We are calling for feedback to help prioritise features or challenges that are most important to you when it comes to the format of Cochrane Reviews. Please complete the survey to give us your ideas!

In February 2022, the Cochrane Governing Board approved a new model for producing Cochrane evidence syntheses, following an extensive community consultation process. There are many facets to this work, with full details via the future of evidence synthesis in Cochrane community webpages.
 
One call that echoed loud and clear during the consultation process, and in fact has been discussed for quite some years, is that Cochrane needs to evolve it’s review format to improve author experience, streamline editorial, peer review and copyediting processes, and increase accessibility and impact when published in the Cochrane Library. It is also key for ensuring Cochrane is in a strong position as we diversify our evidence synthesis types going forward.

We are therefore calling all authors, editors, methodologists, consumers, users - everyone!  - to understand what will make Cochrane Reviews more attractive to you.
 
A recent webinar, the first in a series on the future of evidence synthesis in Cochrane, included early details about implementation planning and projects, including the new review format. The slides and recording are available on the Future Cochrane webinar series webpage.

Research to inform the new review format is underway. Interviews with stakeholders have been completed to collect themes, topics and initial ideas. These have been built into a survey, which will inform the recommendations and implementation. 

We need you!
We want to ensure a new format prioritises features or overcomes challenges that are most important to you. If you are - or are interested in becoming - an author, editor or user of Cochrane Reviews, please complete the survey by 13 June (takes approximately 15 minutes).
 

COMPLETE SURVEY HERE

Cochrane’s new production model represents a large shift for the organization. We’d like to thank everyone for their valuable contributions to the development of the new model and patience during these early implementation planning stages.

Here are the ways to stay up to date and ask questions:

• Access detailed information about the new model
• Join the Future Cochrane webinar series It features a series of presenters sharing all the latest on implementation, innovation and community engagement. Each session will be available to view online afterward and you can submit your questions beforehand. 
• Read the FAQs Explore answers to common questions.
• Ask your questions Any questions or concerns from anyone in the community are welcome. We will use these to inform our FAQs and future webinars.
   

Dear Friends and Colleagues

Due to the continued global impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus) with ongoing reduced/restricted travel from many regions, and the advent of geo-political instability and risks in the European region, we have taken the decision to postpone the Global Evidence Summit (GES 2), due to be hosted in Prague between 2 – 6 October 2023.

The Global Organising Committee (comprising four partners:  Cochrane, JBI, GIN and Campbell) concluded, with the agreement of our local host - CEBHC-KT and Masaryk University, that the most appropriate decision is to postpone the Summit until 9 – 13 September 2024. As global leaders in evidence-informed healthcare, the partners take very seriously our responsibility and duty of care to our communities in the face of continuing risks.

However, we are committed to working together, along with additional organizations, to present the third Annual World EBHC Day on 20 October, 2022. This is a global initiative that raises awareness of the need for better evidence to inform healthcare policy, practice and decision making to improve health outcomes globally.

This second postponement of the second Global Evidence Summit is disappointing news for all of us and we would like to thank the vast number of people, including our local hosts, who have been working hard on preparations over the past year. We are in no doubt that we will be able to build successfully on the work accomplished so far to ensure that when GES 2 does go ahead in September 2024 in Prague it will be everything we anticipated: a world-class scientific event and a memorable gathering of the evidence-based healthcare community. 

We thank you for your ongoing support and commitment to the Global Evidence Summit and will look forward to meeting again for this unique event in 2024. 

Recent developments have shown the world can be volatile and unpredictable, requiring us to remain vigilant and responsive – collaborations such as this are even more important.   We hope that you all remain safe and well during these extraordinary times. 

Miloslav Klugar
Director, CEBHC-KT (Czech Cochrane, JBI and GRADE centres), Chair of the GES Scientific Committee

Judith Brodie
Interim CEO, Cochrane

Zoe Jordan
Executive Director, JBI

Elaine Harrow
CEO, Guidelines International Network

Vivian Welch,
Interim CEO, The Campbell Collaboration

The Cochrane Board will now be considering the opportunity to host a Cochrane event in 2023 in place of the deferred Global Evidence Summit and we will provide more information on this as soon as possible.

If you have any questions, please contact support@cochrane.org.

Cochrane wants to welcome people, no matter who they are or where they live. The more varied perspectives we have, the better we can provide evidence to help inform health and healthcare decisions.

