Download Cochrane Heart Group Editorial Process

Cochrane Heart Group Editorial Process
This document aims to explain the editorial process of the Cochrane Heart Group. If you are doing, or planning
to do, a review, it is important that you read this carefully, and comply with the instructions. Please contact us if
you have any comments or questions you wish to discuss.
There are four stages to developing and maintaining a Cochrane review:
 Registering the title of a proposed review
 Developing a protocol for a review
 Producing a review
 Updating a review
TITLE
The title of your proposed review must be formally registered with the Cochrane Heart Group.
Please check first on the ‘Our reviews’ page of the Cochrane Heart Group’s website to see whether the review is
already in preparation as we cannot register a review that is already in progress or completed.
Once you are satisfied your review topic has not been covered already, you should complete a title registration
form (found on our website) and return it to us at [email protected]. Your proposal will be assessed
by the CHG editorial staff.
Editorial approval is awarded when it has been established that:

the topic falls within the scope of the Cochrane Heart Group

the clinical question addressed is a priority and important

the proposed review team have suitable skills to complete the review including written English.

the topic is not already covered within the Cochrane Heart Group or by another Review Group.
When the title has received editorial approval you will be notified, and sent the ‘Welcome Letter’ with
information on:
 how to access the Cochrane Handbook, which you must read at all times whilst developing of your
protocol and review.
 Archie, the Collaboration’s central server for manuscripts control, and Review Manager (RevMan), the
software for preparing and maintaining Cochrane systematic reviews.
 Resources and training
 Cochrane style guidelines
PROTOCOL
Once your title is formally registered on Archie, a RevMan protocol template will be created for you. You should
check this out and begin writing your protocol.
We expect to see your draft protocol within 3 months of approving your title. If we do not hear from you or
you are very late submitting your protocol we may de-register your title.
Nicole Ackermann ([email protected]), our Trials Search Co-ordinator, will be working with you on
designing your search strategies based on the draft protocol submitted for editorial approval.
Submitting your protocol for editorial approval
Use the Check-In Wizard in RevMan 5 to submit your draft protocol. If you would like to highlight any particular
problems or issues to the Group please enter this in the ‘Message to Review Group’ box.
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Once the editorial team decides your protocol meets the required standard it will then be sent out for peer
review to the editors of the Heart Group (at editorial discretion your protocol may also be sent to a consumer
and an external peer referee). The in-house and peer review process can take several weeks.
The Heart Group will prepare a summary of in-house and peer review comments for you to address. Upon
receipt of comments, you should ‘check out’ the most recent version of your protocol in order to edit it. You
should aim to submit your revised protocol using the ‘check in’ function within 3 weeks of receiving the inhouse and peer review comments.
On re-submission of the revised protocol, we will check that you have responded adequately to all the
comments. If we do not feel that you have addressed all the comments adequately, further revisions will be
requested until editorial approval is awarded.
When your protocol has received final editorial approval, you will be informed and the protocol will be prepared
for publication.
Preparation for publication
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews has strict guidelines on style and formatting. You are asked to
prepare your protocol with these guidelines in mind.
Once your protocol is approved for publication it will be copy edited in accordance with the Cochrane Style
Guide (http://www.cochrane.org/training/authors-mes/cochrane-style-guide). Small changes will be done
without recourse to you for permission. Major changes will either be made and you will be asked to approve
them, or we will ask you to make the changes or supply information.
Once this process is completed, your protocol will be published in the next issue of the Cochrane Database of
Systematic Reviews. The RevMan 5 protocol file will also be converted to be a ‘Full Review’ template. Please use
this version for preparing your draft review.
Please note that the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews is now updated MONTHLY. Further information
on publication schedules can be found on the Cochrane Library website:
http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/view/0/WebsiteUpdates.html#Deadlines
Conditions of publication
It is now a requirement that each author sign a Licence to Publish form and a Declaration of Interest form
before their new protocol can be published on the Cochrane Library.
When your protocol has received editorial approval, Managing Editor will send the contact author the relevant
forms and information. It is the responsibility of the contact author to ensure that these are distributed to each
