New vacancy: Assistant Managing Editor

We are currently advertising for the position of Assistant Managing Editor. This is an interesting and challenging opportunity to contribute to the publication of Cochrane systematic reviews in the field of pain, and palliative and supportive care.

The candidate will contribute to the editorial processes for systematic review preparation and publication. This involves providing specialised editorial support to review authors, managing the process of peer review, maintaining communication between the CRG’s editorial team members, and representing the CRG to all relevant individuals and agencies.

For more information, including the Job Description and How to apply, please visit the NHS jobs site. **Vacancy now closed**

Cochrane Strategy to 2020

The Strategy to 2020 is Cochrane’s response to a changing landscape in global health care. It defines the organisation’s direction for the next six years and provides the framework for strategic decision-making. Follow this link to download the Strategy to 2020 PDF from the Cochrane community site, watch the official Strategy to 2020 introductory video, and access a print-ready version of the Strategy document if you are planning a professional print run. 


Cochrane Register of Studies Online

The CRS Online (CRSO), Cochrane’s interface to Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) records, has now been launched.  It is available to all Cochrane members with an Archie account. There are several important differences between the CRSO and the version of CENTRAL available in The Cochrane Library.  

CRS Online:

• Allows searching of CENTRAL records 5-6 weeks before they are available in The Cochrane Library;
• Provides access to all the words indexed in all records which allows users to see misspellings of words, word variations and errors;
• Detects words that are drug names and builds search strings from alternative drug names (using DrugBank™);
• Shows an audit trail, including the date a record was created and modified (if available);
• Provides a way for users to report errors in CENTRAL records;
• Links CENTRAL records to the reviews in which they are included or excluded (to be implemented once a CENTRAL/CDSR link checking project is completed).

For more information, a recording of the recent CRSO webinar is available under the Webinarstab of the CRS Portal: CRSO webinar.

Pre-publication quality assurance screening

The Cochrane Editorial Unit (CEU) now carries out pre-publication quality assurance screening for all new Cochrane reviews. This does not currently apply to protocols or updates. Reviews are flagged for quality screening at the point that the review is signed off by the Co-ordinating Editor. Depending on the results of screening report, further editing may be required before proceeding to copy edit and publication.You can read more about the screening programme here, and read the recent progress report from CEU here. 

For more information about how this may affect you, please see our Resource Hub or contact us. A screening flowchart of the process is available here.

New podcast for review on jellyfish stings

Richard McGee from the School of Public Health in the University of Sydney in Australia reports the findings of his new Cochrane review, 'Interventions for the symptoms and signs resulting from jellyfish stings', Issue 12, 2013. You can listen to the podcast here, and see the full review on The Cochrane Library here.

PaPaS Year End Newsletter 2013

We extend our thanks to all contributors for their efforts throughout a successful 2013. The newsletter summarises our achievements to date and contains some important information for Cochrane authors and editors. Some achievements include developing exciting new partnerships, improving our editorial process by embracing the capabilities of Archie, and publishing a total of 25 new reviews. Download the newsletter here.

Palliative and end of life care Priority Setting Partnership (PeolcPSP)

A new project has been developed to increase awareness of the importance of research in palliative and end of life care, and to encourage investment from research funders. This project is supported and guided by the James Linde Alliance. The team are seeking input from patients, carers and clinicians to identify the questions that research still needs to answer.

You can find out more about how to get involved on their website, by emailing PeolcPSP@mariecurie.org.uk, calling  +44 (0) 20 7091 4153, or following their progress on Twitter @PeolcPSP.

The survey has now been launched. Find out more about how you can 'Have Your Say' about research in this important area here. You can go straight to the online survey by following this link and completing it electronically. Alternatively, you can print out a hard copy and post it to the freepost address listed on the survey, or return it by email.  Large print versions are also available upon request and if preferred people can complete the survey over the phone.

Evidently Cochrane: 'Migraine, art and medicine'

Sarah Chapman, Information Specialist at the UK Cochrane Centre, has produced another fantastic blog about some of our reviews. Follow this link to read all about six of our recent new Cochrane reviews of  interventions for headache and migraine, as well as some stunning and powerful artworks. You can read more blogs on the Evidently Cochrane website here, and follow @UKCochraneCentr on Twitter for the latest news.

'Struggling to be me': what it's like living with chronic pain

See this short film based on the experiences of more than 1000 adults living with chronic musculoskeletal pain, from 77 qualitative studies funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research (NIHR HS&DR) Programme. For more information about the NIHR HS&DR, please see their website.

21st Cochrane Colloquium

The PaPaS team will be attending the Cochrane Collaboration’s 21^st annual Colloquium in Quebec city, 17^th – 23^rd September. We would be delighted to see you there, and will be at the Meet the Entities poster session on Friday 20th September, poster stand number 57.

Please note that if your review is currently in the editorial process, there will be some delay as a result of the editorial staff being out of the office with limited access to emails between 16^th – 29^th September. We would like to reassure you that we have made concerted efforts to attend to all reviews in advance of the Colloquium, and normal service will resume from Monday 30^th September.

**See our pictures from Quebec on the new Gallery page here** 

New and improved: Resource Hub for authors

You may have noticed that we have now updated much of our website. We hope that you find it easy to navigate and to locate the information you require. The biggest change is the introduction of a 'Resource Hub', which contains lots of useful supporting information for authors, referees, and other contributors to PaPaS.

Mid-Year Newsletter

We are delighted to publish the PaPaS 2013 Mid-Year Newsletter, available to download here. Read about our publications, social media presence, Archie ticketing and more.
 

Follow us on Twitter

We are now actively embracing the world of social media, in particular Twitter. We have introduced a new hashtag, #painevidence, so do follow @CochranePaPaS and look out for tweets on new reviews, interesting articles, and more.

Our contribution to the Cochrane Wall Hanging

In 2013, The Cochrane Collaboration celebrates 20 years since its inception in 1993. As part of the celebrations, we were invited to contribute a patchwork piece for a wall hanging, to be revealed at the Colloquium in September. We created our masterpiece with felt and cotton materials, lots of stitching, and plenty of laughs.

You can read more about the 20th Anniversary here for memorabilia, photographs, promotional materials, and videos, and more.

Growing pain: striving for quality, relevance and applicability in Cochrane Reviews

The editorial, 'Growing pain: striving for quality, relevance and applicability in Cochrane Reviews', by Christopher Eccleston, Phil Wiffen, Sheena Derry and Andrew Moore, has been published in The Cochrane Library. You can see the full editorial here.

CRG Summary Presentation

In February 2013, Anna Hobson presented a summary of the status of PaPaS to the Editors. The summary includes details from the 2011 Annual Report, total reviews and topic areas, and What's New in the Collaboration and PaPaS. You can view an abridged version of the presentation here.

Expect analgesic failure; pursue analgesic success

One of our Editors, Professor Andrew Moore, has now published, 'Expect analgesic failure; pursue analgesic success' (BMJ 2013;346:f2690) in the British Medical Journal. You can see the full article here.

'Most analgesic drugs work well but in only a small percentage of people. Andrew Moore and colleagues argue that we need to move away from a focus on average response and seek out what works for each patient.'