposal to the Executive. It was suggested that members of the Collaboration should be encouraged to address the symptoms of lack of interaction between CRGs and Fields.
Action: Lorne, Monica
 

23.   Issues raised by the Trading Company Directors
Monica was representing the Trading Company Directors at this meeting. The Directors had recommended that the financial statements of all past years should be made available on the website in the interests of transparency. Nick explained that discussions had already taken place with the accountants as to the feasibility of this, and Jini was asked to follow it up. It was noted from the table of key dates in 2006 that all actions had been completed by their due date so far this year. Monica thanked Jini, as Company Secretary, for having carried out these duties. Jon said that the recent changes in salary arrangements might potentially affect the appraisal dates of Secretariat staff; the Co-Chairs would explore this.
Action: Jini, Mark, Steff

24.        Funding Arbiter’s report on the audit of The Cochrane Library re compliance with the commercial sponsorship policy
Lisa described the process that had been followed in undertaking the audit of The Cochrane Library to see how many protocols and reviews do not, and/or may not, comply with the Collaboration’s commercial sponsorship policy. Peter thanked Lisa and Linda Chang for this important work; Rasmus Moustgaard at the Nordic Cochrane Centre had been extremely helpful in providing information on sources of support from the Parent Database. Lisa had also detailed in her report the next step in investigating whether the reviews/protocols identified did or did not comply with the Cochrane Collaboration policy on commercial sponsorship. All agreed that the Funding Arbitration Panel should proceed as planned (see also item 17 above.) The Funding Arbiter should also liaise with the Monitoring and Registration Group (MRG) to identify any discrepancies between the data in this audit report and the number of entities that had reported, as part of the monitoring process, whether or not they (or any of the reviews in their module) had received commercial sponsorship. (The MRG had reported the data about commercial sponsorship in 2005; since CRGs are not being monitored in 2006, the next set of data will be available in 2007.) Lisa’s suggestion of adding another member to the Funding Arbitration Panel was approved. She agreed to send a written proposal to the Executive Group as to who this should be. She would also submit a small budget proposal to the Executive if necessary to progress the work. It was generally accepted that in the first instance any queries about individual reviews should be directed to the Co-ordinating Editors and Review Group Co-ordinators, in preference to approaching review authors directly.
Action: Lisa

25.      Spreadsheet of CCSG members’ outstanding action items
Steff reminded Steering Group members that this spreadsheet is a tool to help them keep track of their outstanding action items. She asked them to remember to let Diana Wyatt in the Secretariat know when they have completed any of their items, to keep the spreadsheet current and useful.
Action: Everyone

26.      CCSG members’ feedback on the draft minutes of this meeting
Steff reminded Steering Group members of their individual responsibility, as members of the board of trustees of The Cochrane Collaboration, to provide feedback on the draft minutes of this meeting, in order that the Executive can approve them in their teleconference on 6 June, and as accurate a record of the discussions as possible can be made available to the members of the Collaboration.
Action: Everyone
 

27.      Any other business:

27.1           Access to documents: Steff reminded Steering Group members of their previous decision that all background documents for items on Steering Group agendas should be labelled ‘Open access’, ‘Embargoed’, ‘Commercial-in-confidence’ or ‘Confidential’. In addition, it should be clearly specified if certain groups should be allowed to see a particular document, e.g. ‘Confidential, but input being sought from the Co-ordinating Editors’ executive and the Centre Directors’. Thus, only those documents labelled ‘Open access’ can be released to members of the Collaboration upon request. Nick should check the guidance on preparing documents for the Steering Group to make sure this requirement is clear, and Jini should ensure that all background documents in future bear the appropriate label.
Action: Nick, Jini

