The minutes from the Governing Board’s meeting in Krakow, April 2019, 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 support@cochrane.org
Cochrane's 2018 Annual Review is now available for download and dissemination. To find out more about what we achieved in 2018, what's happening across the organization in 2019, and links to share with stakeholders, please view or download a PDF of the Annual Review.
"We’re a knowledge organization built on the capabilities and passion of our collaborators; and the good news is that people from around the world are flocking to contribute and support our work."
Mark Wilson
Cochrane Chief Executive Officer
Cochrane is currently reviewing the editorial management systems used by our editors and authors to prepare Cochrane Reviews, and the other content published in the Cochrane Library.
Cochrane uses several editorial management systems (EMS) to manage its content. The primary system used for Cochrane Reviews is Archie, which was developed in-house in 2003. Over the years Archie has fallen behind the technological curve and the system does not meet all the desires of our users; in addition, the EMS marketplace has evolved since 2003.
Cochrane needs to find or develop a sustainable editorial management solution that will serve the needs of our audience and contributors and the time to evaluate our technical needs and options is now. Cochrane requires an EMS that meets user needs, accommodates different content types, and is sustainable.
This programme of work forms part of an Organizational Target in 2019 which aims to evaluate, plan and begin implementation of an improved editorial management solution for Cochrane Review production.
Cochrane has engaged Origin Editorial to lead the analysis. Origin Editorial will conduct an analysis built with feedback from users and key stakeholders to understand the current and future requirements, evaluate current and potential systems against our requirements, and make a recommendation about a future approach.
For more information about this project (Project EMS strategy) and for updates, see the project website.
About Origin
Origin Editorial is a full-service editorial office collaboration, managed, and staffed, by industry recognized thought-leaders on peer review management best practice and journal business operations. The Origin team has considerable experience using multiple editorial management systems and has previously been called upon to advise developers of these systems on functionality needs and to facilitate an understanding of how editorial office users interact with such systems. Origin is also regularly engaged to advise journals and publishers alike on optimal peer review management workflows for a variety of stakeholders.
The principal project leads will be Jason Roberts, Senior Partner at Origin Editorial and David Allen. Jason Roberts has blended 3 career paths (publisher, peer review management and research in to peer review and publication ethics) to become a leading voice in the industry on the improvement in peer review management with a view to elevating the quality of published research. He is a past president of the International Society of Managing and Technical Editors and resides in Ottawa, Canada. David Allen has 19 years of medical publishing experience including being a former director of publications for the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research as well as a former Publisher for Elsevier. He has extensive experience with multiple editorial management systems and has undertaken several system implementations for a variety of publications. David is based in South Carolina, USA.
Take the opportunity to join the pilot of study-centric data in RevMan Web! Learn more about the advantages of study-centric data and why it’s important on the Community website.
Why?
If you join the pilot of study-centric data in RevMan Web you will get the chance to:
What?
Using study-centric data means that the review process will consist of:
Who?
This pilot is suitable for your review author team:
Support for review teams in the pilot
Initial call with pilot group
Review author teams involved in the pilot will be invited to attend an introductory call where the Managing Editor of the review group is also invited. This session will outline plans for the pilot and how your review fits into it as well as showcase study-centric data functionality in RevMan Web. It will also provide the author team with the opportunity to ask any questions they have.
Video calls
Individual feedback sessions for the review groups will be set up using GoTo Meeting teleconference software on a regular basis and general calls open to all pilot participants will be arranged so learning and experience can be shared across the pilot groups.
Training materials
The knowledge base contains video tutorials and how-to articles to help you get started with using study-centric data. There you can find clear descriptions of which types of analyses you will need to continue to use custom input data for.
Would you like to develop your skills in knowledge translation helping to inform evidence-based decision making in health?
Or, do you have experience of delivering knowledge translation projects and would like to pass on your expertise?
Cochrane defines Knowledge Translation (KT) as the process of supporting the use of health evidence from our high quality, trusted Cochrane systematic reviews by those who need it to make health decisions.