In October 2021, we launched our listening and learning exercise that aimed to gather data, views and experiences regarding diversity and inclusion in Cochrane. Between October and January we heard from over 1,300 people and we are pleased to publish the findings in this new report.

We encourage everyone to read this report and we have made a summary of the report available in multiple languages to increase accessibility.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this important process. It is clear that we can do a lot more to be a diverse and inclusive organisation, so the important work starts now as we take action in response to these findings.

Click here to read the report: https://www.cochrane.org/about-us/cochrane-diversity-and-inclusion

Chris Champion
Head of Engagement, Learning and Support

CoI Policy for Cochrane Groups updated to align better with Cochrane Library COI policy 

Cochrane maintains its reputation for independence and credibility through the core values of transparency and research integrity which include, among other things, minimizing the effects that conflicts of interest could have on our research and our organization. We do this by adhering to rigorous policies about conflicts of interest. In 2020, a revised conflict of interest policy for Cochrane Library content was introduced that strengthened the previous policy in several ways and restructured it to make it easier to follow.

The Governing Board has now approved an update to 2014 Conflict of Interest Policy for Cochrane Groups to bring it in line with the 2020 Conflict of Interest Policy for Cochrane Library Content, setting out the rule that:

Geographic Groups, Fields, and Methods Groups are not permitted to accept funds from commercial sponsors or commercial sources that have a financial interest in the topic areas covered by the Cochrane Library.

The Board has also asked the Central Executive Team to start work on an ethical policy relevant to fundraising and investment, alongside a more comprehensive review of allowed conflicts of interest for activities, people, Cochrane Groups and Committees, not covered under 2020 Conflict of Interest Policy for Cochrane Library Content, to ensure alignment. This work will begin at the end of 2022.

• Read 'Conflict of Interest Policy for Cochrane Groups'
• More information on Cochrane’s Conflict of Interest policies

We’re pleased to welcome two new representatives to the Council from the beginning of April:

Cinzia Del Giovane, representing Methods Groups

Cinzia is a Senior Researcher at the Statistics Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences for Children and Adults, University-Hospital of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy.  She is a statistical advisor for Cochrane Italy and member of the Cochrane Statistics Methods Group.

Cinzia joins Silvia Minozzi as a Methods Group representative, replacing Sarah Nevitt, who has recently stepped down to start maternity leave.

Valerie Wells, representing Information Specialists

Valerie is a research associate and information scientist based at the Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. She is an Information Specialist for the Cochrane Public Health Group.

Valerie joins Rene Spijker as an Information Specialists representative, replacing Maria-Inti Metzendorf, who has recently stepped down.

Liz Dooley has also been re-appointed by the Managing Editors Executive for another term, serving alongside Gail Quinn. Congratulations to Cinzia, Valerie and Liz; and thanks to Sarah Nevitt and Maria-Inti Metzendorf for their service to the Council.

Find out more about the Council on Cochrane Community. The Council is a representative body and values input from the community. Any Cochrane member can propose items for discussion at Council meetings. To contact the Council about an issue you would like to see discussed, please see contact details for your representative, or contact the Council directly.

A Cochrane Plain language summary is a stand-alone summary of a Cochrane Review written in plain English. It briefly describes the key question and findings of the review. It is clearly set out, uses words and sentence structures that are easy to understand, and avoids technical terms and jargon. A clear, simple summary written in plain language helps people to understand complex health evidence. Cochrane Plain language summaries are freely available on cochrane.org and in the Cochrane Library in a range of languages. The aim is that anyone looking for information about the key points of a Cochrane Review can read and understand them.

The Cochrane Library Editorial Board recently approved new guidance and template for writing Plain Language Summaries in Cochrane Reviews. The guidance replaces the previous set of standards, the Plain Language Expectations for Authors of Cochrane Summaries (‘PLEACS’), it has been incorporated into the online version of the Cochrane Handbook. The template headings and guidance have also been incorporated into our recommended intervention review template.

 
The guidance and template have been developed by the three Plain Language Summary writers hired by Cochrane as part of a pilot in 2020: Nicole Pitcher, Denise Mitchell, and Carolyn Hughes. The guidance can be accessed as a supplement to the Reporting Chapter of the Cochrane Handbook. The guidance does not only draw on the experience of the PLS project, it looks to previous work including the original set of expectations outlined in PLEACS. However, it is no longer based on a set of standards, and instead focuses more on describing how authors and editors should approach the process of writing in plain language and using the GRADE statements to describe the results of systematic reviews. 
 
