In this section: Frequently used names | Names specific to Cochrane | Family names | Pharmaceutical drug names | Organism names | Virus names | Country and ethnic group names
Frequently used names
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Correct usage |
Examples of incorrect usage |
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Abbreviation: CDC |
Centers for Disease Control Center for Disease Control Center for Disease Control and Prevention Centre for Disease Control Centre for Disease Control and Prevention CDCP |
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Embase |
EMBASE |
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GRADE GRADEpro GDT Note: the GRADE system is used to assess the quality of evidence in reviews, and summary of findings tables are generated using the GRADEpro GDT software. Note: the abbreviation GRADE does not need to be defined in Cochrane Reviews (see Common abbreviations that do not need to be defined). |
Grade GradeProGDT Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation |
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PRISMA Note: the abbreviation PRISMA does not need to be defined in Cochrane Reviews (see Common abbreviations that do not need to be defined). |
Prisma Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses |
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PubMed |
Pubmed PUBMED |
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World Health Organization |
World Health Organisation |
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Web of Science |
Web of science WOS |
Presentation of terms and names specific to Cochrane
Note: the following table displays the correct spelling and formatting of terms names specific to Cochrane.
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Correct usage |
Incorrect usage |
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Archie |
ARCHIE |
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author or review author |
reviewer |
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co-author |
coauthor |
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Cochrane In certain cases: The Cochrane Collaboration Note: the full legal name of the organization is The Cochrane Collaboration, and this name was in general use prior to 2015. |
the Cochrane Collaboration The Collaboration the collaboration |
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Cochrane Central Executive:
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Finance & Core Services Cochrane Editorial Unit IKMD Department Cochrane Organisational Unit Cochrane Secretariat Membership, Learning & Support Services |
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Cochrane Groups:
For names of Cochrane Groups, see: |
Cochrane groups entities Methods groups Branches |
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the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials |
The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) Cochrane Central Register of Clinical Trials (CENTRAL) |
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the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Note: use italics for the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (because it is a journal). |
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |
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the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Note: can be referred to as 'the Cochrane Handbook' or 'the Handbook' in short after first mention, depending on context. |
Cochrane Reviewers’ Handbook The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions The Handbook |
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the Cochrane Library '…in the Cochrane Library' |
The Cochrane Library the Cochrane Library '…on The Cochrane Library' |
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the Cochrane Editorial and Publishing Policy Resource |
the Cochrane Editorial and Publishing Policy Manual The Cochrane Editorial and Publishing Policy Resource the Cochrane Editorial and Publishing Policy Resource |
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the Cochrane Methodology Register |
The Cochrane Methodology Register |
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Cochrane Review protocol protocol for a Cochrane Review |
Cochrane Protocol Cochrane Review Protocol |
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Cochrane Review |
Cochrane Systematic Review Cochrane Intervention Review Cochrane review |
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Cochrane Review Group |
Collaborative Review Group Review Group |
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the Cochrane Style Manual the Style Manual ...in line with Cochrane style... Cochrane Style Basics |
the Cochrane Style manual The Cochrane Style Manual the Cochrane Style Guide the style manual the Style Guide ...in line with Cochrane Style... Cochrane Style Manual Basics |
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Convenor |
Convener |
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Co-ordinating Editor |
Coordinating Editor |
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Information Specialist (as a role in a Cochrane Group) Note: Before March 2016, Information Specialists were known as Trials Search Co-ordinators |
Information specialist Trial Search Co-ordinator Trials Search Coordinator |
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Methodological Expectations of Cochrane Intervention Reviews (MECIR) |
Methodological expectations of Cochrane intervention reviews Mecir |
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MeerKat |
Meerkat |
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Review Manager 5 RevMan 5 (abbreviation) RevMan Web |
ReviewManager Revman RevMan RevManWeb |
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RoB 1 RoB 2 Note: these are official names for the Cochrane risk of bias tools |
ROB 2 Rob 2 rob 2 Risk of bias 2 |
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| ROBINS-I |
Robins-I ROBINS I ROBINS-1 |
Family names
Where names have designation of rank within a family, such as 'Jr' or 'III', place family designations of rank at the end of the name, without punctuation, and use Arabic ordinals rather than Roman numerals.