27.2          
Verbal report from the Co-ordinating Editors’ executive meeting:

27.2.1        First meeting of Co-ordinating Editors’ executive in Khon Kaen: Peter reported that the executive appreciated the Steering Group’s decision to fund this meeting from the Discretionary Fund to the maximum amount allowed (£3000). Peter reported that the meeting had been very productive, and had allowed major progress to be made on addressing the issue of the quality of Cochrane reviews, the pivotal role of the Co-ordinating Editors, and the development of recommendations for action, for endorsement in Dublin in October 2006. Peter explained that the Co-ordinating Editors’ executive would be requesting central funding to meet again in 2007, as it had been an invaluable opportunity, not only for the executive to meet, but also for them to participate in the brainstorming session and to meet with the Centre Directors. He said that the success of the meeting had largely been due to the thorough preparation.

27.2.2        Quality of Cochrane reviews: The major focus of the meeting had been on the threats to/problems with the quality of Cochrane reviews, described in the background paper produced by Paul Garner, Sophie Hill, Harriet MacLehose and Andy Oxman, which had been used as the basis for productive brainstorming during the meeting. The discussion had then turned to identification of the processes/functions that would need to be improved in order to address problems of quality of Cochrane reviews; some minimum standards for editorial group policies had been suggested. The various functions would need to be mapped to the various CRG roles (Co-ordinating and other Editors, Review Group Co-ordinator, Trials Search Co-ordinator), to clarify at what level action should be taken to bring about solutions. The background paper had since been expanded to incorporate the discussions in Khon Kaen, and to include some draft recommendations for solutions to the problems that had been identified. This document would be circulated to all Co-ordinating Editors for their input in July 2006, and would form the basis for discussion and decisions in Dublin.

27.2.3        Updating of Cochrane reviews:
Peter highlighted the issues that had been discussed, including when and how to update reviews, what needs to be updated (methods and studies), and whether reviews can be ‘closed’. He said that there was currently large variation amongst Cochrane Review Groups with regard to strategies for addressing the issue of updating reviews. The Co-ordinating Editors’ executive had agreed to ask Rob Scholten (chair of the CCSG-mandated Updating Working Group) to discuss this with Paul Garner, Adrian Grant and Jeremy Grimshaw, and to take into account the executive’s concerns with the updating funding proposal (see also item 19.1). Peter was asked to ensure that any work on quality issues is done in consultation with the Quality Advisory Group.
Action: Peter

27.2.4        Priority setting: The Co-ordinating Editors’ executive had attended the Steering Group’s brainstorming session in Khon Kaen on priority setting, organised by Liz Waters, Lisa Bero and Peter Tugwell. Each of the small breakout discussion groups had had at least one co-chair who was a Co-ordinating Editor. Some excellent ideas had been developed that the Steering Group had indicated would be given priority for implementation. Lisa Bero had agreed to be the rapporteur for this session and would be circulating a report with action points and timelines. The feedback from many Centre Directors and members of the Steering Group was that the presence of six Co-ordinating Editors at this session had made a major difference. One of the Centre Directors made a plea at the end of it for the Co-ordinating Editors to be well represented at all meetings of this kind in future, given their central role in implementing any resultant recommendations.

28.      Thanks to the host
Steff thanked Pisake Lumbiganon and his colleagues at the Thai Cochrane Network, especially Natthaleeya Narash, for their warm hospitality and efficient organisation of the several Cochrane meetings in Khon Kaen. Steff also thanked Claire Allen and Diana Wyatt in the Secretariat for preparation of the materials for this meeting, and Jini for taking the minutes.


Declarations of interest of Steering Group members

Godwin Aja, Consumer Network Representative, Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Member, Executive Group; Steering Group representative, Cochrane Library Users' Group; Author, Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Review Group; Member, Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group; Member, Health Promotion and Public Health Field:

A.  Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research? No.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation? No.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation? No.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? 
I serve as associate professor, health promotion and education, at Babcock University, Nigeria. 

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? No.  

