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Welcome to the Author Digest We hope you find it helpful. This digest goes out to all active Cochrane authors and will continue to be sent to authors who are opted in. Please review your communication preferences in your Cochrane Account and ensure you are opted in to communications.
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Contents RevMan system outage
Showcase your peer review contributions on Web of Science
Cochrane launches new feature to identify retracted publications
Recent updates to the Cochrane intervention review template
Cochrane’s Future of Evidence Synthesis Programme has brought about some transformational changes
Project management features now available in RevMan
Training on Cochrane reviews of prognosis
Methods Support Unit web clinics 2025
New three-webinar series on Research Priority Methods Setting
International Climate Protection Fellowship in Germany - application until February 1st
Covidence: help with your data extraction
Top tips for Cochrane Authors
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We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused:
Between Thursday 2025-01-23 13:25 UTC and Friday 2025-01-24 15:00 UTC and Saturday 2025-01-25 15:51 UTC and Sunday 2025-01-26 09:30 UTC we had two disruptions to our services which may have impacted your ability to access our systems including RevMan. We’re very sorry for the inconvenience caused. We have identified the root cause and are now dedicated to making sure this doesn’t happen again, as well as improving the way we make you aware RevMan isn’t working as expected so you can plan your work better.
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2. Showcase your peer review contributions on Web of Science
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Cochrane peer reviewers and sign-off editors can now feature their activity on their Web of Science profiles thanks to a new collaboration between Cochrane and Clarivate. Learn more about how to sign up.
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3. Cochrane launches new feature to identify retracted publications
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4. Recent updates to the Cochrane intervention review template
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Cochrane's intervention review template contains essential guidance on conducting your review and reporting your findings. The intervention review template is updated periodically to ensure authors have clear and current guidance on best practice for Cochrane reviews. We therefore advise that authors always open the template as a practice review in RevMan to ensure you are always viewing the latest version. For access to, and more details on using the template, visit the RevMan Knowledge Base. The following is an overview of updates to the template since August 2024 with tracked changes in the PDF: Abstract -> clarified which objectives should be reported.
Abstract -> clarified that the main outcomes should be reported (those in the SoF table).
Methods, Synthesis methods -> minor edits to reflect new random effects statistics in RevMan.
Results, Excluded studies -> clarified that if a study fulfilled eligibility criteria but is excluded because it has a retraction, this should be stated in the characteristics of excluded studies supplementary material.
Discussion, Limitations of the evidence included in the review -> minor edits to guidance on discussing health inequity.
References -> standard references to the Cochrane Handbook of Systematic Reviews of Interventions updated to v6.5.
Tips in the Abstract and Results section to insert links to dynamic analysis results, so if an author updates an analysis in RevMan, e.g., to add or remove studies or change the statistical setting, it will automatically update the analysis result in the text.
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5. Cochrane’s Future of Evidence Synthesis Programme has brought about some transformational changes
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The arrival of 2025 means that we are now wrapping up our Future of Evidence Synthesis Programme, with several projects now closed and a few more due to wrap up by April 2025. All aspects of the programme were designed to ensure that Cochrane is well-placed to meet rapidly shifting needs and challenges in global healthcare. It has been an ambitious programme that has introduced some important changes to how Cochrane develops, publishes, and shares its reviews. Read more about some of the changes
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6. Project management features now available in RevMan
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Cochrane protocols and reviews have new features on the RevMan Dashboard to help you manage your progress on your review and easily access guidance for each step of review production that was developed with expert input from the Evidence Synthesis Development team. Watch a webinar recording about these features.
Because the features were newly implemented in November and December 2024, the current status and due dates of the tasks may not match your current progress on your protocol or review. You can update due dates and assign tasks to co-authors easily on the Dashboard, and ensure your progress is kept up to date by completing tasks and milestones. Please reach out to Cochrane Support if you have any questions about using these features.
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7. Training on Cochrane reviews of prognosis
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Cochrane Prognosis Methods Group and Cochrane Netherlands are organizing a 3-day online course ‘Systematic review and meta-analysis of prognosis studies’ (24-26 March 2025). This course will be of interest to any authors working on a Cochrane review of prognosis. Fee applies. More information can be found here: methods.cochrane.org/prognosis/workshops-and-events
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8. Methods Support Unit web clinics 2025
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The Methods Support Unit is pleased to confirm web clinics for the early part of 2025. These are free to attend for everyone with a Cochrane account. Don’t worry if you can’t make the live session - the recording is sent afterwards to everyone who registers.
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9. New three-webinar series on Research Priority Methods Setting
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The Cochrane Priority Setting Methods Group and the University of Plymouth’s Plymouth Institute of Health and Care Research have organised a series of three webinars on Research Priority Methods Setting. The talks are from an international group of speakers on how best to prioritise research topics and questions given finite resources and the presence of power imbalances and cultural bias. Webinars are free for academics and researchers. Learn more about the webinars and speakers and register for one, two, or all three here! Demystifying and Introducing Research Priority Setting – Thursday 13 March 14:00 – 15:00 GMT
Raising the Bar - Implementing the WHO’s New Guidance on the Ethics of Health Research Priority Setting – Thursday 20 March 12:00 – 13:00 GMT
Increasing Inclusivity in Reaching Consensus and Setting Priorities for Research - Thursday 27 March 9:00-10:00 GMT
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10. International Climate Protection Fellowship in Germany - application until February 1st
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Are you a postdoc working academically in climate protection or climate-relevant resource conservation in your country of origin – a non-European developing or transition country? Then we invite you to apply for an International Climate Protection Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The fellowship supports long-term academic research (12-24 months) in Germany. It should focus on combating climate change, adaptation strategies, preserving ecosystems and biodiversity. Sustainability topics relating to natural resources, resource-efficient consumption or urban development are also welcome. The host institution of one of the Co-Directors (Dr Maria-Inti Metzendorf) of the Cochrane Planetary Health Thematic Group, the Institute of General Practice of the Medical Faculty of the Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany, welcomes expressions of interests from candidates that would like to work on evidence syntheses on the nexus of climate protection and health. Please get in contact with Maria-Inti (maria-inti.metzendorf@hhu.de) between the 2nd and 15th of January 2025 if you are interested in applying to the International Climate Protection Fellowship and be hosted within our international team at the Cochrane Evidence Synthesis Unit Germany/UK - Sub-Unit Düsseldorf. Detailed information about the fellowship is available here. A video introducing the work of the Cochrane Planetary Health Group is available here.
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11. Covidence: help with your data extraction
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Struggling with your data extraction process? Let the Covidence Team help! Covidence are offering free 30-minute sessions with an experienced systematic reviewer. Whether you need to fine-tune your data extraction template, troubleshoot challenges, or streamline your workflow, our experts are here to guide you. Don't miss this chance to enhance your systematic review process. Book your session today.
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12. Top tips for Cochrane Authors
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Looking for some useful resources to help kickstart your systematic reviews in 2025? Visit the author guidelines webpage for resources and detailed information on the process of planning, writing and submitting reviews. Visit the RevMan Knowledge Base for all your RevMan-related queries. Catch-up on all Cochrane webinars in the webinar archive. Reach out to the Support Team at support@cochrane.org if you need any help finding the right resources or guidance to answer your questions.
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