Entire Cochrane membership invited to vote
Voting for the 2017 election for two (2) internal members of the Cochrane Board is now open until Monday 24 July 2017. The results will be annouced on 27 July 2017.
All Cochrane contributors are invited to vote in this election. You may cast your vote online at elections.cochrane.org,…
The minutes from the Governing Board’s meeting in Geneva, 5-7 April 2017, are now available. Governing Board members are Cochrane’s directors and trustees, and are elected to direct the strategy and policies of the organization. Questions about the minutes can be sent to admin@cochrane.org.
Additional resources:
Agenda and open access papers…
Following the 2016 annual review, we are delighted to confirm that Wiley will offer free access to the Cochrane Library including more than 9,000 full text Cochrane Systematic Reviews and Protocols in over 100 countries with approximately 2 billion people. One-click free access is provided by country IP recognition for all of the included…
We are pleased to announce the 12 successful titles from the fourth Cochrane Review Support Programme (CRSP) funding round.
Adverse events in patients taking macrolide antibiotics versus placebo for any indication (Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections)
Cognitive behaviour therapy versus standard care for schizophrenia (Cochrane Schizophrenia…
David Tovey is the Editor in Chief of the Cochrane Library, and has been working with the Cochrane Editorial Unit (CEU) and the wider Cochrane collaboration in this role since 2009. In this post, he discusses Cochrane's conflict of interest policy and recent calls for re-assessment of its application in the conduct of Cochrane Reviews.
This blog…
Cochrane’s Project Transform team, in partnership with the LSR Network, have been working away for some time on the methods, and production and publication processes needed for Cochrane to be able to pilot Living Systematic Reviews (LSRs).
After successful meetings and events at the Cochrane Colloquium in Seoul, and a recent two-day workshop…
“This generation, our generation of people who benefited, must always be the pioneers who look to younger people and say mediocrity is not accommodated in what we do.”
Trevor Manuel, who served in the South African government as Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2009, during the presidencies of Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema…
Dear Community colleagues,
Last week I shared the news that Cochrane’s Editor in Chief, David Tovey, needed to undergo urgent coronary bypass surgery.
I’m pleased to pass on that David’s surgery took place on Monday and has gone well. We have heard that David is resting comfortably in hospital, and the prognosis is good for a full recovery.…
The 2016 Journal Citation Report (JCR) has just been released by Clarivate Analytics (formerly Thomson ISI), and we are pleased to announce that Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) Impact Factor is now 6.124.
This is a slight increase on the 2015 impact factor, which was 6.103.
The CDSR impact factor is calculated by taking the…
Deadline for submitting nominations: 20 June 2017
Two internal members
Three external members
One Co-Chair
Do you want to help shape Cochrane’s strategic direction and build your leadership profile?
Cochrane exists so that healthcare decisions get better. Over the past 20 years we have helped to transform the way health decisions are made…
The Cochrane Council was established in November 2016 as part of Cochrane’s governance restructure, to ensure that Cochrane Groups retain an effective voice in Cochrane’s leadership and strategic decision-making. The Council met for the first time at the Cochrane Mid-Year Meeting in Geneva, April 2017, and will be meeting again by teleconference…
Cochrane is proud to announce its newest Associate Centre, Cochrane Iran.
The Cochrane Iran Associate Centre is located in the city of Tehran, within the National Institute for Medical Research Development (NIMAD) of the Islamic Republic of Iran. NIMAD is a national public granting body for medical research, which is under supervision…
In the words of Cochrane’s 2015 winner: “If you have an interesting article that you think fits the remit – submit it! Working in the field relevant to the Cochrane community, I know that there are many worthy articles out there for the award that are not considered because they are simply not submitted.” (Jamie Kirkham, Senior Lecturer in Medical…
Cochrane is delighted to announce that Cochrane Croatia has been recognized for its outstanding achievements in promoting evidence-based decision-making in health care by being awarded full, independent Centre status.
The Centre consists of longstanding, dedicated Cochrane enthusiasts located at the University of Split School of Medicine, where…
Early bird registration for the Summit closes this Friday, 7 July (23:59 SAST). Don’t miss out on the 11% discount!