In order to develop and build on our existing KT implementation work and to encourage sharing of good practice, we’re excited to announce the launch of our first Knowledge Translation mentorship initiative.
KT mentoring in Cochrane is described as a structured, sustained relationship between two colleagues, in which the person more experienced in a specific area of knowledge translation (mentor) uses their knowledge, experience and understanding to support the development of specific KT practices that will be used in a mentee’s daily Cochrane work.
We are looking for mentees across Cochrane and mentors from Cochrane or beyond who will work collaboratively and confidentially on a 1:1 basis to discuss specifics of a KT activity or project, learning and development needs. A mentor will be paired with a mentee to provide advice and guidance based on their knowledge and experiences in an agreed specific area of KT. They will aim to help to increase the mentee’s awareness of issues involved in delivering KT and to support in exploring solutions to outcomes the mentee wants to achieve. They will also be able to offer the mentee additional tools or resources to support learning.
We are delighted to launch the Cochrane Mentoring Activities Survey for people whose first language is not English (FLNE)! This is intended to Centres, CRGs and Trainer’s network.
We are very keen to know how Cochrane members mentor FLNE authors; this information will serve as a basis for discussion at a Special Session at the 2019 Cochrane Colloquium in Santiago, with the main objective of improving current and future support initiatives especially aimed at FLNE authors.
If you are a member of a Centre, a member of a CRG or a member of the Trainers’ network, please take 10 minutes to complete the survey by 15 July, 2019.
Many thanks for your time!
Marta Roqué
Researcher, Cochrane Iberoamerica
Sera Tort
Clinical Editor, Editorial & Methods Department
Chris Champion
Head of Membership, Learning and Support Services
Cochrane has created eight new Networks of Cochrane Review Groups responsible for the efficient and timely production of high-quality systematic reviews that address the research questions that are most important to decision makers.
In this short film we focus on the Cochrane Acute and Emergency Care Network. This film introduces the team, what has happened so far, and the ambition for what is to come.
The Cochrane Colloquium is Cochrane’s flagship annual event that is a great opportunity to meet and network with Cochrane contributors and users globally and to learn more about the wide usage of Cochrane evidence in health decision-making at all levels. This year the 26th Cochrane Colloquium will take place in the vibrant city of Santiago, Chile, 22-25 October 2019.
To foster participation of Latin American attendees in the 2019 Cochrane Colloquium, new discounts will be offered to participants from the region. Participants coming from Argentina, Uruguay, and Panama will now receive the LMIC/UMIC rate. Institutions from LMIC/UMIC countries in Latin America will receive progressive discounts for sending groups to the Colloquium (10% discount for 5 or more registrants, 15% discount for 10 or more registrants, and 20% discount for 20 or more registrants).
Additionally, institutions from Chile will receive a 10% discount off the Early Bird registration rate for groups of 5 or more, 20% discount for groups of 10 or more, and 30% discount for groups of 20 or more. Members of the Colegio Médico de Chile will receive 15% off of the Early Bird registration rate.
Participants coming from outside Latin America can access the Early Bird registration rate, which provides an 18% discount over the regular registration rate, until July 25.
For more information on updated registration rates and discounts, please visit: https://colloquium2019.cochrane.org/registration-fees
Don’t miss out on the exciting Scientific Programme at the 2019 Cochrane Colloquium! Learn more about the Programme here: https://colloquium2019.cochrane.org/news/2019-cochrane-colloquium-scientific-programme
Following a consultation meeting on using clinical study reports in Cochrane Reviews, held on 16 May 2019, Ella Flemyng, Methods Implementation Coordinator at Cochrane, shares details and the minutes from the meeting, as well as highlight plans for taking the project forward in Cochrane.
A recent Cochrane Methods Innovation Funded (MIF) project highlighted that journal article reporting of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are often incomplete and can therefore bias results of systematic reviews. The Methodological Expectations of Cochrane Intervention Reviews (MECIR) standards do not currently mandate searching unpublished sources of studies, so the project developed guidance intended to help systematic reviewers decide when it is appropriate to access regulatory and other unpublished sources of information to provide the most complete set of data for use in a review.