B.  Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.


Lorne Becker, Field Representative, Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group (shared position with Liz Waters); Member, Monitoring and Registration Group; Co-ordinator, Primary Health Care Field; Author and Peer Referee, Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Review Group; Author, Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Review Group; Member, Cochrane Drugs and Alcohol Review Group, and Cochrane Pain, Palliative and Supportive Care Review Group:

A.  Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research? No.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation? No.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation?
Yes: Honorarium from Thompson Micromedex for serving on the editorial board of their DiseaseDex publication.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? 
Yes: Small gifts from the Welch Allyn Corporation and the Dutch Dairy Council.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation?  No.

B.  Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.


Lisa Bero, Centre Representative, Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Member, Executive Group; Steering Group representative, Feedback Management Advisory Group; Funding Arbiter; Member, Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Review Group:

A.  Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research?
Yes: In the past five years, I have received research funding from the National Institutes of Health, World Health Organization, California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (research money derived from the tax on cigarettes), and Flight Attendants Medical Research Institute.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation?
Yes: I have received consulting fees (four times) from the University of Colorado for conducting workshops in evidence-based medicine.  I receive an annual consulting fee from British Medical Journal Publishing for serving as a senior editor for Tobacco Control. 

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation?
Yes: I have accepted honoraria ($50 to $1000 US on a one-time basis) from the Canadian National Cancer Institute and AHRQ for grant review, Research Triangle Institute and Health Systems Research, Inc. for methodological consultation, the Friends Research Institute for a talk on financial conflicts of interest and clinical trials, The Association of Medical Writers and Dartmouth University for talks on reporting of scientific research in the lay press, and the World Health Organization and Pomona University - European Union Center for talks on public commentary on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Kaiser Permanente for talks on a) evaluating the quality of research and b) tobacco industry manipulation of research, and the World Conference on Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics for a talk on managing financial conflicts of interest in clinical trials.  

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No. Since 1991, I have been a full-time faculty employee of the University of California, San Francisco

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation?
Yes: I receive about $50.00 US per year in royalty fees from the University of California Press for the publication of The Cigarette Papers. 

B.  Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.


Mark Davies, Co-Chair, Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Convenor, Publishing Policy Group; Member, Executive Group; Author, Cochrane Anaesthesia, Neonatal and Skin Review Groups; Peer Reviewer, Cochrane Anaesthesia Review Group:

A.  Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research? No.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation?
Yes: (a) I am a consultant neonatologist: part of my income is derived from private practice in neonatology; (b) I have acted as a consultant to BMJ Books reviewing manuscripts and proposals; but no other for-profit companies; (c) In 2003 I co-edited and published 'Pocket notes on neonatology' (ISBN 0-9750756-0-8) when the printing costs were partially met by grants from Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Pty Ltd and Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation? No.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)?  No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? No.

B.  Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.


Jon Deeks, Methods Group Representative, Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Member, Executive Group; Treasurer; Co-Convenor, Statistical Methods Group, Cochrane Diagnostic Test Accuracy Reviews Working Group; Steering Group representative, Handbook Advisory Group; Member, Quality Advisory Group, RevMan Advisory Group, Screening and Diagnostic Tests Methods Group, Non-Randomised Studies Methods Group, Reporting Bias Methods Group:

A.  Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research?
Yes: I received funding from 2001 to 2003 to employ a research fellow from Pfizer Ltd. From 2004-2007 my salary is funded by a UK DOH NCC RCD Senior Research Fellowship in Evidence Synthesis. I have received grants from the UK NHS Research Methodology Programme. I have been a co-investigator on grants from the UK NHS Health Technology Assessment Programme. I have funding from Cochrane Collaboration core funds to co-ordinate the initiative to develop Cochrane Reviews of Diagnostic Test Accuracy.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation?
Yes: I received payment from the BMJ for reviewing and attending committees from 2000-2005. I was paid consultancy fees by Pfizer Ltd for statistical advice in 2001 and 2002.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation?
Yes: I received an honorarium for lecturing from NICE in 2004.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? No.

B. Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.


Zbigniew FedorowiczRepresentative of all members of Cochrane Review Groups, Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Director, Bahrain Branch of the UK Cochrane Centre; Member, Monitoring and Registration Group; Member, Information Management System Group; Member, Health Related Quality of Life Methods Group; Member and Peer Referee, Cochrane Oral Health Review Group; Member, Cochrane Eyes and Vision Review Group; and Member, Health Promotion and Public Health Field:

A.  Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research? No.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation? No.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation? No.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? No.

B.  Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.

Donna Gillies, Author Representative, Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Member, Publishing Policy Group; Steering Group representative, Handbook Advisory Group; Author, Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections, Anaesthesia, Heart, Musculoskeletal, Neonatal, Schizophrenia, and Wounds Review Groups; Peer Reviewer, Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis, and Anaesthesia Review Groups:

A. Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research? 
Yes: I have received small grants funding from the Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation?  No.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation?  
I have received honoraria as a reviewer for the Journal of Advanced Nursing.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? No. 

B. Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.


Adrian Grant, Co-ordinating Editor Representative, Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Member, Executive Group; Co-ordinating Editor liaison with the Monitoring and Registration Group; Co-ordinating Editor, Cochrane Incontinence Review Group; Author, Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth, Upper Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Diseases, and Renal Review Groups; Consumer Reviewer, Cochrane Neuromuscular Diseases Review Group:

A. Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research? 
Yes: UK NHS R&D Health Technology Assessment Programme; UK Medical Research Council; BUPA Foundation; UK NHS R&D Service Delivery and Organisation Programme; Scottish Higher Education Funding Council; UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.  I have received no research funding from commercial organisations.  However, SHIRE Pharmaceuticals and NYCOMED supplied, free of charge, vitamin D, calcium and placebo tablets for an MRC-funded clinical trial in the UK of which I was the chief investigator.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation? No.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation? 
Yes: a single payment from Ethicon Endosurgery for attendance at a meeting to discuss possible research collaboration not pursued.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? No.

B. Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.

Sally Green, Centre Representative, Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Director, Australasian Cochrane Centre; Co-Convenor, Monitoring and Registration Group, Quality Advisory Group, and Handbook Advisory Group; Author, Cochrane Musculoskeletal Review Group:

A.  Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research? 
All my research is funded through competitive research grants. I have no commercial research contracts. My current grants are from The Australian Department of Health and Ageing, The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, The Australian Research Council, The Wellcome Trust, ANZ Bank Trustees, Andrology Australia, and The National Heart Foundation of Australia.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation?  
act as a consultant to the Australian government.
[=post hoc correction]

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation? No.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation?
Yes: I am the sole director of a private physiotherapy practice in Melbourne, Australia.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? No.

B.  Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.

Dymphna Hermans, Trials Search Co-ordinator Representative, Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Trials Search Co-ordinator, Review Group Co-ordinator and Author, Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group; Member, RevMan Advisory Group; Member, Editorial Management Advisory Group:  

A. Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research: No.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation? No.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation? No.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? No.

B. Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No. 

Steff Lewis, Co-Chair, Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Convenor, Steering Group Executive; Member, Publishing Policy Group; Editor, Cochrane Stroke Review Group; Co-Convenor, Statistical Methods Group:

A.  Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research?
I am a statistician based in a clinical trials unit in Scotland, UK. As part of this role, I am the trial statistician for a clinical trial funded by PPP Healthcare Medical Trust, but with some active drug and placebo supplied by Boehringer Ingelheim free of charge. I am the trial statistician for a trial funded by Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland and the Medical Research Council, but with medical devices provided free of charge by Tycohealthcare. I am also the trial statistician for a trial funded by Microvention Inc. of Aliejo Viejo California who make the hydrocoils being assessed in the trial. I have no control over the account that my salary is paid from, and other than what is listed above, if any of the money in it is from commercial sources, I am unaware of it.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation? No.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation? No.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? No.