Trying to make a decision about attending the first-ever Global Evidence Summit before early bird registration ends 7 July? Find out more about what's on the programme - plenaries, speakers, discussion topics, and other events - on…
Sylvia de Haan is Cochrane's Partnerships Co-ordinator, and blogs periodically about work with our partners. You can read more in her previous blogs about engagement with the WHO, as well our partnership with Wikipedia.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is Cochrane's largest external partner, and one of our oldest, with whom we have been in…
Cochrane is delighted to announce that Cochrane Austria has been recognized for its outstanding achievements in promoting evidence-based decision-making in health care by being awarded full, independent Centre status.
Opened in 2010 as a branch of Cochrane, Cochrane Austria consists of longstanding, dedicated Cochrane enthusiasts located in the…
We are looking for people to get involved with the Cochrane-Wikipedia Initiative. Whether you are new to Wikipedia and Cochrane, or you are a seasoned Wikipedian or Cochrane contributor, there is a task for you.
Cochrane has a commitment to producing and sharing high-quality medical evidence to as broad an audience as possible. As a way of…
Cochrane Mexico has launched an initiative to bring Cochrane Reviews into daily practice, in order to promote informed decision making. Dr. Giordano Pérez-Gaxiola, of Cochrane Mexico and The Pediatric Hospital of Sinaloa, who is leading the initiative, explains more below.
How did the idea arise?
For a while, we had been thinking about how to…
Every year Cochrane recognizes the outstanding work of Kenneth Warren, a scientist, extremely influential in drawing attention to the 'great neglected diseases' that plague people in developing countries. He prioritized the need for valid summaries of key research studies and to the way electronic media could be used to disseminate results of…
Cochrane Japan has been recognized for its outstanding achievements in promoting evidence-based decision-making in health care by moving from a Cochrane Associate Centre to being awarded full, independent Centre status.
The Centre consists of longstanding, dedicated Cochrane enthusiasts located at the National Centre for Child Health and…
Reposted with permission from Evidently Cochrane
This blog by Sarah Chapman @SarahChapman30 reflects on how Cochrane UK shared Cochrane evidence on replacement of peripheral venous catheters. The blog was first published as an example of using social media to share research on the website of The HARTS of the possible project, which is…
How can we make it easier for health practitioners to access current evidence to inform treatments? One of Cochrane’s responses has been Cochrane Crowd, a platform that enables anyone with an interest in health to dive into tasks that help identify and describe health research. Cochrane Crowd is making it easier for health researchers to find the…
Please find below the main decisions made by the Cochrane Governing Board (previously known as Steering Group) at its meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, April 5-7. If you have any questions about these decisions, please contact a member of the Board.
The Board:
approved the Cochrane Knowledge Translation (KT) framework. Next steps will be…
Cochrane’s organizational Dashboard presents our achievements in key metrics.
We use it as an excellent tool to reflect on our accomplishments on a quarterly basis.
Here are just a few highlights from Q1 2017:
Cochrane Library use in Q1 shows a 35% year on year increase in demand.
Cochrane Crowd now has over 5,000 members…
Cochrane is proud to announce its newest Associate Centre, Cochrane Sweden.
The new Cochrane Sweden Centre is located in the city of Lund, and is affiliated with the Department of Research & Development / Section for HTA Analysis, Skåne University Hospital, in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, and with…
We are pleased to announce that the fourth funding round of the Cochrane Review Support Programme (CRSP) pilot is now open.
There are two important changes to note with this round:
The number of grants has been reduced to eight (16 grants in total for 2017).
We will now offer an extended due date for complex reviews. The due date for standard…
2017 sees Cochrane enter its fourth year of Strategy to 2020, which aims to put Cochrane evidence at the heart of health decision-making all over the world.
Cochrane’s focus during 2016 has been on the delivery of mission critical initiatives, many of which will begin widespread implementation in 2017. These include changes to the…
In March 2017, members of Cochrane Croatia, led by Irena Zakarija-Grković, recorded their first podcasts in Croatian. In 2016, Irena received a small grant from the Croatian Ministry of Science for the ‘Popularization of Science’, and what better way to do that than by translating and recording Cochrane Podcasts!