The report highlighted examples where clinical study reports (CSRs) had enhanced the value of systematic reviews. CSRs are documents submitted to regulators to obtain marketing licenses for drugs and biologics and are a key source of detailed trial information, providing much more information than other sources, particularly adverse event data. CSRs can be long (up to 10,000s of pages), but they are generally highly structured, and where they exist, they are likely to be the most comprehensive and complete single source of information about a trial.
In response to the report on when to use CSRs, growing interest in data sharing, and increased opportunities to access CSRs, Cochrane held a consultation meeting on 16 May 2019 to discuss how they should be incorporated in to Cochrane Reviews. There were 34 attendees at the meeting, including clinical researchers, methodologists who have used CSRs, and editorial representation from Cochrane Review Groups and their Networks who are interested in using them. The four main objectives for the meeting aimed to build on the criteria developed from the MIF project by:
The full minutes and slides from the meeting are publicly available via the hyperlinks.
Overall feedback about using CSRs within systematic reviews was positive, with the experience of gaining access to them highlighted as one of the major issues that research teams encountered. The general position was that using CSRs in Cochrane Reviews should be possible and that there are potential ways of overcoming the challenges associated with their availability and use.
We are very excited to see this project develop, but we acknowledge that there are these challenges to overcome. This consultation meeting identified practical ways forward that we will be exploring as we develop a strategy for the project. How this strategy will look, and the stages and timelines within it, will need careful consideration to ensure we are building capacity effectively and efficiently within Cochrane. We will be thinking for the long-term, aiming to build a solid infrastructure for CRGs to be able to use CSRs, and will need to consider the following as part of that process:
Each of these objectives will require dedicated teams and its own strategy, which we have begun developing. We were also delighted to hear the project has been accepted for an oral presentation at the 2019 Cochrane Colloquium, so we’ll be giving a full update on the project then too.
The Working Group will be an open group and all those with experience or an interest in using CSRs are welcome to join. The role and remit of the working group is currently being developed and at this time we are just looking for confirmation of interest for being involved.
We look forward to sharing more details on this project as it develops.
If you are interested in joining the Clinical Study Report Working Group, or have any questions or feedback on the project, please email methods@cochrane.org.
We would like to thank the core planning group for the consultation meeting on the 16 May 2019 (Rachel Churchill, Kerry Dwan, Ella Flemyng, Toby Lasserson, Joerg Meerpohl, Nicole Skoetz, Lesley Stewart, David Tovey), the additional presenters at the meeting (Tianjing Li, Evan Mayo-Wilson, Lars Jørgensen, Bernd Richter), all who attended the meeting, and those who provided feedback on challenges in using CSRs prior to the meeting.
The 2018 Journal Citation Report has just been released by Clarivate Analytics, and we are delighted to announce that Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) Journal Impact Factor is now 7.755. This is an increase on the 2017 Journal Impact Factor, which was 6.754.
This means that, in 2018, a Cochrane Review was cited on average, once every 8 minutes!
The CDSR Journal Impact Factor is calculated by taking the total number of citations in a given year to all Cochrane Reviews published in the past 2 years and dividing that number by the total number of Reviews published in the past 2 years. It is a useful metric for measuring the strength of a journal by how often it its publications are cited in scholarly articles.
Some highlights of the CDSR 2018 Journal Impact Factor include:
Cochrane’s Editor in Chief, Karla Soares-Weiser, commented: “I am delighted to see a rise in Impact Factor for the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. We are pleased to see a rise in total citations to now over 67 thousand and the five year impact factor is consistently strong. All of these data demonstrate the usage and impact of Cochrane reviews, and reflect enormous credit on our many thousands of contributors and groups.”
The main Journal Impact Factor report and the Cochrane Review Group reports will be delivered in August 2019.