Examples (in text): write
'James M LeMesurier, Jr' as 'James M LeMesurier Jr'
'Roger G Smith III' as 'Roger G Smith 3rd'
Examples (in references section)
'James M LeMesurier, Jr.' becomes 'LeMesurier JM Jr'
'Roger G Smith III' becomes 'Smith RG 3rd'
Some family names have specific formatting, and there may be regional differences. For consistency, in the text Chinese names should follow a Westernized style, that is, first name followed by the family name: first name/personal name (名字 míngzi) and family name/surname (姓 xìng). Formatting of Dutch family names should follow the style from the table below. It is advisable to seek confirmation from Cochrane authors before modifying.
General guidance on Dutch family names in the text
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First name (or initial) before the family name |
van, de, der, and ter start with a lower-case letter |
'Danielle van der Windt' or 'DA van der Windt' |
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Only family name used |
Van, De, Der, and Ter start with an upper-case letter |
'Van der Windt' |
Pharmaceutical drug names
Refer to pharmaceutical drugs using the Recommended International Nonproprietary Name (generic name; rINN; see note below), rather than the brand name. This system helps avoid confusion where common names for drugs differ around the world; for example, acetaminophen is commonly used in the USA, but it is more commonly known as paracetamol (also the rINN) in the UK. If needed, however, place the brand name in brackets after the rINN. A rINN should start with a lower-case letter, while a brand name starts with an upper-case letter. For example, the rINN for one type of antibiotic is ‘ciprofloxacin’. This could be presented as ‘ciprofloxacin’ alone or ‘ciprofloxacin (Ciproxin)’ if essential, but not as ‘Ciproxin’ alone.
Useful resources for locating or checking the rINN are the British National Formulary (which provides information on medicines prescribed in the UK), the WHO MedNet (which can be accessed for free upon registration), and the WHO Model Formulary (which provides comprehensive information on medicines in the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines).
Note: “International Nonproprietary Names (INN) facilitate the identification of pharmaceutical substances or active pharmaceutical ingredients. Each INN is a unique name that is globally recognized and is public property. A nonproprietary name is also known as a generic name." World Health Organization, Essential Drugs and Medicine Policy, International Nonproprietary Names. www.who.int/medicines/services/inn/en/ (accessed 7 July 2015).
There is no need to use trademark symbols (® or ™) with brand names. These symbols (® for registered; ™ for unregistered) are intended for use by owners of brand names to assert their ownership in their own documentation and advertising. There is no need to use these symbols with drug or product names in Cochrane Reviews, but brand names should always have an initial capital letter and correct spelling. If there is potential misunderstanding or ambiguity about the status of a name, the text should make it clear that it is a brand name, with the company name added if needed.
Organism names
Names of organisms are given in the form Genus species (e.g. Plasmodium falciparum, Staphylococcus aureus). The genus name starts with an upper-case letter, and the species name is all lower case. Both are italicized. Once an organism's name has been stated in full, use the abbreviated form thereafter. For the abbreviated form use the initial letter of the genus followed by the species name (e.g. P falciparum, S aureus).
Virus names
Do not italicize a virus name when used generically or when referring to a strain (e.g. herpes simplex virus, influenza A (H1N1) virus), and do not use capital letters unless the virus name includes a proper noun (e.g. West Nile virus, Ebola virus). Italicize species, genus, and family of a virus when used in a taxonomic sense. In this case, virus names should follow the rules of orthography of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). The table below summarizes how to format virus names, but refer to https://ictv.global/about/code for a full overview of ICTV recommendations. It is usually not necessary to mention the taxonomy of a virus if it is well known.
Formatting of virus names
Note: this information comes from https://ictv.global/about/code where there are further examples of formatting rules and a full taxonomy index.
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Type of term |
Formatting |
Examples |
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Virus order, family, subfamily, or genus |
Italics with first letter of the name capitalized |
Herpesvirales (order) |
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Species name |
Italics with the first letter of the first name capitalized. Never abbreviate species names. Exceptions: proper nouns, parts of proper nouns, or alphabetical identifiers may be capitalized even if they occur as the second word. |
Human alphaherpesvirus 1 |
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Virus strain or generic name |
Not italicized and the first letter of the first word is not capitalized, unless it is a proper noun or includes alphabetical identifiers |
Ebola virus |
Country and ethnic groups' names
Refer to the section on international considerations for guidance on country names and ethnic group names.