First, Hayley Hassan, from the…
Working together to create health evidence & transform biomedical discovery
Got a burning passion for health? Ready to make a difference? We’ve got you covered.
Join Cochrane Crowd, our partner Mark2Cure and our collective global volunteer network for an online MedLit Blitz, 9-12 May.
Together we will create health evidence and transform…
A new Cochrane Council has been established to represent Cochrane’s various communities and provide a forum for discussion of high-level issues that cut across all Cochrane’s Groups and contributors. The Council was established as part of the 2016 Governance Restructure Project, and met for the first time at the Mid-Year Meetings in Geneva on 6…
Cochrane's 2016 Annual Review is now available for download and dissemination. To find out more about what we achieved in 2016, what's happening across the organization in 2017, and links to share with stakeholders, please see cochrane.org for more information.
The University of Split School of Medicine, in Split, Croatia, had the pleasure of hosting Cochrane Poland’s director, Malgorzata Bala, from 6th to 9th March, 2017, during her visit to Cochrane Croatia. Given Croatia and Poland’s similar health and education systems, cultural background and Cochrane group setting (both are based at a medical…
The March for Science took place on Saturday, 22 April 2017 - also known as Earth Day, a commemoration of environmental advocacy and science in the public interest established in the United States nearly 50 years ago. The March took place in more than 600 cities around the world, to champion the science that upholds the common good.
Cochrane…
Cochrane is delighted to announce today the development of Cochrane Global Mental Health: a partnership that brings together the five Cochrane Review Groups that cover mental health conditions and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Section of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology.…
2016 Dashboard is keeping us on track for 2017
Cochrane's Annual Dashboard presents some key metrics on our organizational performance over the previous calendar year. It includes data on Strategy to 2020 target achievements, and key metrics around the four Strategy to 2020 Goals. It’s an excellent tool to use to reflect on what we…
TaskExchange makes life easy for review authors
Elizabeth Clearfield is a regular task poster on TaskExchange, Cochrane’s online platform that connects people needing help with their systematic review, with people who have the time and skills to help. Elizabeth sat down recently for a chat with Emily Steele, Community Engagement and Partnerships…
The Governing Board has approved a new set of principles concerning the implementation of Cochrane's Charter of Good Management Practice. Effective March 2017, the principles of the Charter apply to directors and managers of all Cochrane Groups, as well as to members of the Central Executive team (CET). Thus all Cochrane staff and volunteers…
To complement the papers for the Governing Board, we are publishing a report from the Cochrane Editorial Unit (CEU) about our activities over the past 12 months. It has been a challenging period for many reasons, but the recent UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) report strongly endorses our Strategy to 2020, and in particular goals 1…
The Agenda and Open Access papers for the Cochrane Governing Board meeting in Geneva are now available.
Cochrane Community members may be particularly interested in the following papers:
CEU Screening Guide
Knowledge Translation Strategy
Membership Thresholds
Report on 2016 Targets for Strategy to 2020
Report on the 2016-2017 Governing Board…
What’s happening with the Organizational Policy Manual?
Following the launch of the new Cochrane Community site in early 2016, we have been working to complete the integration of content from the old Community site and other legacy sites to make all relevant information easily accessible in one location. As part of this process, we have…
The Central Executive Team and Wiley are currently working with publishing technology company HighWire (previously Semantico), to develop a new platform for the Cochrane Library with greater functionality that makes it easier for users to discover and use Cochrane content in their decision-making. This is a complex project that is divided into…
With the recent election of the Author representatives, membership of the new Cochrane Council is now complete!
Authors
Julie Brown
María Ximena Rojas Reyes
Information Specialists (CISs)
Elizabeth Stovold
Rene Spijker
Co-ordinating Editors
Graziella Filippini…
Applications are open for the Aubrey Sheiham EBHC in Africa Leadership Award until 31 July, 2020.