The template has a new standardised set of headings, including a top line 'Key messages'. You can view the headings and guidance in our recommended intervention review template. Editorial teams are encouraged to use this template, to ensure the new headings are included in all new titles registered via Editorial Manager. Headings can also be copied from the template into protocols and reviews in progress. The template has been developed from work on intervention reviews but examples from diagnostic test accuracy reviews are also incorporated in to the guidance. If you have any queries about using review templates, or incorporating the new headings into your existing template, please contact Cochrane Support: support@cochrane.org.  
 
For all ongoing reviews in the pre-submission phase, authors are expected to write their Plain Language Summaries according to the new template and its associated guidance. For reviews that have been submitted for editorial process it is advised but not expected for them to adopt the new template for the Plain Language Summary.

• Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions
  • III.S2 Supplementary material: Guidance for writing a Cochrane Plain language summary

It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of Chris Del Mar AM, Professor of Public Health at Bond University and one of Australia’s most prolific and generous Cochrane contributors. We echo the sentiments of his wife Professor Tammy Hoffman who shared the news yesterday on twitter, saying:

‘Chris has helped and inspired countless patients, medical students, doctors and researchers. He was an original thinker and unafraid to challenge the evidence behind conventional beliefs and practices. His decades of research influenced practice and policy in Australia and around the world.’

‘Chris is renowned for his wisdom, compassion, wit, intelligence, integrity, entertaining stories and humour. He was kind, generous, always a gentleman and genuinely interested in those around him.’

These qualities and contributions are reflected in the tribute to Chris published in The Medical Republic yesterday. It details the myriad ways Chris contributed professionally and personally to better the lives of others and inspire the next generation of researchers and clinicians across many different fields. 

Chris was a literal and figurative giant whose contribution to Cochrane in Australia and internationally was immense. He led the Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Group for two decades, supporting and mentoring the next generation of Cochrane authors, and never shied away from tackling controversial topics or challenging conventional orthodoxies. Chris was a lively contributor to several Cochrane Australia symposiums and Cochrane colloquiums and his presence and charm will be greatly missed.

We send our thoughts and deepest sympathies to Tammy, Chris’s family and his many friends and close colleagues at this sad time.

Reposted with permission from Cochrane Australia 

The Annual Anne Anderson Walk is a cherished annual social event in Cochrane, where attendees explore the Colloquium host-city by foot with a guide. Donations by participants are made to next year's Anne Anderson Award. Given current COVID-19 circumstances, the Cochrane community will be not be gathering for the Colloquium in 2022. However, we can walk virtually together, share pictures of our walks, and make donations to the annual Anne Anderson Award, which will be presented at the Cochrane AGM later this year.

• Learn more about the Anne Anderson Walk and Award

 It's easy to participate! 

• Go for a walk and snap a picture!
• Print out an Anne Anderson sign (or create your own personalized sign) to hold up for the picture, if you'd like.
  
  For Black and White Print:
  - A3 document size
  - A4 document size
  - Legal document size
  - Letter document size
  
  For Colour Print:
  - A3 document size
  - A4 document size
  - Legal document size
  - Letter document size
   
• Show your support on social media; post your picture and encourage your Cochrane colleagues to participate using the hashtag #AnneAnderson
• Share a picture to be added to the map; email Lydia Parsonson <lparsonson@cochrane.org> a picture, your name, your location, and any words of encouragement you have to other participants or a description of where you are in the picture. It will be added to this page and used in a final presentation at the end of the event. 
• Make a donation to the Anne Anderson Award. If you would like, you can make a donation, the prize will be given out at the Cochrane AGM later this year. 

Check out our global community's pictures:

Pictures from our 2021 Anne Anderson Walk:

To add your picture, email Lydia Parsonson <lparsonson@cochrane.org>  a picture, your name, and your location.  It will be added to this page and used in a final presentation at the end of the event. 

Dear Community members and friends,

This year takes us a step nearer our open access commitment. We know how important it is to make the best evidence freely available to all those who need it - the experience of the pandemic reinforces that, and our funders expect it. With that commitment there is a financial challenge that we are determined to meet, so in 2022 we will be continuing the step by step transformation of Cochrane we launched in 2021 in line with Strategy for Change.