B.  Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? 
I am paid by the Cochrane Stroke Group for one day per week as statistical editor.

 

Jordi Pardo Pardo, Centre Staff Representative, Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Administrator, Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre; Acting Review Group Co-ordinator, Cochrane Lung Cancer Review Group; Member, Monitoring and Registration Group; Steering Group representative, Colloquium Policy Advisory Group: 

A.  Financial interests

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research? No.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation? 
Yes: I am employed full-time by the Fundación de Gestió Sanitària de l'Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, a not-for-profit charity, and I devote all my time to the Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre and the Cochrane Lung Cancer Group. The Centre has received support from several sources, including pharmaceutical companies, as listed in the Centre's module in The Cochrane Library and on the Centre's website (www.cochrane.es).

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation? 
Yes: I have received a one-off payment from an editorial company for assessing an evidence-based nursing distance learning training.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? No.

B.  Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.


Rob Scholten, Centre Representative, Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Co-Convenor, Monitoring and Registration Group; Steering Group representative, Information Management System Group; Member, Statistical Methods Group, and Screening and Diagnostic Tests Methods Group; Author, Cochrane Back, Dementia and Cognitive Improvement, Depression Anxiety and Neurosis, Heart, and Neuromuscular Disease Review Groups:

A.  Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research? No.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation? No.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation? No.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? No.

B.  Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.


Peter Tugwell, Cochrane Review Group Representative (of Co-ordinating Editors), Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Member, Publishing Policy Group; Steering Group representative, Feedback Management Advisory Group; Co-ordinating Editor, Cochrane Musculoskeletal Review Group: 

A.  Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research?
I receive a stipend from the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology for my editorship of the Journal.  I also receive honoraria from the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation?
Yes, from Abbott, Almirall, American College of Rheumatology, Astra Zeneca, Aventis, Berlex, Biomatrix, Bristol Myers Squibb, British Medical Journal, Cadeuceus Group, Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment, Canadian Medical Association Journal, Eli Lilly, Foundation for Better Health Care, Glaxo-Welcome, Glaxo Smith Kline, Immunomedics, Innovus, Johnson & Johnson, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, Lilly Research, Medicine Group, Medicus, Merck, Merck Frosst, Milbank Memorial Fund, Novartis, Ortho McNeil, Pennside, Roche, Sandoz, Scios, Searle, Wyeth Ayerst, University of Minnesota, University of British Columbia, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, University of Southhampton, UpToDate, VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation? 
See #1 above.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation?
I receive royalties for Evidence Based Rheumatology book from BMJ Books as well as royalties from Lippincott Williams & Wilkins for Clinical Epidemiology Textbook. I also receive editorial royalties from UpToDate.

B.  Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.

Janet Wale, Consumer Network Representative, Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Member, Publishing Policy Group; Steering Group representative, Quality Advisory Group; freelance editor and consumer representative on Commonwealth of Australia and Western Australian health committees; consumer for the Cochrane Anaesthesia, Musculoskeletal, Musculoskeletal Injuries, and Heart Review Groups: 

A.  Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research? No.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation? No.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation? No.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? No.

B.  Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.


Elizabeth Waters, Field Representative, Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Member, Steering Group Executive; Steering Group representative, Quality Advisory Group; Director, Health Promotion and Public Health Field; Member, Child Health Field Advisory Board; Member, Non-Randomised Studies Methods Group; Member, Cochrane Heart, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Airways, and Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Review Groups:

A.  Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research?
I have received funds from the NHMRC, Victorian Government Department of Human Services, the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, and philanthropic trusts. Colgate provided toothbrushes free of charge to a randomised controlled trial on which I was CI, and we distributed these as part of a multifaceted intervention program. 