We continue to honour Professor Aubrey Sheiham, a longtime supporter of Cochrane’s work and mission. Prof Sheiham was a dental epidemiologist who was inspired and encouraged by Archie Cochrane to question many of the practices in medicine and…
Cochrane and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) are delighted to announce the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for Cochrane and OHSU's ongoing work to build, pilot, and scale a next generation evidence system to transform the translation of health research into practice. This system is a major component of Cochrane'…
Cochrane’s logo illustrates the summary results from an iconic systematic review: Antenatal corticosteroids for accelerating fetal lung maturation for women at risk of preterm birth.
Each horizontal line represents the results of one study, while the diamond represents the combined result - our best estimate of whether the treatment is effective…
The Governing Board is delighted to announce that sponsored registration for one person from each Cochrane Group to attend Cochrane Colloquia has been extended to Associate Centres and Satellites of Cochrane Review Groups. This applies to the Global Evidence Summit in Cape Town, from 13-16 September 2017, which this year replaces the normal…
Following the publication of The Lancet’s 2014 series on ‘Research: increasing value, reducing waste’, a team of researchers undertook a project evaluating processes that research funders use to provide transparency and reduce waste in making funding decisions. They have presented the results of their research in a letter to The Lancet, published…
Evidence published in the BMJ suggests that tweeting out links to Cochrane Reviews increases ‘product placement’ of evidence, which has the potential to then influence care. Members of the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group conducted a randomized controlled trial to see whether sharing Cochrane Reviews on Weibo and Twitter affects visits to Cochrane…
The Targeted Updates project aims to provide policy-makers, in particular guideline developers, with up-to-date information from Cochrane Reviews, tailored to their needs and working to a fast timeline. Targeted Updates use Cochrane Reviews as their foundation, but focus on updating selected comparisons and outcomes, working in close consultation…
Dario Sambunjak and Chris Watts have been working with Cochrane’s Learning and Support team (L&SD) as Learning & Support Officers since May 2015. In this post they share information about a new training resource that L&SD has recently developed, working closely with the Cochrane Editorial Unit (CEU), to help Cochrane Editors avoid…
Every year Cochrane recognizes the outstanding work of Thomas C Chalmers, famous for his role in the development of the randomized controlled trial and meta-analysis in medical research. Thomas is perhaps best known for the notion ‘randomize the first patient’, his belief that it is more ethical to randomize patients than to treat them in the…
2017 will take us to the mid-point of the Strategy to 2020. It will be another year of delivery and continuity, focusing particularly on the implementation and output phases of already established projects that featured as Targets in 2016. For this reason, there are a reduced number of Targets this year – we are not starting new work.…
In preparation for the Cochrane Board meeting in April in Geneva, we have prepared an update paper to inform the Cochrane community about work with our external partners. Some of the key developments to note:
The planning for the Global Evidence Summit is progressing well and provides an opportunity to connect many of our external partners:…
Registration for early bird tickets open until 30 June 2017
Registration has now opened for the first ever Global Evidence Summit! Register before the 30 June 2017 to get over 11% off the standard ticket price.
This year, Cochrane, has joined with four other leading organizations – Guidelines International Network, Campbell Collaboration…
We regret to advise the Cochrane community that Michael Makanga has announced his resignation from the Cochrane Governing Board, due to changing demands in his primary role as Executive Director of the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). Michael’s resignation takes effect from 1st March. Although his time on…
The 2017 Mid-Year Meeting was hosted by Cochrane Switzerland in Geneva on 4-5 April, alongside other meetings that week.
Governing Board agenda and open access papers now available for Mid-Year Meeting.
Cochrane Malaysia has just issued certificates of recognition to reward five translators and editors for their outstanding contribution to the Malay translation project in 2016. Dr. Teguh Haryo Sasongko, project manager of the Malay translation project, explains how annual certificates are motivating their volunteers.
Could you tell us more about…
Sylvia de Haan is Cochrane's Partnerships Coordinator. She focuses on building and maintaining Cochrane’s external partnerships, including with Wikipedia. This blog tells about the experience of a small pilot project aimed at engaging volunteers in editing Wikipedia articles using Cochrane (and other) content.
Wikipedia's health content was made…
The final report presenting results and conclusions from the CEU’s Plain Language Summary pilot project is now available.
