June 2024 (Next August 2024)

In this issue

1) Cochrane-Campbell Handbook for Qualitative Evidence Synthesis: form to submit comments now available.

2) The First Cochrane review in the new format makes its debut.

3) Upcoming events and opportunities to get involved include online webinars and Methods Support web clinics.

4) Meet Tahira Devji of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Methods Group.

5) New resources include papers from our Methods Groups and much more!

Your top three highlights

Cochrane-Campbell Handbook for Qualitative Evidence Synthesis: feedback form now available

The Cochrane-Campbell Handbook for Qualitative Evidence Synthesis is the official guidance that describes in detail the process of preparing and maintaining systematic reviews of qualitative evidence for Cochrane. The Handbook Team invites the community to use this form to submit comments and suggestions regarding the draft chapters published on our website. All input will be carefully considered in finalising the first version of this Cochrane guidance.

The First Cochrane review in the new format makes its debut

The first Cochrane intervention review in the new format has made its debut on the Cochrane Library, offering a more streamlined, user-friendly experience for readers and researchers. The publication of this review marks a significant milestone in a period of huge change as Cochrane focuses on developing new structures and tools and improving processes to ensure it remains viable, sustainable, and focused on major global health challenges long into the future. Check more information about the significance of changing the Cochrane review format here.

A new version of the Cochrane Style Manual is now available

The 2024 Cochrane Style Manual is now available online, updated to cover the focused review format. We have added new sections on handling references, tables and figures in the new format, checked that all sections are up to date, and retained advice about long-format reviews for those who still need it. The Style Manual is a vital resource for authors, editors and copy-editors who need to apply a consistent ‘Cochrane’ style across protocols, reviews and other Cochrane content.  

Events and opportunities

Upcoming

● June 20: Evidence Synthesis Ireland webinar. Living Guidelines–The process, benefits and challenges of maintaining high currency recommendations in clinical care. Open to all; registration required.

● June 25 to 28: In-person course: Nottingham Systematic Review Course in Nottingham, UK. Open to all; registration fee applies.

● June 26: Cochrane Germany/ Lunch & Learn Webinars: Systematic Reviews of Diagnostic Test Accuracy (with Screening and Diagnostic Tests). Open to all; registration required.

● June 28: In-person course: Cochrane Malaysia/ Risk of Bias 2 Workshop in Penang, Malaysia. Open to all; registration fee applies.

● July 4: Methods Support Unit web clinics: Reporting a Cochrane Qualitative Evidence Synthesis – how to avoid common reporting issues. Open to Cochrane authors, editors and staff; registration required.

● July 9: Cochrane Learning Live Session: Introduction to analysis and meta-analysis of interrupted time series studies with continuous outcomes. Open to Cochrane authors, editors and staff; registration required.

Can you help with methods-related tasks? Browse Engage for opportunities (tip! Filter by your specific skills). For more information on signing up and using the platform, see these instructions.

New resources

● Qualitative and Implementation reported the development of the CAMELOT tool for assessing methodological limitations of qualitative research for inclusion in qualitative evidence in Cochrane Evidence Synthesis and Methods.

● Members of Qualitative and Implementation, Patient-Reported Outcomes, Equity, and GRADEing reported the development of ROBVALU, a tool for assessing the risk of bias in studies about people's values, utilities, or importance of health outcomes in the BMJ.

● Members of Non-Randomized Studies explored the use of virtual nominal groups in healthcare research in PLoS One.

● Members of Co-Production identified and summarised available guidance and policy documents for patient partner compensation in Health Expectations.

● Members of Qualitative and Implementation reported the development of a data thickness/richness assessment tool for use in qualitative evidence synthesis in Authorea.

● Members of Co-Production and Adverse Effects described the development of the PRISMA-COSMIN for outcome measurement instruments in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology.

● Members of Non-Randomized Studies identified risk of bias concepts applicable to cross-sectional research validity and explored coverage in existing appraisal tools in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology.

● Members of Co-Production reported a mixed-methods case study within a review to describe team co-production of a systematic review in Systematic Reviews.

● Members of GRADEing presented a scoping review protocol to identify the key characteristics of how the GRADE EtD framework is used and identify studies on the perception of use by those involved in developing clinical guidelines in HRB Open Research.

● Members of Qualitative and Implementation reported the use of machine learning to extract information and predict outcomes from reports of randomised trials of smoking cessation interventions in the Human Behaviour-Change Project in Welcome Open Research.

● Members of Comparing Multiple Interventions discussed the use of machine-learning methods to improve the efficiency of the systematic review workflow in an editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

● Members of Rapid Reviews and Bias reported the sensitivity and specificity of GPT-3.5 Turbo as a single reviewer for title and abstract screening in systematic reviews in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

● Members of GRADEing introduced an extension of the RIGHT statement for reporting COIs and funding in policy documents of guideline organisations and in guidelines (RIGHT-COI&F checklist) in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Meet Tahira Devji of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Methods Group