co-author, with clear instructions to sign them and return them directly to the Managing Editor by the specified
deadline. Failure to do so will result in a significant delay in the publication of your protocol.
REVIEW
You should submit your review within 12 months of your protocol being published. Nicole Ackermann
([email protected]), our Trials Search Co-ordinator, will run the search strategies for you once the
protocol has been published.
Submitting your review for editorial approval
Use the Check-In Wizard in RevMan 5 to submit your draft review. If you would like to highlight any particular
problems or issues to the Group please enter this in the ‘Message to Review Group’ box.
Once the editorial team has read your review, a list of amendments to make will be sent back to you. These are
the “in-house” comments. Upon receipt of comments, you should ‘check out’ the most recent version of your
review in order to edit it.
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Revising your review following editorial comments
When you have revised your review by responding to each in-house comment, you should aim to re-submit your
review using the ‘check in’ function within 4 weeks of receiving in-house comments.
On re-submission of the revised review, we will check that you have responded adequately to all the in-house
comments. If we do not feel that you have addressed all the comments adequately, further revisions will be
requested until editorial approval is awarded.
Peer review
Once your review meets the required standard it will be sent for peer review to the editorial board of the Heart
Group, as well as consumer and external reviewers. The peer review process can take several weeks.
The Heart Group will prepare a summary of peer review comments for you to address.
Revising your review following peer review comments
When you have revised your review by responding to each peer review comment, you must re-submit the
review for editorial approval within 4 weeks of receiving the peer review comments.
On re-submission of the revised review, we will check that you have responded adequately to all peer review
comments. If we do not feel that you have addressed all the comments adequately, further revisions will be
requested until editorial approval is awarded.
When your review has received editorial approval, you will be informed and the review will be prepared for
publication.
Preparation for publication
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews has strict guidelines on style and formatting. You are asked to
prepare your review with these guidelines in mind.
Once your review is approved for publication it will be copy edited in accordance with the Cochrane Style Guide
(http://www.cochrane.org/training/authors-mes/cochrane-style-guide). Small changes will be done without
recourse to you for permission. Major changes will either be made and you will be asked to approve them, or we
will ask you to make the changes or supply information.
Once this process is completed, your review will be published in the next issue of the Cochrane Database of
Systematic Reviews.
Please note that the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews is now updated MONTHLY. Further information
on publication schedules can be found on the Cochrane Library website:
http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/view/0/WebsiteUpdates.html#Deadlines
Conditions of publication
It is now a requirement that each author sign a Licence to Publish form and a Declaration of Interest form
before their new review can be published on the Cochrane Library.
When your review has received editorial approval, the Managing Editor will send the contact author the relevant
forms and information. It is the responsibility of the contact author to ensure that these are distributed to each
co-author, with clear instructions to sign them and return them directly to the Managing Editor by the specified
deadline. Failure to do so will result in a significant delay in the publication of your review.
REVIEW UPDATES
A systematic review is only useful when it is comprehensive and up-to-date. It is Collaboration policy that
reviews should either be updated every 2 years or should have a commentary added to explain why this is
done less frequently. Even if no substantive new evidence is found on annual reviews and no major amendment
is indicated, this information should still be used to update the review by adding the date of the latest search for
Last updated: June 2010
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evidence to the review. When you update your review, it should be submitted for editorial approval in the same
way as a new review.
For further information about how to update your review, please contact the Managing Editor or view the
“Guidelines for updating a Cochrane systematic review” document on the Cochrane Heart Group’s website.
If you have any comments or questions regarding this document, please contact:
Dr Joey Kwong
Managing Editor
Cochrane Heart Group
Department of Epidemiology & Population Health
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Keppel Street
London, WC1E 7HT, UK
T: +44 (0)20 7927 2086
F: +44 (0)20 7927 2286
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.heart.cochrane.org
Last updated: June 2010
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