Over the past six months, seven Cochrane Review Groups (CRGs) have been piloting the use of a Plain Language Summary (PLS) template and checklist developed by Cochrane Norway. CRG editorial staff have sent the template to…
Entire Cochrane membership invited to vote Voting for the 2017 election for two (2) internal members of the Cochrane Board is now open until Monday 24 July 2017. The results will be annouced on 27 July 2017. All Cochrane contributors are invited to vote in this election. You may cast your vote online at elections.cochrane.org,…
The minutes from the Governing Board’s meeting in Geneva, 5-7 April 2017, are now available. Governing Board members are Cochrane’s directors and trustees, and are elected to direct the strategy and policies of the organization. Questions about the minutes can be sent to admin@cochrane.org. Additional resources: Agenda and open access papers…
Following the 2016 annual review, we are delighted to confirm that Wiley will offer free access to the Cochrane Library including more than 9,000 full text Cochrane Systematic Reviews and Protocols in over 100 countries with approximately 2 billion people. One-click free access is provided by country IP recognition for all of the included…
We are pleased to announce the 12 successful titles from the fourth Cochrane Review Support Programme (CRSP) funding round. Adverse events in patients taking macrolide antibiotics versus placebo for any indication (Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections) Cognitive behaviour therapy versus standard care for schizophrenia (Cochrane Schizophrenia…
David Tovey is the Editor in Chief of the Cochrane Library, and has been working with the Cochrane Editorial Unit (CEU) and the wider Cochrane collaboration in this role since 2009. In this post, he discusses Cochrane's conflict of interest policy and recent calls for re-assessment of its application in the conduct of Cochrane Reviews. This blog…
Cochrane’s Project Transform team, in partnership with the LSR Network, have been working away for some time on the methods, and production and publication processes needed for Cochrane to be able to pilot Living Systematic Reviews (LSRs). After successful meetings and events at the Cochrane Colloquium in Seoul, and a recent two-day workshop…
“This generation, our generation of people who benefited, must always be the pioneers who look to younger people and say mediocrity is not accommodated in what we do.” Trevor Manuel, who served in the South African government as Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2009, during the presidencies of Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema…
Dear Community colleagues, Last week I shared the news that Cochrane’s Editor in Chief, David Tovey, needed to undergo urgent coronary bypass surgery. I’m pleased to pass on that David’s surgery took place on Monday and has gone well. We have heard that David is resting comfortably in hospital, and the prognosis is good for a full recovery.…
The 2016 Journal Citation Report (JCR) has just been released by Clarivate Analytics (formerly Thomson ISI), and we are pleased to announce that Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) Impact Factor is now 6.124. This is a slight increase on the 2015 impact factor, which was 6.103. The CDSR impact factor is calculated by taking the…
Deadline for submitting nominations: 20 June 2017 Two internal members Three external members One Co-Chair Do you want to help shape Cochrane’s strategic direction and build your leadership profile? Cochrane exists so that healthcare decisions get better. Over the past 20 years we have helped to transform the way health decisions are made…
The Cochrane Council was established in November 2016 as part of Cochrane’s governance restructure, to ensure that Cochrane Groups retain an effective voice in Cochrane’s leadership and strategic decision-making. The Council met for the first time at the Cochrane Mid-Year Meeting in Geneva, April 2017, and will be meeting again by teleconference…
Cochrane is proud to announce its newest Associate Centre, Cochrane Iran. The Cochrane Iran Associate Centre is located in the city of Tehran, within the National Institute for Medical Research Development (NIMAD) of the Islamic Republic of Iran. NIMAD is a national public granting body for medical research, which is under supervision…
In the words of Cochrane’s 2015 winner: “If you have an interesting article that you think fits the remit – submit it! Working in the field relevant to the Cochrane community, I know that there are many worthy articles out there for the award that are not considered because they are simply not submitted.” (Jamie Kirkham, Senior Lecturer in Medical…
Cochrane is delighted to announce that Cochrane Croatia has been recognized for its outstanding achievements in promoting evidence-based decision-making in health care by being awarded full, independent Centre status. The Centre consists of longstanding, dedicated Cochrane enthusiasts located at the University of Split School of Medicine, where…
Early bird registration for the Summit closes this Friday, 7 July (23:59 SAST). Don’t miss out on the 11% discount! Trying to make a decision about attending the first-ever Global Evidence Summit before early bird registration ends 7 July? Find out more about what's on the programme - plenaries, speakers, discussion topics, and other events - on…
