Author support is the unique and valuable role of Cochrane groups in our global community, including Review groups, Thematic groups and Evidence Synthesis Units. Cochrane Central Editorial Service does not provide support to authors developing reviews.
Find out more about Cochrane's Central Editorial Service.
What is author support?
As Cochrane groups are resourced and funded differently, author support can look very different across the board.
Some levels of support constitute authorship. In that case, the group staff member can be a listed author on the review.
Examples of author support - outside of authorship - that groups may provide:
- Directing authors to our Author guidelines
- Drafting search strategies and methods, and running searches
- Providing methodological advice and guidance; either advising authors directly, connecting authors to those with specific methods expertise in your network, or signposting authors to Cochrane training materials
- Giving feedback on drafts in RevMan
- Making author byline changes (remember that authors may need to sign and submit a completed Changes in authorship form)
- Helping authors understand and respond to peer reviewer comments from Central Editorial Service
- Disseminating the findings of published reviews across your networks
We are very grateful for the support that you provide to authors. We know from our author satisfaction surveys that authors greatly value the connection with a Cochrane group and benefit from your input. Effective author support relies on:
- A shared understanding of what authors need to do to produce a draft suitable for peer review. We have author guidelines, pre-submission checklists and transparent peer review criteria available to help with this.
- Good communication between you and the authors you are supporting.
Whilst we recognise the value of support offered by Cochrane groups, it is ultimately an author team's decision whether or not to take up this offer. If authors choose not to engage with your group, you can always let us know. We can make a note in our editorial system; and if needed we can move their protocol or review out of your portfolio and into our 'Independent authors' group (for authors working without group support).
Connecting groups and authors
To build good communication, there are key points in the process where we connect you with authors and keep you up to date on their progress.
Proposal
When authors propose a new or updated review in your topic area, we ask you if the review is worth pursuing. We do this by including you in a Discussion in Editorial Manager. You advise on whether work should begin. If you are not currently included in Discussions on proposals and you would like to assess these, please contact support@cochrane.org. When responding to a Discussion, you can also opt to support the authors as they develop their draft. You will then be copied into the proposal acceptance email to authors.
You can also submit a 'pre-approved' proposal to begin a new protocol or update in your group. Please submit the proposal before authors begin work.
Invitation
If you have opted to support authors with developing a new protocol or update, or when a protocol supported by your group is published, you will be copied into the authors' invitation to submit their draft to Central Editorial Service.
The submission deadline is also visible on the Decision log of the review in RevMan. Standard submission deadlines:
- Protocol: 120 days from invitation
- Review or update: 365 days from invitation
You can follow up this invitation email with an email to authors, explaining any support your group can provide (e.g. support with developing and running searches). You can also arrange to view authors' drafts in RevMan. For instance, you could plan to view a draft 2-4 weeks before authors are due to submit to Central Editorial Service if you would like to comment on it.
Reminders and deadlines
Authors receive regular reminders to submit: 6 weeks and then 7 days before their due date; and 7 days and 28 days after. Groups cannot be copied into these reminders. However, all reminders include a note to authors that if they are working with a group, they should keep you up to date with progress towards submission. If you are a listed author on a review, you may receive these reminders directly.
If authors do not respond to regular automated reminders, they receive a final warning 90 days after the due date. If authors do not then contact Cochrane Support within 7 days to request an extension, their invitation will be closed. This ensures that we have a reliable record of the number of submissions due into Central Editorial Service.
Please ask authors to let Cochrane Support know if they need an extension to their submission deadline, or if their email contact details have changed.
Submission
Groups cannot be copied into submission acknowledgement emails. If you are a listed author on a review, you will receive confirmation when the draft is submitted. On submission, authors are also asked to confirm whether they are working with a group, and that they have let you know that they have submitted.
The submission action is also visible on the Decision log of the review in RevMan.
After submission, even if you have editing rights, please do not make changes to the review in RevMan. Central Editorial Service editors and peer reviewers will be looking at the submitted version.
Editorial assessment and peer review
Indicative timelines for Central Editorial Service processes are available in our Author guidelines. Authors can help to reduce turnaround times by completing Declarations of interest and responding to revisions promptly.
Decision
You will be copied into the decision emails for any reviews you are supporting. This is a manual action which unfortunately cannot be automated in our systems – and we do apologise if it is missed occasionally. All decision emails include a note to authors that they should share editorial and peer reviewer feedback with their group.
The decision action is also visible on the Decision log of the review in RevMan.
You can help the authors to respond to peer reviewer comments from Central Editorial Service.
Resubmission
Cochrane's 'reject and resubmit' process allows authors associated with Cochrane Groups to revise high-priority manuscripts that would otherwise be rejected. The revised submission will be reassessed. This is not a guarantee of publication. Find out more about how this works.
Acceptance and publication
You will be copied into the acceptance email for any reviews you are supporting. For reviews submitted to Central Editorial Service, copyeditor comments are returned directly to the authors and corrections focus on language, style, and readability. If you are in touch with the authors after acceptance, you can ask them to share these comments if needed.
After publication
If you are following the Cochrane Library RSS feed or the dedicated channel for new publications on Community Slack, you will see notifications for every review published in your group. The publication action is also visible on the Decision log of the review in RevMan.
We are grateful for your help with sharing Cochrane evidence. If you are organising a press release or other activity to coincide with publication, please contact our Communications Team (pressoffice@cochrane.org) to coordinate press activity, including setting publication dates.
Future improvements to author support
We will soon be moving reviews out of Archie to be managed directly within RevMan. Your group will have its own RevMan portfolio and you will be a Unit Lead. Managing reviews in RevMan offers potential for better task management and tracking author activity.
If you have any questions about RevMan or author support, please contact support@cochrane.org.