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation?
Yes, from the World Health Organization, the Victorian Cancer Council, and the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation?
I received a one-off payment for two book chapters in 'Evidence-based Paediatrics and Child Health'. 

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? No.

B.  Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.

Narelle Willis, Cochrane Review Group Representative (of Review Group Co-ordinators), Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Member, Steering Group Executive; Steering Group representative, Colloquium Policy Advisory Group; Review Group Co-ordinator, Cochrane Renal Review Group; Member, Hepato-Biliary Review Group, External Referee, Hepato-Biliary Review Group; Member, Screening and Diagnostic Tests Methods Group; Author, Cochrane Renal Review Group; Member, Working Party for Cochrane Review Groups Procedures Collection; Member, Abstract Committee for the XIV Colloquium:

A. Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research?
I am funded by a Department of Health and Ageing (Australian Government) grant.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation? No.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation? No.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No: I am an employee of The Childrens Hospital at Westmead and Associated Academic Staff with the School of Public Health, The University of Sydney.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? No.

B. Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.

Hans van der Wouden, Representative of all members of Cochrane Review Groups, Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group; Steering Group representative, Cochrane Library Users' Group; Member, Monitoring and Registration Group; Member, Airways Group, Ear, Nose and Throat Group, Skin Group; Member, Child Health Field:

A. Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research? 
Yes: as an employee of Erasmus MC - University Medical Center Rotterdam, I have received research funding from two pharmaceutical companies:  GlaxoSmithKline and ARTU Biologicals.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation? 
Yes, as a reviewer of papers for the BMJ I received several vouchers from the BMJ Publishing Group, and a fee from The Lancet.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation? No.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? 
Yes, as an employee of Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, I received 1623 euros from the BMJ Publishing Group for royalty fees for the sale of reprints of a paper we published in the BMJ.

B. Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.

 

Declaration of interest of the Director of the Information Management System

Monica Kjeldstrøm, Director, Information Management System, Nordic Cochrane Centre:

A.  Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research? If yes, list. No.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for an organisation? If yes, list. No.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation? If yes, list. No.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? If yes, list.
I’m employed by Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark, as Director of the Cochrane Collaboration Information Management System. My employment is permanent but Rigshospitalet can change my position. Rigshospitalet provides my only source of income. I am also a Director of the Collaboration Trading Company.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? If yes, list.
I have been given, and continue to hold, shares in a small Danish biotechnology company. I’m not able to trade in these and do not receive any income from them. I will not influence the conduct of any review in which this company might have a financial interest.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation?  If yes, list. No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation?  If yes, list. No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation?  If yes, list. No.

B.  Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest?  If yes, explain. No.

 

 

Declarations of interest of Secretariat staff

Jini Hetherington, Administrator and Company Secretary, Cochrane Collaboration Secretariat:

A.  Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research? No.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation? No.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation? No.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? No.

B.  Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.


Nick Royle, Chief Executive Officer, The Cochrane Collaboration; Member, Campbell and Cochrane Economic Methods Group; Member, Cochrane Screening and Diagnostic Tests Methods Group: 

A.  Financial interests

In the last five years, have you:

1. Received research funding: any grant, contract or gift, commissioned research, or fellowship from a related organisation to conduct research? No.

2. Had paid consultancies: any paid work, consulting fees (in cash or kind) for a related organisation? No.

3. Received honoraria: one-time payments (in cash or kind) from a related organisation? No.

4. Served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee or held a position of management with a related organisation? No.

5. Possessed share-holdings, stock, stock options, equity with a related organisation (excludes mutual funds or similar arrangements where the individual has no control over the selection of the shares)? No.

6. Received personal gifts from a related organisation? No.

7. Had an outstanding loan with a related organisation? No.

8. Received royalty payments from a related organisation? No.

B.  Non-financial interests

Do you have any other competing interests that could pose a conflict of interest that would reasonably appear to be related to the primary interest? No.