Sylvia de Haan is Cochrane's Partnerships Co-ordinator, and blogs periodically about work with our partners. You can read more in her previous blogs about engagement with the WHO, as well our partnership with Wikipedia. The World Health Organization (WHO) is Cochrane's largest external partner, and one of our oldest, with whom we have been in…
Cochrane is delighted to announce that Cochrane Austria has been recognized for its outstanding achievements in promoting evidence-based decision-making in health care by being awarded full, independent Centre status. Opened in 2010 as a branch of Cochrane, Cochrane Austria consists of longstanding, dedicated Cochrane enthusiasts located in the…
We are looking for people to get involved with the Cochrane-Wikipedia Initiative. Whether you are new to Wikipedia and Cochrane, or you are a seasoned Wikipedian or Cochrane contributor, there is a task for you. Cochrane has a commitment to producing and sharing high-quality medical evidence to as broad an audience as possible. As a way of…
Cochrane Mexico has launched an initiative to bring Cochrane Reviews into daily practice, in order to promote informed decision making. Dr. Giordano Pérez-Gaxiola, of Cochrane Mexico and The Pediatric Hospital of Sinaloa, who is leading the initiative, explains more below. How did the idea arise? For a while, we had been thinking about how to…
Every year Cochrane recognizes the outstanding work of Kenneth Warren, a scientist, extremely influential in drawing attention to the 'great neglected diseases' that plague people in developing countries. He prioritized the need for valid summaries of key research studies and to the way electronic media could be used to disseminate results of…
Cochrane Japan has been recognized for its outstanding achievements in promoting evidence-based decision-making in health care by moving from a Cochrane Associate Centre to being awarded full, independent Centre status. The Centre consists of longstanding, dedicated Cochrane enthusiasts located at the National Centre for Child Health and…
Reposted with permission from Evidently Cochrane This blog by Sarah Chapman @SarahChapman30 reflects on how Cochrane UK shared Cochrane evidence on replacement of peripheral venous catheters. The blog was first published as an example of using social media to share research on the website of The HARTS of the possible project, which is…
How can we make it easier for health practitioners to access current evidence to inform treatments? One of Cochrane’s responses has been Cochrane Crowd, a platform that enables anyone with an interest in health to dive into tasks that help identify and describe health research. Cochrane Crowd is making it easier for health researchers to find the…
Please find below the main decisions made by the Cochrane Governing Board (previously known as Steering Group) at its meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, April 5-7. If you have any questions about these decisions, please contact a member of the Board. The Board: approved the Cochrane Knowledge Translation (KT) framework. Next steps will be…
Cochrane’s organizational Dashboard presents our achievements in key metrics. We use it as an excellent tool to reflect on our accomplishments on a quarterly basis. Here are just a few highlights from Q1 2017: Cochrane Library use in Q1 shows a 35% year on year increase in demand. Cochrane Crowd now has over 5,000 members…
Cochrane is proud to announce its newest Associate Centre, Cochrane Sweden. The new Cochrane Sweden Centre is located in the city of Lund, and is affiliated with the Department of Research & Development / Section for HTA Analysis, Skåne University Hospital, in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, and with…
We are pleased to announce that the fourth funding round of the Cochrane Review Support Programme (CRSP) pilot is now open. There are two important changes to note with this round: The number of grants has been reduced to eight (16 grants in total for 2017). We will now offer an extended due date for complex reviews. The due date for standard…
2017 sees Cochrane enter its fourth year of Strategy to 2020, which aims to put Cochrane evidence at the heart of health decision-making all over the world. Cochrane’s focus during 2016 has been on the delivery of mission critical initiatives, many of which will begin widespread implementation in 2017. These include changes to the…
In March 2017, members of Cochrane Croatia, led by Irena Zakarija-Grković, recorded their first podcasts in Croatian. In 2016, Irena received a small grant from the Croatian Ministry of Science for the ‘Popularization of Science’, and what better way to do that than by translating and recording Cochrane Podcasts! First, Hayley Hassan, from the…
Working together to create health evidence & transform biomedical discovery Got a burning passion for health? Ready to make a difference? We’ve got you covered. Join Cochrane Crowd, our partner Mark2Cure and our collective global volunteer network for an online MedLit Blitz, 9-12 May. Together we will create health evidence and transform…
A new Cochrane Council has been established to represent Cochrane’s various communities and provide a forum for discussion of high-level issues that cut across all Cochrane’s Groups and contributors. The Council was established as part of the 2016 Governance Restructure Project, and met for the first time at the Mid-Year Meetings in Geneva on 6…
Cochrane's 2016 Annual Review is now available for download and dissemination. To find out more about what we achieved in 2016, what's happening across the organization in 2017, and links to share with stakeholders, please see cochrane.org for more information.