Funders globally are re-evaluating their priorities and approaches – we want to make sure that Cochrane is positioned to continue to secure funds into the future - which is imperative if we are to be sustainable and able to continue our important work.

The future of evidence synthesis
Following the consultation on the future of evidence synthesis proposals, the Governing Board on 9th Feb 2022 approved the proposed change to Cochrane’s evidence synthesis production model and the immediate move to implementation activities. They asked the Executive Leadership Team to: 

• work with partners to set up a small number of externally funded Evidence Synthesis Units (ESUs), to be located in both high- and low- or middle-income countries
• develop collaborative arrangements across the community to ensure we maintain our valuable skills and expertise. These new groups will be shaped thematically to work in collaboration with other Cochrane entities to: support the developmental and editorial processes for evidence syntheses; identify and focus on global priorities; engage in knowledge translation and stakeholder and community engagement
• expand the Central Editorial Service to handle the editorial process for all evidence syntheses published on the Cochrane Library, including a direct pathway and a fast-track service, to strengthen consistency and delivery. 

The Governing Board will monitor and maintain oversight, so that, as a community, we continue to learn and develop and adapt as we progress. 

Your views on the proposals shared last year were key and informed the recommendation agreed by the Governing Board, who felt this was the best way to secure Cochrane’s funding and future. We look forward to your continued engagement as this is central to shaping the new thematic groups and structures outside of Evidence Synthesis Units, and finding ways to maintain and enhance the community connections that are so fundamental to Cochrane.
There remain challenges and uncertainties and this change will not be achieved overnight. The approach will be phased so that, as we move forward into implementation, we retain the best of what we have as well as make the right changes for the future.  
 

~ Find out more about the future of evidence synthesis in Cochrane here ~

For direct access to the proposal approved by the board, click here. 

Other priorities for 2022

Context
Our response to the pandemic showed the best of what we could do. We delivered rapid, living reviews, and shared the best evidence freely to support the world in tackling an unprecedented challenge. That learning and the consultations with all of you over 2020/21 informed the Strategy for Change, which is guiding our priorities in 2022 and 2023.  2021 was a year of transformation and achievement. Read more about it in our end of year message. Among other things we held wide consultation on the future of evidence synthesis. We also reviewed and restructured the Central Executive Team (CET) to save £2.3m (23%) on the 2021 budget for 2022, and achieve breakeven budgets in 2023 and 2024. We established a Director of Development role to lead on global fundraising, and introduced five-year financial planning to help navigate the opportunities and challenges ahead.

2022 Priorities
The key strategic priorities for 2022 were agreed by the Governing Board in December 2021 - the full list can be found in the Appendix. As well as prioritising changes to the future of evidence synthesis (as above), in summary they are:

• Open Access (OA) Transition plan, including product development (Strategy for Change GOAL 3) Have a roadmap in place by the end of the year to deliver full Open Access by 2025.
• Income generation and diversification (Strategy for Change Sustainability objective) To diversify and increase our income, mitigating the loss of subscription income due to Open Access.
• Advocacy post Cochrane Convenes (Strategy for Change GOAL 2) Shaping an advocacy programme that supports our goals, building on the key themes from Cochrane Convenes.
• Central Executive Team (CET) culture and ways of working (Strategy for Change Accountability objective) To ensure the new CET Structure works effectively with and for the community to deliver our collective goals.

All of these priorities look to the future (as far as we can), reshaping Cochrane to be able to anticipate and respond to further change, building on our collective experience of almost thirty years. The core of what we do remains the same.  Our principles remain the same. BUT the way we produce reviews, share them and advocate for evidence will change – must change – so we continue to have the impact on the world we want to – better health for all.

The Governing Board is confident we have the right strategy, the right policies, and the right people - including you - to deliver these ambitions. There is much to look forward to, and every reason to be optimistic and excited about Cochrane’s future.  And of course, we will be welcoming a new Chief Executive later in the year.  

Cochrane stands for collaboration, and its extraordinary, global community. Working together -  what we do best – will guarantee Cochrane’s continued success and impact , improving health for all.  We hope you are as excited as we are, and ready to engage with this next phase.  

Catherine Marshall, Co-chair        
Tracey Howe, Co-chair

on behalf of the Cochrane Governing Board