The University of Split School of Medicine, in Split, Croatia, had the pleasure of hosting Cochrane Poland’s director, Malgorzata Bala, from 6th to 9th March, 2017, during her visit to Cochrane Croatia. Given Croatia and Poland’s similar health and education systems, cultural background and Cochrane group setting (both are based at a medical…
The March for Science took place on Saturday, 22 April 2017 - also known as Earth Day, a commemoration of environmental advocacy and science in the public interest established in the United States nearly 50 years ago. The March took place in more than 600 cities around the world, to champion the science that upholds the common good. Cochrane…
Cochrane is delighted to announce today the development of Cochrane Global Mental Health: a partnership that brings together the five Cochrane Review Groups that cover mental health conditions and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Section of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology.…
2016 Dashboard is keeping us on track for 2017 Cochrane's Annual Dashboard presents some key metrics on our organizational performance over the previous calendar year. It includes data on Strategy to 2020 target achievements, and key metrics around the four Strategy to 2020 Goals. It’s an excellent tool to use to reflect on what we…
TaskExchange makes life easy for review authors Elizabeth Clearfield is a regular task poster on TaskExchange, Cochrane’s online platform that connects people needing help with their systematic review, with people who have the time and skills to help. Elizabeth sat down recently for a chat with Emily Steele, Community Engagement and Partnerships…
The Governing Board has approved a new set of principles concerning the implementation of Cochrane's Charter of Good Management Practice. Effective March 2017, the principles of the Charter apply to directors and managers of all Cochrane Groups, as well as to members of the Central Executive team (CET). Thus all Cochrane staff and volunteers…
To complement the papers for the Governing Board, we are publishing a report from the Cochrane Editorial Unit (CEU) about our activities over the past 12 months. It has been a challenging period for many reasons, but the recent UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) report strongly endorses our Strategy to 2020, and in particular goals 1…
The Agenda and Open Access papers for the Cochrane Governing Board meeting in Geneva are now available. Cochrane Community members may be particularly interested in the following papers: CEU Screening Guide Knowledge Translation Strategy Membership Thresholds Report on 2016 Targets for Strategy to 2020 Report on the 2016-2017 Governing Board…
What’s happening with the Organizational Policy Manual? Following the launch of the new Cochrane Community site in early 2016, we have been working to complete the integration of content from the old Community site and other legacy sites to make all relevant information easily accessible in one location. As part of this process, we have…
The Central Executive Team and Wiley are currently working with publishing technology company HighWire (previously Semantico), to develop a new platform for the Cochrane Library with greater functionality that makes it easier for users to discover and use Cochrane content in their decision-making. This is a complex project that is divided into…
With the recent election of the Author representatives, membership of the new Cochrane Council is now complete! Authors Julie Brown María Ximena Rojas Reyes Information Specialists (CISs) Elizabeth Stovold Rene Spijker Co-ordinating Editors Graziella Filippini…
Applications are open for the Aubrey Sheiham EBHC in Africa Leadership Award until 31 July, 2020. We continue to honour Professor Aubrey Sheiham, a longtime supporter of Cochrane’s work and mission. Prof Sheiham was a dental epidemiologist who was inspired and encouraged by Archie Cochrane to question many of the practices in medicine and…
Cochrane and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) are delighted to announce the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for Cochrane and OHSU's ongoing work to build, pilot, and scale a next generation evidence system to transform the translation of health research into practice. This system is a major component of Cochrane'…
Cochrane’s logo illustrates the summary results from an iconic systematic review: Antenatal corticosteroids for accelerating fetal lung maturation for women at risk of preterm birth. Each horizontal line represents the results of one study, while the diamond represents the combined result - our best estimate of whether the treatment is effective…
The Governing Board is delighted to announce that sponsored registration for one person from each Cochrane Group to attend Cochrane Colloquia has been extended to Associate Centres and Satellites of Cochrane Review Groups. This applies to the Global Evidence Summit in Cape Town, from 13-16 September 2017, which this year replaces the normal…
Following the publication of The Lancet’s 2014 series on ‘Research: increasing value, reducing waste’, a team of researchers undertook a project evaluating processes that research funders use to provide transparency and reduce waste in making funding decisions. They have presented the results of their research in a letter to The Lancet, published…
Evidence published in the BMJ suggests that tweeting out links to Cochrane Reviews increases ‘product placement’ of evidence, which has the potential to then influence care. Members of the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group conducted a randomized controlled trial to see whether sharing Cochrane Reviews on Weibo and Twitter affects visits to Cochrane…
The Targeted Updates project aims to provide policy-makers, in particular guideline developers, with up-to-date information from Cochrane Reviews, tailored to their needs and working to a fast timeline. Targeted Updates use Cochrane Reviews as their foundation, but focus on updating selected comparisons and outcomes, working in close consultation…
Dario Sambunjak and Chris Watts have been working with Cochrane’s Learning and Support team (L&SD) as Learning & Support Officers since May 2015. In this post they share information about a new training resource that L&SD has recently developed, working closely with the Cochrane Editorial Unit (CEU), to help Cochrane Editors avoid…
Every year Cochrane recognizes the outstanding work of Thomas C Chalmers, famous for his role in the development of the randomized controlled trial and meta-analysis in medical research. Thomas is perhaps best known for the notion ‘randomize the first patient’, his belief that it is more ethical to randomize patients than to treat them in the…
2017 will take us to the mid-point of the Strategy to 2020. It will be another year of delivery and continuity, focusing particularly on the implementation and output phases of already established projects that featured as Targets in 2016. For this reason, there are a reduced number of Targets this year – we are not starting new work.…
In preparation for the Cochrane Board meeting in April in Geneva, we have prepared an update paper to inform the Cochrane community about work with our external partners. Some of the key developments to note: The planning for the Global Evidence Summit is progressing well and provides an opportunity to connect many of our external partners:…
Registration for early bird tickets open until 30 June 2017 Registration has now opened for the first ever Global Evidence Summit! Register before the 30 June 2017 to get over 11% off the standard ticket price. This year, Cochrane, has joined with four other leading organizations – Guidelines International Network, Campbell Collaboration…
We regret to advise the Cochrane community that Michael Makanga has announced his resignation from the Cochrane Governing Board, due to changing demands in his primary role as Executive Director of the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). Michael’s resignation takes effect from 1st March. Although his time on…
The 2017 Mid-Year Meeting was hosted by Cochrane Switzerland in Geneva on 4-5 April, alongside other meetings that week. Governing Board agenda and open access papers now available for Mid-Year Meeting.
Cochrane Malaysia has just issued certificates of recognition to reward five translators and editors for their outstanding contribution to the Malay translation project in 2016. Dr. Teguh Haryo Sasongko, project manager of the Malay translation project, explains how annual certificates are motivating their volunteers. Could you tell us more about…
Sylvia de Haan is Cochrane's Partnerships Coordinator. She focuses on building and maintaining Cochrane’s external partnerships, including with Wikipedia. This blog tells about the experience of a small pilot project aimed at engaging volunteers in editing Wikipedia articles using Cochrane (and other) content. Wikipedia's health content was made…
The final report presenting results and conclusions from the CEU’s Plain Language Summary pilot project is now available. Over the past six months, seven Cochrane Review Groups (CRGs) have been piloting the use of a Plain Language Summary (PLS) template and checklist developed by Cochrane Norway. CRG editorial staff have sent the template to…